Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1983.
The band's current line-up consists of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Michael "Flea" Balzary (bass), Chad Smith (drums) and Josh Klinghoffer (guitar). The group's musical style has fused traditional funk with elements of other genres, including punk andpsychedelic rock.
The group's original line-up featured guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons. Slovak died of a heroin overdose in 1988, resulting in Irons's departure.[1] Former Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro briefly replaced Irons before the band found a permanent replacement in Smith. Guitarist John Frusciante replaced Slovak. This line-up recorded the band's fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth albums, Mother's Milk (1989), Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), Californication (1999), By the Way(2002), and Stadium Arcadium (2006).
Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the group's first commercial success, has sold over fifteen million copies. Frusciante grew uncomfortable with the success of the band and left abruptly in 1992, in the middle of the album tour. His use of heroin increased. After recruiting guitarist Arik Marshall to complete the tour, Kiedis, Flea, and Smith employed Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction for their subsequent album, One Hot Minute (1995). Although commercially successful, the album failed to match the critical or popular acclaim of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, selling less than half as well as its predecessor. Navarro left the band shortly after the album's release. Frusciante, fresh out of drug rehabilitation, rejoined the band in 1998 at Flea's request. The reunited quartet returned to the studio to record Californication (1999), which sold fifteen million copies - the band's most commercially successful album. That album was followed three years later by By the Way (2002), which was also successful. In 2006, the group released the double album Stadium Arcadium, their first number one album in America. After a world tour, the group went on an extended hiatus. Frusciante announced he was amicably leaving the band to focus on his solo career.[2] Josh Klinghoffer, who had worked both as a sideman for the band on their Stadium Arcadium tour and on Frusciante's solo projects, joined as lead guitarist.[3] The Red Hot Chili Peppers have recently finished their tenth studio album, entitled I'm with You, which will be released on August 30, 2011 and will be their first release with Klinghoffer.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have won 7 Grammy Awards. The band has sold over 60 million albums worldwide, charting eight singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 (including three in the Top 10), five number one singles on the Mainstream Rock charts, and a record of eleven number one singles on the Modern Rock charts.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers was formed by Anthony Kiedis, Hillel Slovak, Flea,and Jack Irons while they attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles.[4] Originally under the moniker of Tony Flow & the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem, their first performance was at the Rhythm Lounge to a crowd of approximately thirty people, opening for Gary and Neighbor's Voices.[5] They "wrote" for the occasion, which involved the band improvising music while Kiedis rapped a poem he had written called "Out in L.A.".[6] Since Slovak and Irons were already committed to another group, What Is This?, it was intended to be a one–time performance. However, the performance was so lively that the band was asked to return the following week.[5] Due to this unexpected success, the band changed its name to The Red Hot Chili Peppers, playing several more shows at various LA clubs and musical venues. Six songs from these initial shows were on the band's first demo tape.[7]
Several months after their first performance, the band announced that they were the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and were noticed by EMI and signed with the record label. Two weeks earlier, What Is This? had also obtained a record deal but withMCA. Slovak and Irons still considered the Red Hot Chili Peppers as only a side project and so they quit to focus on What Is This? Instead of dissolving the band, Kiedis and Flea recruited new members.[8] Cliff Martinez, a friend of Flea's and from the punk band, The Weirdos, joined shortly thereafter. The band held auditions for a new guitarist which included Weirdos guitarist, Dix Denney but it was decided that Jack Sherman was the best fit.[9]
Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill produced the first album. Gill, who "didn't embrace [the band's] musical aesthetic or ideology," argued constantly with the band over the record's sound.[10] Kiedis recalled that "Andy's thing was having a hit at all costs, but it was such a mistake to have an agenda."[11] Despite the misgivings of Kiedis and Flea, Gill pushed the band to play with a cleaner, crisper, more radio-friendly sound.[12] Their eponymous debut album, The Red Hot Chili Peppers was released on August 10, 1984. Though the album did not set sales records, airplay on college radio and MTV helped to build a fan base,[13] and the album ultimately sold 300,000 copies. However, the band was disappointed in the record's overall sound, feeling it was overly polished and as if it had "gone through a sterilizing Goody Two-shoes machine".[14] During the ensuing tour, continuing musical and lifestyle tension between Kiedis and Sherman complicated the transition between concert and daily band life.[15] Sherman was fired soon after, with Slovak returning to the Chili Peppers after growing tired of What is This?.
