Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante has quit the group to concentrate on his solo career, according to reports. The Californication hit-makers reconvened earlier this year after a two year hiatus which saw the rockers concentrate on their own side projects.

Frusciante, who has released 10 of his own albums over the years, used the band’s break to work on his latest solo record, The Empyrean, which was released at the beginning of the year.

However, MusicRadar.com is now reporting the musician has quit the group to continue work on his own material and has been replaced by Josh Klinghoffer, who toured with the rockers in 2007 and has previously played for Gnarls Barkley and PJ Harvey.

A source tells the website, “Josh Klinghoffer has been playing with the group for a couple of months now. Optimistically, the Peppers are trying to lock down a replacement for John, who has apparently quit. Mentally, John checked out a long time ago. He’s interested in doing his own thing, his own albums – the whole big rock band machinery just doesn’t appeal to him anymore.”

Source: starpulse.com

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