Flea: I Nearly Killed Myself After Slovak's Overdose

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea nearly killed himself with excessive heroin usage after his late bandmate HILLEL SLOVAK's tragic overdose.

The GIVE IT AWAY rocker - real name MICHAEL BALZARY - turned to a lethal cocktail of class A drugs after the band's increasing heroin use led to the death of original guitarist Slovak and the institutionalisation of drummer JACK IRONS.

Flea confesses, "Hillel's death was just devastating. I was so shocked when it happened, I just fell on the floor gasping for air. As we started getting older and drugs became more prevalent, Hillel started having a deep sadness to him.

"I was just hanging on by a thread at that point, I had been so demolished by drug use. For weeks after Hillel died I kept getting out of my mind. Then a month later I got sober. It was such a life-altering loss. And a horrible disfiguring of our band dynamic.