Anthony Kiedis

"Under the Bridge" was never supposed to be a Red Hot Chili Peppers song. Anthony Kiedis wrote it as a poem in his notebook, about loneliness and about the drug use that had nearly destroyed him, and he did not think it fit the band's funk-rock style. The producer Rick Rubin found the lyrics and urged him to show them to the band. Released in 1992, it became their biggest hit, and it changed how audiences heard a group previously known for socks-on-genitals stage stunts and frantic party funk.

He was born on November 1, 1962, at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, "five hours into November 1," according to his memoir, Scar Tissue. His Sun is in Scorpio, with Venus, retrograde, and Neptune also in Scorpio, and all three fall in the second house of possessions and self-worth. Scorpio is the sign of intensity, extremes and transformation, and Neptune is associated with escape, fantasy and intoxication. A Scorpio cluster with Neptune describes a life of extremes and a long struggle with escapism, and Kiedis's memoir is one of rock's most unsparing accounts of addiction.

Libra is his rising sign, with Mercury in Libra in the first house. Libra gives charm and an easy, sociable manner, and Mercury there brings a talkative, lyrical quality to how a person presents himself. Kiedis has always been the band's voice and storyteller.

His father, the actor Blackie Dammett, raised him from the age of eleven in Hollywood, where the boy was exposed to drugs and the music scene at a very young age. At Fairfax High School he met Michael Balzary, later known as Flea, and the guitarist Hillel Slovak. In 1983 they formed the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Mars in Leo sits at the top of his chart, in the tenth house, associated with public life and reputation. Mars in Leo is energetic, physical and theatrical, and in the tenth it describes a public image built on high-energy performance. Kiedis became famous for performing shirtless, leaping and rapping across the stage.

His Moon is in Sagittarius in the third house, the area of words, writing and local travel. A Sagittarius Moon is restless and freedom-seeking, and in the third it connects emotional life to language and movement. Many of his best-known lyrics, in "Under the Bridge," "Scar Tissue" and "Californication," are about wandering through Los Angeles and California.

In 1988 Hillel Slovak died of a heroin overdose. Kiedis struggled with addiction for years afterward, relapsing many times before achieving lasting sobriety around 2000. Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Californication and Stadium Arcadium made the Chili Peppers one of the best-selling rock bands in the world, and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Saturn in Aquarius falls in his fourth house of home and family, and he has spoken about how fatherhood reshaped his priorities. The Scorpio planets took him to extremes; surviving them gave him the material.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, in the United States the SAMHSA National Helpline is free and confidential at 1-800-662-4357, any hour of the day.