Red Hot Chili Peppers, also sometimes shortened to “The Chili Peppers” or abbreviated as “RHCP”, are an American funk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group’s musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk rock and psychedelic rock.
Let’s see some interesting facts about them!
1. Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed in Los Angeles by singer Anthony Kiedis, guitarist Hillel Slovak, bassist Flea, and drummer Jack Irons, all of whom were classmates from Fairfax High School.
2. Originally going under the band name of Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem, their first performance was at the Rhythm Lounge club to a crowd of approximately 30 people, opening for Gary and Neighbor’s Voices.
3. Inspired by punk funk acts like The Contortions and Defunkt, they “wrote” for the occasion, which involved the band improvising music while Kiedis rapped a poem he had written called “Out in L.A.”.
4. At the time, Slovak and Irons were already committed to another group, What Is This? 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 Red Hot Chili Peppers, playing several more shows at various LA clubs and musical venues.
6. Six songs from these initial shows were on the band’s first demo tape.
7. When played live, their music incorporates elements of jam band due to the improvised nature of much of their performances.
8. Currently, the band consists of founding members Anthony Kiedis (vocals) and Flea (bass), longtime drummer Chad Smith; and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the best-selling bands of all time with over 80 million records sold worldwide, have been nominated for sixteen Grammy Awards, of which they have won six and are the most successful band in alternative rock radio history currently holding the records for most number one singles, most cumulative weeks at number one and most top-ten songs on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.
10. In 2012, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
11. The band’s original line-up, originally named Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem before changing to Red Hot Chili Peppers after a few shows, featured guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons, alongside Kiedis and Flea. Because of commitments to other bands, Slovak and Irons did not play on the band’s self-titled debut album (1984).
12. Cliff Martinez was the drummer for the first two records (Irons played on the third), and guitarist Jack Sherman played on the first.
13. Slovak performed on the second and third albums by the band, Freaky Styley (1985) and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987), but he died from a heroin overdose in 1988.
14. As a result of his friend’s death, Irons chose to depart from the group.
15. Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist DeWayne McKnight was brought in to replace Slovak, though his tenure was short, which forced Frusciante to replace him in 1988.
16. Former Dead Kennedys drummer D. H. Peligro was brought in to replace Irons. His tenure was also short, so he was replaced by Chad Smith that same year.
17. The line-up of Flea, Kiedis, Frusciante, and Smith was the longest-lasting and recorded five studio albums beginning with Mother’s Milk (1989).
18. In 1990, the group signed with Warner Bros. Records and recorded the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) under producer Rick Rubin.
19. This album became the band’s first commercial success. Frusciante grew uncomfortable with the success of the band and left abruptly in 1992, in the middle of the Blood Sugar Sex Magik Tour.
20. After two temporary guitarists, Arik Marshall and Jesse Tobias, Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction joined in 1994 and for the group’s subsequent album, One Hot Minute (1995).
21. Although commercially successful, the album failed to match the critical or popular acclaim of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, selling less than half as much as its predecessor. Navarro was fired from the band in 1998.
22. Frusciante, fresh out of drug rehabilitation, rejoined the band that same year at Flea’s request. The reunited quartet returned to the studio to record Californication (1999), which became the band’s biggest commercial success with 16 million copies worldwide.
23. That album was followed three years later by By the Way (2002), and then four years later by the double album Stadium Arcadium (2006), their first number-one album in America. After a world tour, the group went on an extended hiatus.
24. Frusciante announced he was amicably leaving the band in 2009 to focus on his solo career.
25. Klinghoffer who had worked both as a sideman for the band on their Stadium Arcadium tour and on Frusciante’s solo projects, replaced him as lead guitarist.
26. The band’s tenth studio album, I’m with You, was released in 2011 and topped the charts in 18 different countries.
27. The group toured into 2014 and performed with Bruno Mars as a part of the halftime performance at Super Bowl XLVIII.
28. The band released their eleventh studio album, The Getaway on June 17, 2016. The album was produced by Danger Mouse marking the first time since 1989’s Mother’s Milk that someone other than Rick Rubin has produced one of their albums. A world tour followed the release of the album.
29. The whole band make a showing in an episode of The Simpsons. During ‘Krusty Gets Cancelled’ they play ‘Give It Away’ in their underwear.
30. Lead singer Anthony Kiedis joked that the reason they covered Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ was because it was between this song, and covering New Kids On The Block’s ‘Hanging Tough’.
31. Richard Hawley played guitar on All Saints’ cover of ‘Under The Bridge’.
32. Flea has two children: Clara from first wife Loesha Zeivar and Sunny Bebop with second wife Frankie Rayder. The former was in a band herself called The Tints.
33. Εx drummer Cliff Martinez (who played on ‘Freaky Styley’) is now a film composer, and has produced scores for Traffic, Solaris and many more.
34. Anthony Kiedis once developed a series for HBO based around his unusual Los Angeles upbringing.
35. In 1986, the Peppers’ record company gave them $5,000 to make a new record. They spent $2,000 of it on heroin and cocaine, which was becoming a huge problem for original guitarist Hillel Slovak.
36. Various drug addictions had once again crippled the Peppers in the mid ’90s, to the point where they scheduled only one concert in 1997: at the Fuji Rock Festival. They played eight songs before a typhoon hit.
37. Flea grew up with an alcoholic step-father who eventually became involved in shoot-outs with police.
38. The cover for ‘Stadium Arcadium’ was created by Storn Thorgerson, a graphic designer famous for his work with Pink Floyd, T Rex and The Mars Volta. However, the band rejected his ideas and went with their own, which Storm subsequently dismissed.
39. Desecration Smile’ is about Anthony Kiedis relationship with his ex-wife. When sings about being “Serenaded by the terror bird,” he’s referring to a band called The Terrors, who Heather took him to see.
40. Anthony Kiedis, along with his son Everly, appeared in Bob And The Monster.
41. While many people believe their song ‘Tearkjerker’ was written about a girl, it was really inspired by Kurt Cobain.
42. The woman behind ‘Dani California’ was…’every girl I’ve met in my life,” according to singer Anthony Kiedis.
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