Early history(1983–1984)
Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed by singer Anthony Kiedis, guitarist Hillel Slovak, bassist Flea and drummer Jack Irons while they attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. Originally under the moniker of Tony Flow and the Majestic Masters of Mayhem, their first performance was at the Rhythm Lounge to a crowd of approximately 30 people, opening for Gary and Neighbor's Voices. They "wrote" for the occasion, which involved the band improvising music while Kiedis rapped a poem he had written called "Out in L.A.". 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. 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. Several months after their first performance, the band announced, that they were The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and were noticed by EMI and signed with the record label in early 1984. 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. Cliff Martinez, a friend of Flea's and from the punk band. Building a following and Slovak's death (1985–1988) George Clinton produced the next album, Freaky Styley (1985). Clinton combined various elements of punk and funk into the band's repertoire, allowing their music to incorporate a variety of distinct styles. The band often indulged in heavy heroin use while recording the album, which influenced the lyrics and musical direction of the album. The band had a much better relationship with Clinton than with Gill, but Freaky Styley, released on August 16, 1985, also achieved little success, failing to make an impression on any chart. The subsequent tour was also considered unproductive by the band. Despite the lack of success, the band was satisfied with Freaky Styley; Kiedis reflected, that "it so surpassed anything we thought we could have done that we were thinking we were on the road to enormity." The band appeared in the 1986 movie Thrashin' (directed by David Winters and starring Josh Brolin) playing the song "Blackeyed Blonde" fromFreaky Styley. During this time the band also appeared in the movie Tough Guys starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas performing the song "Set It Straight" at a Los Angeles nightclub. In the spring of 1986, the band decided to begin work on their upcoming album. EMI gave the band a budget of $5,000 to record a demo tape, and the band chose to work with producer Keith Levene, because he shared the band's interest in drugs. Levene and Slovak decided to put aside $2,000 of the budget to spend on heroin and cocaine, which created tension between the band members. Martinez' "heart was no longer in the band", but he did not quit, so Kiedis and Flea fired him. After the firing of Martinez, original drummer Jack Irons rejoined the band to Kiedis, Flea, and Slovak's great surprise, which marked the first time all four founding members were together since 1983. During the recording and subsequent tour of Freaky Styley, Kiedis and Slovak were dealing with debilitating heroin addictions. Due to his addiction, Kiedis "didn't have the same drive or desire to come up with ideas or lyrics" and appeared at rehearsal "literally asleep". He was briefly kicked out of the band after the tour, and given a month to rehabilitate. The band won the LA Weekly "Band of the Year Award," which prompted Kiedis to get clean in order to continue making music. He called his mother in Michigan for guidance, who sent him to drug rehabilitation. After Kiedis completed his stint in rehab, he felt a "whole new wave of enthusiasm" due to his sobriety and wrote the lyrics to "Fight Like a Brave" on the plane ride home. He rejoined Red Hot Chili Peppers in Los Angeles to record the group's next album, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987). The Chili Peppers attempted to hire Rick Rubin to produce their third album, but he declined. The band eventually hired Michael Beinhorn, the band's last choice. Kiedis sat down with producer Michael Beinhorn to discuss the recording of the album; Kiedis planned to record the album in ten days and write the songs during the recording sessions. Songs began to form quickly, and the album took shape, blending the same funk feel and rhythms as Freaky Styley, with a harder, more immediate approach to punk rock. The album was recorded in the basement of the Capitol Records Building. The recording process for the album was difficult; Kiedis would frequently disappear to seek drugs. After fifty days of sobriety, Kiedis decided to take drugs again to celebrate his new music. His drug use "made a mess of the early recording process", but the band still had an enjoyable time recording the album. The band was musically inspired by the return of their original drummer Jack Irons, who added "such an important and different element to our chemistry." Slovak helped Kiedis record his vocals on the album. In between takes, Slovak would run around the studio out of excitement and say "This is the most beautiful thing we've ever done." On September 29, 1987, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan was released, becoming their first album to appear on any chart. Although it peaked at only No. 148 on the Billboard 200, this was a significant success compared to the first two. During this period, however, Kiedis and Slovak had both developed serious drug addictions, often abandoning the band, each other, and their significant others for days on end. Slovak's addiction led to his death on June 25, 1988, not long after the conclusion of the Uplift tour. Kiedis fled the city and did not attend Slovak's funeral (referenced in the song This Is The Place), considering the situation to be surreal and dreamlike. After returning to L.A. following his departure after Slovak's death, Kiedis along with Flea, Irons and manager Lindy Goetz had a meeting to figure out what to do next. Irons decided he had to leave the group, saying that he did not want to be part of a group, where his friends were dying. Irons, who would battle through years of depression, went on to become a member of Seattle grunge band Pearl Jam many years later. With Slovak dead, Irons quitting, Kiedis and Flea debated whether they should continue making music, but ultimately decided to move ahead, hoping to continue, what Slovak "helped build". Succesful new line-up (1988–1990) Chad Smith became the band's drummer through open auditions in November 1988 replacing D.H. Peligro. After losing two of the original band members Flea and Kiedis started looking for musicians to fill those spots. Shortly after Irons departure they chose as Slovak's replacement DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight, former member of Parliament-Funkadelic and who at one point briefly filled in for Slovak, when he was temporarily fired. D. H. Peligro of the punk rock outfit Dead Kennedys replaced Irons. Kiedis and Flea had been friends with Peligro for many years and even had a joke band together called Three Little Butt Hairs. With a new lineup set, Kiedis decided to enter rehab to fix his drug problem. Kiedis entered a rehab facility in Van Nuys called ASAP. After two weeks into Kiedis' rehab he was taken by his counselor, Bob Timmons, to finally visit Slovak's grave. Kiedis had no desire to be there, however Timmons urged him to talk to Slovak. Within minutes, Kiedis had opened up and could not stop crying. Thirty days later, Kiedis left rehab and was ready to resume his career with the band. Three dates into the tour, McKnight was fired, because the chemistry wasn't there with the other three McKnight was with the band however long enough to record one song, "Blues For Meister", a song sung by Flea. McKnight was so unhappy about being fired he threatened to burn Kiedis' house down. Unlike the stop-start sessions for The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987), where Kiedis would frequently disappear to seek drugs, pre-production for Mother's Milk (1989) went smoothly. The band recorded basic tracks during March and early April 1989 at Hully Gully studios in Silver Lake; songs like "Knock Me Down" were formed from jam sessions without any input from returning producer Michael Beinhorn. Although there had been stress and conflict during the recording of other Chili Peppers albums, the Mother's Milk sessions were especially uncomfortable due to Beinhorn's incessant desire to create a hit. Frusciante and Kiedis were frustrated with the producer's attitude. In April 1989, the Chili Peppers embarked on a short tour to break in the new lineup. Released on August 16, 1989, Mother's Milk peaked at number 52 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The record failed to chart in the United Kingdom and Europe, but climbed to number 33 in Australia. "Knock Me Down" reached number six on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks whereas "Higher Ground" charted at number eleven; the latter of the two ultimately proved to be more successful, however, by influencing foreign charts at number fifty-four in the UK and forty-five in Australia and France. Mother's Milk was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in late March 1990—it is now certified platinum—and was the first Chili Peppers album to ship in excess of 500,000 units. Breakthrough, international fame and Frusciante's first departure (1990–1992) "Give It Away", the first single from the record, combined funky guitar riffs and prominent sexual references with an overall "dryer" guitar sound attributed to producer Rick Rubin. Problems listening to this file? See media help.In 1990, after the success of Mother's Milk, the group decided they had enough with EMI and entered a major label bidding war ultimately signing with Warner Bros. Records and hired Rick Rubin to produce their then-untitled fifth album. Rubin, who would go on to produce all of the band's subsequent studio albums, originally turned the band down in 1987, because of Anthony and Hillel's drug problems, this time felt the band was in a better place and much more focused. The writing process for this album was far more productive than it had been forMother's Milk, with Kiedis stating, "[every day], there was new music for me to lyricize". On September 24, 1991, Blood Sugar Sex Magik was released. "Give It Away" was released as the first single; it eventually became one of the band's biggest and most well known songs, winning a Grammy Award in 1992 for "Best Hard Rock Performance With Vocal" and became the band's first number one single on the Modern Rock chart The ballad "Under the Bridge" was released as a second single, and went on to reach No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the highest the band has reached on that chart as of 2011, and became one of the band's most recognizable songs. Other singles such as "Breaking the Girl" and "Suck My Kiss" also charted well. The album itself was an international sensation, selling over 15 million copies and greatly broadening the Chili Peppers' audience and becoming one of the most iconic albums of its era. Blood Sugar Sex Magik was listed at number 310 on the Rolling Stone magazine list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and in 1992 it rose to No. 3 on the U.S. album charts, almost a year after its release. The unexpected success instantly turned Red Hot Chili Peppers into rock stars. Frusciante was blindsided by his newfound fame, and struggled to cope with it. Soon after the album's release, he began to develop a dislike for the band's popularity and personal problems between Kiedis and Frusciante began to unfold. Kiedis recalled that he and Frusciante used to get into heated discussions backstage after concerts: "John would say, 'We're too popular. I don't need to be at this level of success. I would just be proud to be playing this music in clubs like you guys were doing two years ago.'" The final dates with Frusciante were a mess and Frusciante was so disconnected from the group, often changing the way he played on certain songs, which further got under Kiedis' skin. Unknown to others, Frusciante was also starting his own drug habit at the time and was shutting himself off from everyone except for his girlfriend. Frusciante abruptly quit the band hours before a show during the Blood Sugar Japanese tour in May 1992. In September 1992, the Peppers, with Marshall, performed "Give It Away" at the MTV Video Music Awards. The band was nominated for seven awards including Video of the Year (which they did not obtain), however they did manage to win three other awards, including Viewer's Choice. On February 24, 1993, the band, along with George Clinton & the P.Funk All-Stars and Weapon of Choice, performed "Give It Away" at the Grammy Awards, a song which won the band their first Grammy later that evening. The performance marked the end of the Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour and Marshall's final performance with the band. The band had planned to begin a follow-up to Blood Sugar Sex Magik with Marshall. However, when it came time to play music, Marshall was always busy, so the band decided that Marshall failed to fit with their future plans and he was dismissed. The band began its tour for One Hot Minute in Europe on September 27, 1995 and played 16 shows. A US tour was to follow but was postponed after Chad Smith broke his wrist. The band considered carrying on with the tour even at one point considering Jack Irons as a replacement for Smith but there just wasn't enough time to rehearse with anyone new and the dates were rescheduled for early 1996. The band spent most of 1996 playing shows in the United States and Europe. By 1997, for the first time, the band cancelled many shows. Most of this was again due to problems within the band. Flea at that point was exhausted, tired of playing the same songs each night and was seriously talking about quitting the band while Kiedis had recently been involved in a motorcycle accident which left one arm in a sling and created yet another drug relapse due to his use of painkillers. Even Navarro was back to using drugs. 1997 saw the band playing just one show. This was at the very first Fuji Rock Festival on July 26, 1997. A massive typhoon hit that day but the band played anyway. They played through an 8 song set before having to cut the show short due to the storm. This would be the final show with Navarro and due to Flea's previous comments left many speculating if it was the end of the band. After making attempts to carry on with Navarro and record a follow-up to One Hot Minute things were not working out and due to Navarro's drug problems and lack of effort in wanting to create new music and chemistry on the road the band felt it was time to part ways. In April 1998 it was announced that Navarro had left the band due to creative differences; Kiedis stated that the decision was "mutual". Reports at the time, however, indicated Navarro's departure came after he attended a band practice under the influence of drugs, which at one point involved him falling backwards over his own amp. |
Return of Frusciante and new-found success (1998–2001)
In the years following his departure from the band, it became public that John Frusciante had developed a heroin addiction, which left him in poverty and near death. Frusciante had lost contact with most of his friends. However, Flea always remained in contact, and he helped talk Frusciante into admitting himself to Las Encinas Drug Rehabilitation Center in January 1998. He concluded the process in February of that year and began renting a small apartment in Silver Lake. He acquired many injuries/problems in the years of his addiction, some requiring surgery, including permanent scarring on his arms, a restructured nose, and new teeth to prevent fatal infection."Otherside", the third single fromCalifornication, was one of the darkest recordings following One Hot Minute due to Kiedis' continuing drug addiction which considerably affected his songwriting. The track prominently features a sparse guitar arrangement that Frusciante played on a 1955 Gretsch White Falcon. Despite the band's elation, Frusciante was both mentally and physically torn. Frusciante had not played with the band since his departure and other than his solo albums had not picked up a guitar in years. He had lost his guitars in a house fire from which he barely escaped, he experienced a difficult time resuming his prior life. The group began jamming in Flea's garage and it didn't take long for Frusciante to regain his talent, however, and new songs began to roll out. Frusciante's return restored a key component of the Chili Peppers' sound, as well as a healthy morale. He brought with him his deep devotion to music, which had an impact on the band's recording style during the album. Frusciante has frequently stated that his work on Californication was his favorite. On June 8, 1999, after more than a year of production and meticulous practice, Californication was released as the band's seventh studio album. The album ultimately sold over 15 million copies and became the band's most successful recording to date. Californication contained fewer rap-driven songs than its predecessors, instead integrating textured, consistent, and melodic guitar riffs, vocals and bass-lines. Californication produced three more number one modern rock hits, "Scar Tissue", "Otherside" and "Californication". Californication gained positive critical acceptance in contrast to its less popular predecessor, One Hot Minute, and was a greater success worldwide. While many critics credited the success of the album to Frusciante's return, they also noted that Kiedis' vocals had also greatly improved. Californication was listed at number 399 on the Rolling Stone magazine list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In July 1999, as part of the band's two-year long international world tour in support of their new album, Red Hot Chili Peppers played at Woodstock 1999, which became infamous for the violence it resulted in. Some 10 minutes before the show, they were asked by Jimi Hendrix's stepsister to play a cover of her brother's songs. After some hesitation due to not having performed the song in years, the band decided to play his classic "Fire", which they had covered on Mother's Milk. Coincidentally, about two thirds of the way into the band's set, the closing set of the three-day concert, a small fire escalated into full-fledged vandalism and resulted in the intervention of riot control squads. The disruption escalated into violence when nearby property including ATMs and several semi-tractor trailers were looted and destroyed. Kiedis felt that "It was clear that this situation had nothing to do with Woodstock anymore. It wasn't symbolic of peace and love, but of greed and cashing in... We woke up to papers and radio stations vilifying us for playing 'Fire'." The tour also originated the band's first concert DVD, 2001's Off the Map. Popularity confirmed (2001–2004) Sample of "By the Way", the first single from the album, which was far more fast paced and contained heavier guitar riffs than most of the songs on By the Way. Frusciante sings backing vocals throughout the chorus and bridge. The writing and formation of the band's next album, By the Way began immediately following the culmination of Californication's world tour, in the Spring of 2001. As with Californication, much of the creation took place in the band members' homes, and other locations of practice, such as a recording studio stage. Kiedis recalled of the situation: "We started finding some magic and some music and some riffs and some rhythms and some jams and some grooves, and we added to it and subtracted from it and pushed it around and put melodies to it." Frusciante and Kiedis would collaborate for days straight, discussing and sharing guitar progressions and lyrics. For Kiedis, "writing By the Way...was a whole different experience from Californication. John was back to himself and brimming with confidence." Before recording By the Way (2002), the Chili Peppers decided, that they would again haveRick Rubin produce the album. In the past, Rubin had given the band creative freedom on their recording material; this was something they thought essential for the album to be unique, and could only occur with his return. Originally the album was headed in a much different direction than the final production. The album started out as a group of fast, hardcore punk songs, which Rubin rejected. Frusciante also wanted a darker, 1980s UK pop/new wave sound mixed in with 1980s hardcore. The recording process was tough for Flea, who felt like an outsider in the band and that his role was being diminished due to a musical power struggle with Frusciante. Flea wanted to create more funk-inspired songs, while Frusciante felt, that the band had overused their funk side. Flea considered quitting the band after the album, but the two eventually worked out all their problems. By the Way was released on July 9, 2002 and produced four singles; "By the Way", "The Zephyr Song", "Can't Stop" and "Universally Speaking". The album was their most subdued album to date, focusing primarily on melodic ballads as opposed to their classic rap-driven funk. Frusciante also concentrated on a more layered texture on many of the songs, often adding keyboard parts, that featured low in the mix, and also writing string arrangements for songs such as "Midnight" and "Minor Thing". The album was followed by an eighteen month-long world tour. The European leg of the By the Way tour produced the band's second full-length concert DVD, Live at Slane Castle, recorded at Slane Castle in Ireland on August 23, 2003. The band released their first full-length live album, Live in Hyde Park; recorded during their performances in Hyde Park, London. More than 258,000 fans paid over $17,100,000 for tickets over three nights, a 2004 record; the event ranked No.1 on Billboard's Top Concert Boxscores of 2004. In November 2003, the Chili Peppers released their Greatest Hits album, which featured two new songs, "Fortune Faded" and "Save the Population". The two songs were selected out of sessions, that generated fifteen tracks, which Chad later said the band had hopes to use along with new compositions to create a full album after finishing the tour, but the idea was vetoed by Frusciante because his musical influences and styles had evolved and he wanted to do something new. Best-selling album and commercial peak (2005–2007) In 2006 the band released the Grammy Award–winning Stadium Arcadium produced by Rick Rubin. Although 38 songs were created with the intention of being released as three separate albums spaced six months apart, the band instead chose to release a 28-track double album, and released nine of the ten as B–sides. It was their first album to debut at No. 1 on the US charts, where it stayed for two weeks, and debuted at number one in the UK and 25 other countries. Stadium Arcadium sold over seven million units. The record's first single, "Dani California", was the band's fastest-selling single, debuting on top of the Modern Rock chart in the U.S., peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching No. 2 in the UK. "Tell Me Baby", released next, also topped the charts in 2006. "Snow ((Hey Oh))" was released in late 2006, breaking multiple records by 2007. The song became their eleventh number one single, giving the band a cumulative total of 81 weeks at number one. It was also the first time three consecutive singles by the band made it to number one. "Desecration Smile" was released internationally in February 2007 and reached number 27 on the UK charts. "Hump de Bump" was planned to be the next single for the US, Canada, and Australia only, but due to positive feedback from the music video, it was released as a worldwide single in May 2007. The band began another world tour in support of Stadium Arcadium in 2006, beginning with promotional concerts in Europe and culminating in a two-month long European tour from late May to mid-July. During this tour Frusciante's friend and frequent musical collaborator Josh Klinghoffer joined the touring band, contributing guitar parts, back up vocals, and keyboards. In February 2007, Stadium Arcadium won five Grammys: Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song ("Dani California"), Best Rock Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocal ("Dani California"), Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package, and Best Producer (Rick Rubin). Rolling Stone's '100 Best Albums of the Decade (2000-2009)' included Stadium Arcadium at # 74. Kiedis, who had recently become a father, was looking forward to the time off and taking care of his son Everly Bear and possibly creating a short television series called Spider and Son, which was set to recap his autobiography. Flea began taking music theory classes at the University of Southern California, and revealed plans to release a mainly instrumental solo record, that was being recorded in his home; guest musicians include Patti Smith and a choir from the Silverlake Conservatory. Flea also joined Thom Yorke of Radiohead in the supergroup Atoms for Peace. Frusciante continued his solo career and released his solo album, The Empyrean. Chad Smith worked with Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Michael Anthony in the supergroupChickenfoot, as well as on his solo project, Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats. The band planned to remain on hiatus for "a minimum of one year". I'm with You, the band's tenth studio album was released in the United States in August 2011. The album topped the charts in 18 different countries although failed to provide the band with their second straight number one debut in the U.S. The album was met with mostly positive reviews from the critics. The album's first single, "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" was released a month earlier and went on to become the band's twelfth number one hit single, topping their own record. Kreayshawn was tapped to direct the music video for the single, however due to unknown reasons, the video shot by Kreayshawn went unreleased and a second video directed by Marc Klasfeld was released in its place. "Monarchy of Roses", "Look Around" and "Did I Let You Know", released only in Brazil, followed as singles/music videos. "Brendan's Death Song" would be the next single and released during the summer of 2012. The band was nominated for two MTV Europe Music Awards awards for Best Rock Band and Best Live Artist and nominated for Best Group at the 2012 People's Choice Awards I'm with You was also nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. The band released 2011 Live EP on March 29, 2012. The EP a free five live song MP3 download through their website. The five songs were selected by Chad Smith from the band's 2011 European live albums, which were released for purchase through their website as well. May 1, 2012 saw the release of digital download only Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Covers EP, which consisted of previously released studio and live covers of artists, that influenced the band. In addition to their newly released live performances, starting in August 2012, the band has put out a collection of singles from the I'm With You Sessions. The singles, which will contain two songs each and total 17 songs will be available on 7" vinyl, digital download and CD. The last single is expected for release in April 2013. Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez again joined the band during their August 12, 2012 performance of "Give it Away" in Los Angeles. Two days later during a show in Oakland, Josh suffered a broken foot during their performance which will require him to wear a walking boot. He was provided with a chair onstage at the following night's show, but was able to stand during the entire performance. Chad said that Klinghoffer's injury would not affect any of the band's tour dates and joked that Klinghoffer actually plays better since the injury. They made a concert at Santralistanbul, Istanbul, Turkey on September 8, 2012, there was no alcohol sales at the venue. The band made Forbes' World’s 25 Highest-Paid Musicians for 2012 list placing at number 19 and taking in $39 million for I'm with You and the tour to support it. The tour made $33,911,873 in 2012 which was ranked 15th on Billboard's annual Top 25 Tours list. Eleventh studio album (2013–present) Chad Smith revealed the I'm with You tour will end in April 2013 and following the tour the band will take a short break before working on their next album, which he expects to start working on in mid-2013. Smith said "We’re all re-energized and Josh Klinghoffer is playing better every day and we’re more connected as a band now obviously through time and playing." In March 2013, Chad Smith answered a fan on his Twitter page asking about the next album in which Smith replied "we're going to start writing more songs in sept". The band plans to play U.S. festivals in the summer prior to working on the next album with dates scheduled for Orion Music + More and Firefly Music Festival in June along with Outside Lands Festival in August. Flea along with Chili Peppers touring percussionist, Mauro Refosco will spend the band's break keeping busy with their side-project, Atoms For Peace who have many dates throughout the world scheduled from July to November 2013. |