6 Things You Need to Know About the Red Hot Chili Peppers

If there’s one thing you can’t deny about the Red Hot Chili Peppers, they’re funk metal legends. It’s incredible just how vast the band’s catalog is at this point, though it makes sense. They’ve been around for just over four decades. Naturally, with such a vast history, they’ve had tons of different interesting facts and stories come to the surface about them and their work. So, we wanted to share 6 things you need to know about the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Today, we’ve deeply dived into said history to uncover some of these fun facts. After doing a lot of digging, we’ve compiled 6 stories about the Red Hot Chili Peppers that we’re sure you need to know. These stories range from things that some fans may already to know, to some very obscure facts that even diehards may not know.

Contents

1 – Red Hot Chili Peppers took more than a decade to hit mainstream success

It’s hard to imagine a time when the Red Hot Chili Peppers weren’t yet the rock institution they are today. However, back when the band had just begun their musical efforts, it was a struggle for them to successfully break through. From their inception in 1982, the band’s musical aspirations would find them growing steadily in the underground scene. But, despite their efforts and excellent body of music, progress was slow.

Their signature style of funk rock was incredibly likable, and earned them a lot of fans. With the release of their third album, The Uplift Mofo Party, they finally hit gold. Unfortunately, following their tour for said album, the band’s original guitarist and founding member Hillel Slovak passed away from a heroin overdose. Decimated and unable to cope with the loss, drummer Jack Irons would also leave the band.

With the passing of Hillel Slovak, the band’s most iconic guitarist John Frusciante would step up to the table. With him, he’d bring a playing style reminiscent of Hillel Slovak’s funky sound, but with his own unique spin. Chad Smith would hop on drums, and together they’d make Mother’s Milk. Despite continued success and proof the band could go on, Mother’s Milk also only hit gold in sales.

Enter the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ savior, Rick Rubin

It was the arrival of one Rick Rubin who’d finally turn the band from an underground favorite to a mainstream sensation. Between many different creative pushes forward and the band’s musical style evolving further, Blood Sugar S*x Magik would launch to a resounding reception. Sales hit platinum, and from that point on the band would cement themselves as rock legends.

Rick Rubin likes to give bands a proper creative environment, so he rented a mansion for the band to collaborate. He described his approach with RHCP to Rolling Stone Magazine. “When I moved to California, one of the first albums I made was the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Blood Sugar S*x Magik.’ This was their fifth album. The choice was, we could go into a windowless recording studio, like the ones they did the last four times, or we could create some new adventure. We rented this mansion, and the band lived there, and we worked there together. And as a matter of fact, three of the members never left the premises until the album was done, which is radical.”

2 – The band originally had a completely different name than Red Hot Chili Peppers

Young Red Hot Chili Peppers — Red Hot Chili Peppers band

The name “Red Hot Chili Peppers” is one of the most iconic and immediately recognizable in the rock circuit. It’s practically impossible to mention any part of the name to a fan of rock without thinking about the band. That’s why it’s pretty surprising to hear that before they were the Red Hot Chili Peppers, they were Tony Flow and the Miraculous Majestic Masters of Mayhem. Yes, it’s a mouthful, and yes, it’s a lot of fun to say.

Tony Flow refers to band frontman Anthony Kiedis, with the rest of the band being the respective masters of mayhem. In the early days, they were relatively small names trying to make an impact on the rock scene, and the struggle to make it happen was immense. Nowadays, Anthony and Flea reminisce about back when they only had about 30 viewers for shows as an opening act.

Anthony Kiedis explains the derivation of the band’s name in his auto-biography, ‘Scar Tissue‘. Kiedis offered, “It’s a derivation of a classic old-school American blues or jazz name. There was Louis Armstrong with his Hot Five, and also other bands that had ‘Red Hot‘ this or ‘Chili‘ that. But no one had ever been the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a name that would forever be a blessing and a curse.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers transition from a less “jazzy” sound

It’s really difficult to picture a time when the band wasn’t already doing what they do best, but for what it’s worth, Tony Flow and the Miraculous Majestic Masters of Mayhem were a vastly different band from modern RHCP. For starters, they took a lot more inspiration from jazz, with many of their performances just being improvised instrumentals over poetry reading. It’s a stark contrast to the tight showings they have today.

The name “Red Hot Chili Peppers” actually comes from Louis Armstrong. More specifically, it comes from the artist’s jazz quintet that would often accompany him. It’s a reminder of their strong jazz and funk influences, especially in their earlier days. Currently, we can’t imagine them being anything but the Peppers, but it’s fascinating to think there could’ve been a world where Tony Flow were the breakout stars instead.

3 – Under The Bridge was almost never made into a song

Under The Bridge off of Blood Sugar S*x Magik is often seen as one of the band’s first important singles. In the beginning, the song wasn’t even meant to be included on the album. Anthony Kiedis was not a fan of the song and argued to drop the track from the album. This might come as a surprise to some of you, as many consider the song integral to the band’s success and identity. Regardless, it’s an impressively unique track for the band and among one of their many bangers.

Even though it’s inclusion on Blood Sugar S*x Magik was in doubt, Under The Bridge is touted as its emotional crux. Unlike most songs by the band, Under The Bridge tones back the heavier elements. Instead, it embraces a more somber, melancholic tone while maintaining a strong hook. Lyrically, the fun wordplay take a backseat to clear and honest songwriting. All this make for a completely different style from the typical RHCP song, reminiscent of Scar Tissue from Californication.

The genesis of Under the Bridge

The song began as nothing more than a poem written by Anthony Kiedis during a dark period in his life. Isolation had begun to kick in, and even among his peers he felt left out and lonely. He wrote the poem, relating to the city as the one thing he felt hadn’t abandoned him yet. It would go into his stash of poetry, waiting alongside a ton of his other song ideas. It took a couple of years, and an eager Rick Rubin digging through these writings, to bring it to the surface.

Rick Rubin saw plenty of potential in the poem, and pushed for Anthony and the band to convert it into a full song. While the band members, especially Anthony Kiedis, saw it as too much of a departure from their regular style, they would eventually relent. Under The Bridge would become the first single off of the album, and a huge hit for the band. It was a showcase of the band’s range, and remains a memorable piece from them.

4 – The band has gone through 8 guitarists and 3 drummers

Red Hot Chili Peppers Guitarists — Frusciante and Klinghoffer

In the year 2019, the Red Hot Chili Peppers sadly announced that guitarist Josh Klinghoffer was leaving the lineup. They followed this up with the joyous announcement that John Frusciante was rejoining, to great applause. Of course, while this was surprising, it was nothing new for fans. When it comes to the mythos of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the way they’ve gone through guitarists is one of the more well-known stories.

While their most beloved players are John Frusciante and Hillel Slovak, the band’s gone through eight different guitarists over their lifespan. These include the likes of Jack Sherman, Dewayne ‘Blackbyrd’ McKnight, Arik Marshall, Jesse Tobias, Dave Navarro and Josh Klinghoffer. All of them play an integral role in the band’s growth, and each is revered in his own right.

It’s become a bit of a running joke among fans of the band, and to be fair, the band plays into it at times too. Perhaps the most obvious of these was when Dave Navarro jumped into the band for touring and had a guitar pick referencing all the past guitarists of the band. Now that John Frusciante is back, things seem more stable, but you never know when the next change will arrive.

Chili Peppers cycle through more than just guitarists

Perhaps a lesser-known fact regarding instrumentalists on the band is that they’ve had three different drummers. Most Chilis fans know Chad Smith as the band’s drummer, but before that, they had Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez. Jack would famously leave the band in deep sorrow from the passing of Hillel Slovak. Cliff Martinez joined, briefly, to fill in during a vacancy.

5 – Flea has been in many different movies and shows

Things you need to know about Red Hot Chili Peppers — Flea – Red Hot Chili Peppers

Flea is quite the character, isn’t he? Ask any fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers who their favorite band member is, and you’ll get quite a few people saying Flea. And it’s really not surprising. The bass slapping maestro is well known as the court jester for the band since its inception. Add to that his insanely unique style of playing, his skill around the instrument, and his unbridled enthusiasm on stage, and you have the makings of a top-tier performer.

What you may not know about Flea however is that he’s got a shockingly large backlog of acting credits in movies and shows. Granted, most of these aren’t exactly big roles. But it’s incredibly funny and amusing just how many background roles Flea has had in cinema history. In some of these, he’s not even properly credited, which makes it doubly amusing that he just ‘happens’ to pop up in these movies.

Flea posses aikon impressive filmography

Just to name a few movies that Flea has been in, he’s a named character in both Back to the Future II and Back to the Future III. In one of his more prominent roles, he hilariously plays a loud nihilist in The Big Lebowski. He’s featured in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He’s a background character in Toy Story 4, of all things. Perhaps most importantly, he’s the voice actor of Donnie Thornberry from the Wild Thornberries.

Frankly, we’re happy to see Hollywood embrace Flea, and we’re eager to see him in more productions. It’s always a blast to see small cameos in movies and shows, and with a personality as lovable as Flea’s? Adding him to any scene is only going to make things better.

6 – The Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the most successful bands of all time

For the biggest fans of the band, this will come as no surprise. But for more fairweather RHCP fanatics, you may find it surprising just how big of a deal the Red Hot Chili Peppers are. With over 120 million records sold worldwide, they are practically record-selling machines. They hold the records for most number-one singles (15), most cumulative weeks at number one (91), and most top-ten songs (28) on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.

Not enough? They have also won seven Grammy Awards and were inducted into the prestegious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 2012. On top of that, the Red Hot Chili Peppers played at the 2014 Super Bowl to a crowd of 112.2 million viewers. Even today they continue to draw huge crowds, retaining their electrifying stage energy that carries through their entire performance.

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RHCP ushers in a style of music all their own

If that weren’t enough, they have a long history of success consistent throughout their careers. Despite their humble beginnings and many difficulties, after Blood Sugar S*x Magik they were practically unstoppable. By the time their hits began rolling in, they were touring with names like Nirvana. They were also at the forefront of the genre-defying alternative music boom alongside the likes of Nirvana, and REM.

Undeniably, the band did a lot to redefine what popular music could even be. The cultural impact of their landmark albums like Blood Sugar S*x Magik and Californication cannot be overstated. Their groovy, funk-adjacent style of rock that came about from their early days as a band remains as one of the most unique sounds in music. Perhaps most importantly, their legacy remains intact to this very day.

With that, we’re at the end of the list! We hope you found out something new today, especially if you’re a fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. These stories are important pieces of music history, and can also be a great conversation starter with other band fans! If you’re not yet a fan, pick up a copy of their greatest hits and prepare to be amazed. Or perhaps check out their latest album, released in 2022, Return of the Dream Canteen.

If you have any other facts or insights you’d like to add about the band, feel free to add them in the comments below! We’re always happy to see more discussion, especially about the music, and would love to hear your RHCP top tracks. Until then, keep reading for more news and updates on the world of rock and metal music!