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Red Hot Chili Peppers

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band from Los Angeles, founded in 1982. The singer Anthony Kiedis and bass player Flea knew each other from Fairfax High School, and formed the band with guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons. The group blended funk with punk and rock and so became one of the best-known bands of funk rock.

Music and breakthrough

Their second album, Freaky Styley (1985), was produced by George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic. In 1988 Slovak died of a heroin overdose. His place was taken by the young guitarist John Frusciante, and at the end of 1988 Chad Smith joined on drums. In 1991 the band recorded Blood Sugar Sex Magik, with producer Rick Rubin, at The Mansion, a studio in a house in Laurel Canyon. The first single, Give It Away, revolves around a bouncing bass line from Flea, over which Kiedis repeats the title like a chant. The song became the band's first number one on the American Modern Rock chart and won a Grammy in 1993. The ballad Under the Bridge reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album has sold more than twelve million copies.

Influence

With Californication (1999) the band became bigger still. The group has sold more than 120 million records worldwide and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. The combination the band found early on, Kiedis's rapped vocals over Flea's slap bass, remained the core of the sound. In this way the funk of the 1970s lived on in rock.

Listening

Listening tip. In Give It Away, listen to Flea's bass: he slaps and pulls the strings (slapping), so that every note sounds like a dry crack, and the line leaps across almost the whole neck of the bass. Also hear John Frusciante's guitar solo: it was recorded and then laid backwards over the music.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Mentioned in other articles

See also

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (en): Red Hot Chili Peppers
  2. Wikipedia (en): Freaky Styley
  3. diffuser.fm
  4. Wikipedia (en): Give It Away (Red Hot Chili Peppers song
Categories: ArtistsFunk rockSynthwave-revival