Red Hot Chili Peppers

Fact Sheet

Musical genre:	Rock
City	Los Angeles, California, USA
Years active	1983-

Red Hot Chili Peppers is a Californian rock band which combined aspects of funk and hip-hop with rock and roll. The band started in 1983. One critic has summarized their lyrics as "sex, good times, rock and roll and more sex" with some truth, though some of their biggest hits have been considerably more introspective. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of their sound is the bass guitar playing of Flea, whose flashy, slap-heavy playing not only provides a groove but is also the source of many musical flourishes.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers label was originally an EMI subsidiary known as EMI Manhattan. Their breakthrough record Blood Sugar Sex Magik as well as all subsequent records were released on Warner Brothers Records.

Their earlier work was a fusion of funk and punk rock with a party attitude. After the sobering death of guitarist Hillel Slovak, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have had deeper lyrics matched by more complex instrumentals.

The current members of the band are:

singer Anthony Kiedis (1983-), who has been a member of the band since its foundation;
bass player Michael Balzary, known as "Flea" (1983-), who was also a founder member;
guitarist John Frusciante (1989-1992; 1999-), who originally joined the band as an 18-year-old fan whose playing impressed the band, and temporarily left the band during the Japanese leg of the tour in support of 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik; and
drummer Chad Smith (1989-).

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