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| Red
Hot Chili Peppers Biography |
All you want to know about the Red Hot Chili
Peppers, Red Hot Chili Peppers news, Red Hot Chili Peppers Discography, Red Hot Chili Peppers Biography and much more.
Few
rock groups of the '80s broke down as many musical
barriers and were as original as the Red Hot Chili
Peppers. Creating an intoxicating new musical
style by combining funk and punk rock together
(with an explosive stage show, to boot), the Red
Hot Chili
Peppers spawned a slew of imitators in their wake,
but still managed to be the leaders of the pack by
the dawn of the 21st century. The roots of the
band lay in a friendship forged by
three school chums, Anthony Kiedis,
Michael Balzary, and Hillel Slovak,
while they attended
Fairfax
High School
in
California
back in the late '70s/early '80s.
While Balzary and Slovak showed great
musical promise (on trumpet and
guitar, respectively), Kiedis focused
on poetry and acting during his high
school career. |
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Red
Hot Chili Peppers
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During
this time, Slovak taught Balzary how to play bass,
while the duo encouraged Kiedis to start putting
his poetry to music, which he soon did. Influenced
heavily by the burgeoning L.A. punk scene (the
Germs, Black Flag, Fear, Minutemen, X, etc.) as
well as funk (Parliament-Funkadelic, Sly & the
Family Stone, etc.), the trio began to rehearse
with another friend, drummer Jack Irons, leading
to the formation of Tony Flow & the
Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem, a group
that played strip bars along the sunset strip
during the early '80s.
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It was during this time
that the quartet honed their sound and live act
(as they stumbled across a stage gimmick that
would soon become their trademark -- performing
on-stage completely naked, except for a tube sock
covering a certain part of their anatomy). By
1983, Balzary had begun to go by the name
"Flea," and the group changed their name
to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Word
spread quickly about the up-and-coming band,
resulting in a recording contract with EMI. But
before the Red Hot Chili Peppers could begin work on their
debut, Flea and Kiedis were dealt a disappointing
blow when both Slovak and Irons announced that
they were leaving to focus more on another band
they were in, What Is This.
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With replacement
members Jack Sherman (guitar) and Cliff Martinez
(drums) filling in, the Red Hot Chili Peppers released their
self-titled debut in 1984. But the absence of the
two original members showed, as the album failed
to capture the excitement of their live show.
While the album didn't set the world on fire
sales-wise, the group began to build a dedicated
underground following with college radio buffs. By
1985, What Is This was kaput (after issuing a
single self-titled album), as Slovak and Irons
returned back to the Peppers, resulting in the
George Clinton-produced Freaky Styley. While the
album was an improvement over its predecessor, it
still lacked the fire of the band's in-concert
experience, a problem that would finally be solved
with their next album, 1987's The Uplift Mofo
Party Plan. The album was the group's first to
make an impression on the charts, and they
followed it up a year later with stopgap
five-track release, The Abbey Road EP, in 1988.
But just as the world was warming up to the Red
Hot Chili Peppers, tragedy struck when Slovak died from a
heroin overdose on June 25, 1988.
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Red
Hot Chili Peppers Orignial
lineup.
Flea, Anthony Kiedis, Jack
Irons and Hillel Slovak.
(Pictured left to
right) |
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In
the wake of Slovak's death, Irons left the group
for the second and final time, while Kiedis (who
was also battling drug addiction at the time) and
Flea decided to soldier on. After a new lineup
consisting of former Parliament guitarist
Blackbyrd McKnight and former Dead Kennedys
drummer D.H. Peligro didn't work out, the duo
found worthy replacements in newcomers John
Frusciante and Chad Smith. The new-look Red Hot Chili
Peppers hit pay dirt straight away, as their first
album together, 1989's Mother's Milk, became a
surprise hit due to MTV's exposure of their videos
for a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher
Ground" and a song about their fallen friend
Slovak, "Knock Me Down," as the album
was certified gold by early 1990. The group knew
that their next release would be the most
important one of their career, so they moved into
a mansion-turned-recording studio with producer
Rick Rubin to work on what would become their most
successful release yet, the stripped-down Blood
Sugar Sex Magik (their first for the Warner Bros.
label).
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| The group knew
that their next release would be the most
important one of their career, so they moved into
a mansion-turned-recording studio with producer
Rick Rubin to work on what would become their most
successful release yet, the stripped-down Blood
Sugar Sex Magik (their first for the Warner Bros.
label).
The album became a monster hit upon its
September 1991 release (going on to eventually
sell a staggering seven million copies in the
U.S.
alone), as it spawned such hits as "Give It
Away" and the group's first Top Ten single,
"Under the Bridge." |
Outside
the BSSM Mansion, standing on the brink of
global domination.
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not all was well in the Red Hot Chili Peppers camp. Like
his predecessor, Frusciante had become addicted to
hard drugs, and abruptly left the band mid-tour in
early 1992. Undeterred, the band enlisted new
member Arik Marshall, and headlined Lollapalooza
II in the summer. When the band returned to the
studio to work on their sixth release overall, it
quickly became apparent that
Marshall
didn't fit in, and was replaced by Jesse Tobias.
But before Tobias could record a note with the
group, he was handed his walking papers as well,
and former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro
signed on. After a layoff of four years, the Red
Hot Chili Peppers' much-delayed follow-up to BSSM was
released in 1995, One Hot Minute. While the album
was a sizeable hit, it failed to match the success
and musical focus of its predecessor, as it became
apparent during the album's ensuing tour that
Navarro wasn't fitting in as well as originally
hoped, and left the band in early 1998.
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Frusciante had left the group, he released a pair
of obscure solo releases, 1995's Niandra Lades and
Usually Just a T-Shirt and 1997's Smile from the
Streets You Hold, yet rumors circulated that the
guitarist was homeless, penniless, and sickly with
a death-defying drug habit. After checking himself
into rehab and putting his demons behind him,
Frusciante emerged once again refocused and
re-energized, and promptly accepted an invitation
to rejoin the Peppers once more. The group's
reunion album, 1999's Californication, proved to
be another monster success, reconfirming the Red
Hot Chili
Peppers as one of alternative rock's top bands.
The band put in a quick guest appearance on
Fishbone's Psychotic Friends Nuttwerx before
hitting the road to support the album. The
following months found the band getting involved
in bizarre situations and controversies. First,
their refusal to play songs from One Hot Minute
during the tour was an unpopular decision with
some fans and a sore spot for Dave Navarro. Next,
they reignited a personal feud between Kiedis and
Mr. Bungle singer Mike Patton by refusing to play
a series of European concerts with Bungle. Patton
responded with a "tribute" show for the
Peppers, where Bungle mocked their stage moves,
faked shooting up heroin, and imitated Kiedis'
comments about Patton. They also played the
ill-fated Woodstock '99 festival, where their
headlining performance was met with piles of
burning rubble and a full-scale riot.
Tours
with the Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam brought them
into the next year without problems, but they
stepped off the road after a planned stop in
Israel
was halted due to security worries. They returned
to the studio in November of 2001 and by the
summer of 2002 they had a new album ready to drop,
By the Way. Warner Brothers released a Greatest
Hits compilation in 2003, followed by a
chart-topping two-CD album of all-new material,
Stadium Arcadium, in 2006. ~ Greg Prato, All Music
Guide |
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Click
Here to view Pictures of The Red Hot Chili Peppers
in the
Forum
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