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Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American 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, hip hop and psychedelic rock. The band consists of founding members Anthony Kiedis (vocals) and Michael “Flea” Balzary (bass), alongside longtime drummer Chad Smith and recently added guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.
The band’s original line-up featured guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons, albeit not playing on the debut album, The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Cliff Martinez was the drummer for the first two records, filling in for Irons, and guitarist Jack Sherman played on the first only. Slovak performed on two albums with the band, Freaky Styley and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan; he died of a heroin overdose in 1988, resulting in Irons’ departure. Former Dead Kennedys drummer D. H. Peligro briefly replaced Irons before the band found a permanent replacement in Smith. Guitarist John Frusciante replaced Slovak. The line-up of Flea, Kiedis, Frusciante and Smith was the longest-lasting, and 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 13 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 15 million copies – the band’s most commercially successful album. That album was followed three years later by By the Way, 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. 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. The band released their tenth studio album, I’m with You, on August 29th 2011.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have won 7 Grammy Awards. The band has sold over 70 million albums worldwide, charting nine singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 (including three in the Top 10), six number one singles on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and they currently hold the record for most number one singles on the Alternative Songs chart at 12.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers was formed by rapper and 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 & 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.
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