Band History

The Red Hot Chili Peppers (RHCP) are an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983. For most of the band's existence, the members have been vocalist Anthony Kiedis, guitarist John Frusciante, bassist Michael "Flea" Balzary, and drummer Chad Smith. The Red Hot Chili Peppers originally called themselves Tony Flow and the Majestic Masters of Mayhem. They are formed by Fairfax (L.A.) High School alumni Anthony Kiedis, Hillel Slovak, Jack Irons, and Michael "Flea" Balzary in 1983. The band hired Chad Smith to drum for them just before recording the album Mother's Milk. In 1990, the group switched record labels to Warner Bros. Records. Their album Blood Sugar Sex Magik rose to #3 on the U.S. album charts and #310 on The Rolling Stone magazine list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Their 7th studio album, Californication peaked at #3 in the U.S. and the song "Scar Tissue" won the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The album, Stadium Arcadium debuted at #1 on the U.S. charts, and also #1 in the U.K. and 25 other countries. It was the best-selling album of the year with over 7 million copies.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers musical techmiques are different from every other band. Kiedis has a range of vocal stlyes while singing. His approach of spoken verse and "rapping" are complemented with more traditional vocals. John Frusciante bases his guitar stlye on blues and funk, but with a more melodic and textured sound. Flea's bass stlye is acollection of funk, psychedelic, punk, and hard rock. Chad Smith's drumming adds space and allows Frusciante and Flea to add melodies to the beats and grooves more effectively. The group also uses a lot of improvisation.