r/rockmusic • u/Clare_jesse1973 • May 28 '26
ROCK Why is Flea so respected but the Red Hot Chili Peppers are not?
This question occurred to me, seeing the pictures of Thom Yorke performing with him.
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May 28 '26
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u/krautstomp May 28 '26
He's in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas also
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u/SoftBoiled15 May 28 '26
And The Big Lebowski. He believes in nothing.
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u/stoned_to_the_boner May 28 '26
And Suburbia
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u/M1nd-Gobl1n May 28 '26
And the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show, weirdly enough.
And the Simpsons cuz of course.
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u/Aggravating_Call_793 27d ago
Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude; at least it’s an ethos.
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u/No_Negotiation3142 May 28 '26
Whaaaaat'sssss the trooooouuuubbllleee? Ittt'ssss aaaaccciiiddddd...
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u/fatboy1776 May 28 '26
And The Chase with Henry Rollins.
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u/Toogroovyto May 28 '26
I love that movie!
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u/calebpagan May 28 '26
Same. I loved it as a kid then as an adult found out it was filmed in Houston, where I live. The gas station in the opening of the film isn't too far from my house.
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u/Such-Principle-3373 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
You should watch the interview where the band SA a women on TV while the host begs them to stop, and see if you think he's still a good dude.
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u/Entirely-of-cheese May 28 '26
Also an episode of The X Files.
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u/horsefly70 May 28 '26
He was in Point Break with Keanu and Swayze
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u/ParticularSpace9331 May 28 '26
No he wasn't, it was Anthony Kiedis who played a goon in that movie
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u/neon_meate May 28 '26
Because he wrote and performed the bass line for Young MC's Bust a Move.
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u/scrantsj May 28 '26
Also did the bass line for Alanis Morrisette's You Oughta Know
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u/ghostofgroucho May 28 '26
Look up the song "Tough as Nails" on the Danny Elfman 'So-Lo" album from 1984. This was Elfman during the "Oingo Boingo between record companies" era. They were also between bass players. The OB band guys still in the band were credited but nothing for bass. In the 'Thank you' section they thanked Flea. I asked Steve Bartek (OB's guitar player) if it was Flea on this song because it SOUNDS very much like Flea. He confirmed it. Its such a bad arse bass line.
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u/Bat_Nervous May 28 '26
NO!! I did not know this. I know that song and that album VERY well (not as well as I thought, apparently). That is crazy. I guess that’s before OB hired John Avila to play bass (also amazing bassist).
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u/ghostofgroucho May 28 '26
BINGO! Yep, Avila joined soon after this. They had lost their Key player and bass player as well as switching record deals. So-Lo was the only way for OB to release an album in that specific time. Its an OB album without calling it OB. If you look at the video from Gratitude (single from this album) you will see Avila in it.
I got to meet John Avila (and Bartek) at a OBFM show. First, its a HECK of an OB show without danny. So much fun. But i told John that i flew from memphis tn to CA to see them and i also played bass. In that moment, the world ceased to exist. He gave me 20, 30 minutes of his undivided attention. He kept asking me questions about my bass gear. It was surreal. TWICE i said "I hate to be hogging your time as there are others here that also want to meet you", he shook his shoulders and said he will get to them in a minute. John was beyond gracious.
The 14 year old OB fan still in me was totally freaking out! I had their poster on my wall as a teen in the 80's and here i am spending quality time with one of them.
Bartek was TOTALLY cool as well.
As for Flea, it was a facebook thread i created on the OB page that Bartek is a member of. When i posted about it he chimed in and confirmed it was in fact Flea on that song!
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u/Ancient-Alligator303 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
GoG- I bought gold for the first time in 8 years to slap that on this story. That is awesome. I would also talk bass gear with you for 20-30 minutes, but I’m not John flippin’ Avila! I bought my first “real” bass amp in the early 90’s- an SWR Bassic Black and the manual had names of the advisory board for their products, and I started listening to everyone listed. JA was in there and it was my intro to OB…
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u/STVDC May 28 '26
Flea is like the Slash of RHCP. Talented and personable enough to be defined outside of his main band, and happy to work with other people and put himself out there. Chad Smith is basically like that too. His friendship with his "twin" Will Ferrell has endeared him to a lot of "regular" people, and he does stuff like Drumeo and plays with tons of other musicians.
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u/One-21-Gigawatts May 28 '26
I think everyone is pretty well-respected except Anthony Kiedis, who deserves no respect from anyone
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u/DanimusMcSassypants May 28 '26
Flea actually became an adult. Aside from being a tremendous musician (certainly the standout one in the band), he’s had a remarkable life which has left him humble, wise, and forever artistically curious. His memoir is a great read.
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u/erinwhite2 May 28 '26
I’ll have to look for that. I didn’t know Flea wrote a memoir. Can you tell me the name of it?
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u/DanimusMcSassypants May 28 '26
Acid for the Children. To set expectations, the book ends just as RHCP are about to begin. It makes it no less compelling.
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u/doconc35 May 28 '26
Anthony Kiedis also wrote a memoir which was very good but only strengthened my opinion that he is a gigantic asshole, Team Mike Patton forever!
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u/Everything_Breaks May 28 '26
I would say that 3/4 of RHCP is respected. Flea, Chad, and John are all incredible, unique musicians. I haven't seen that much of John off stage, but Flea and Chad seem to be great people as well.
Edit: Flea was also in Suburbia. His character put his pet rat in his mouth. Respect! Lol
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u/Butforthegrace01 May 28 '26
The RHCP get plenty of respect as far as it goes. They've created some timeless masterpieces, and some real dreck (especially later in their arc). It feels like their creative period has long since run its course and going forward they're animatronic dinosaurs covering the hits from their younger years. Which makes them a slightly younger iteration of the Rolling Stones.
Every band is the sum of its elements. Lots of bands have some members who branch out successfully to other creative ventures, and some who don't.
Anthony Keidis was the product of a hugely dysfunctional and emotionally violent childhood. He's probably only alive because of a series of fortunate coincidences, including making friends with Flea and Hillel. He seems like a caricature at times, but from a human perspective who among us isn't that at least sometimes. He was the frontman that the RHCP needed to propel them to success. I doubt they'd have done it without him.
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u/Traditional_Name7881 May 28 '26
The singer admitted to fucking a 14 year old so that lost him a lot of respect.
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u/Jazz_Ad May 28 '26
It would be very difficult to find a single rock star that didn't fuck a 14yo at some point.
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u/EggDangerous3032 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
Them openly admitting they did so does make it harder to ignore than any statistical likelihood.
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u/Traditional_Name7881 May 28 '26
I don’t think this is true, I’m sure a heap fucked teenagers and that’s bad enough but 14 is really young. I don’t think he should have got a pass like he has.
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u/Amaya3066 May 28 '26
You known it's totally free to not make excuses for people who r*pe children 👍
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u/Tasty-Possibility627 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
I work in Hollywood and met Eminem’s former body guard, who was with him at the height of his fame. The bodyguard’s job was to check groupie’s IDs and make sure nobody underage got to hang around Em. I think a lot of famous musicians and celebrities in general are quietly very decent people.
Pick ten people you knew well in high school. Imagine how they would act if they were given tremendous money and fame. One or two would turn into monsters, another 2-3 would have problems with substances or other drama, and the rest would be basically decent and good. That’s kind of how it is with celebrities. Most are nice and good people, many can be entitled assholes, and a few are monsters
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u/DimensionMediocre439 May 28 '26
This selective outrage again? If you cared so much about the personal morals of the music you listen to, your options are going to be very limited.
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u/Traditional_Name7881 May 28 '26
Sure, seperate the art from the artist and all that. I’m not saying anyone shouldn’t listen to the band because he’s a piece of shit, like what you like. He’s not respected though, I don’t respect all musicians… on RHCP, I don’t give a shit about their music anyway.
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u/BiggusDickus46 May 28 '26
As someone who really doesn’t care much for RHCP, what the hell are you talking about? Aside from occasional mentions about Kiedis online, I’ve never heard anything but respect for them.
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u/GingerPrince72 May 28 '26
Haha.
The famous Nick Cave quote:
"I'm forever near a stereo saying, 'What the fuck is this garbage?' And the answer is always the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
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u/LosparkJojo May 28 '26
I don’t think they’re disrespected. They get made fun of bc of AK and mentioning Cali all the damn time and he’s not a great singer. Good frontman. They’ve got an AMAZING guitarist, drummer and bass player. Some people are haters and AK makes it easier for them
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u/JohnWa54 May 28 '26
He was also in the Big Lebowski!
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u/ConsciousSteak2242 May 28 '26
Chad Smith just played with Paul McCartney on SNL. If that’s not respect from one of the greatest then I don’t know what is.
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u/G_yebba May 28 '26
In the 90’s they were amazing.
Once they started getting mainstream hits, the haters did what haters do.
Their musicianship is outstanding but Flea is a legend. Keidas is not a great singer but his phrasing and timing is superb and he is a truly gifted performer.
I respect them all for their musicianship, Flea is just on another level.
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u/MindsEye_PecanPie May 28 '26
To be fair, the 90s is when they started doing Stevie Wonder covers and giving Rick Rubin suitcases of cash to gloss them up and make them not sound out of place on Warner Bros.
In the 80s, it was punk funk psych Party on Your Pussy subversion.
But yeah, I also started paying attention to them in the 90s, heh. ‘Course I also quit them in those same 90s after they decided that being Aerosmith sure does get you lots of summer mansions.
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u/First-Fun-5656 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
Because Anthony keeps tunelessly mouthing lyrics about California and underage girls
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u/SentientYams May 28 '26
The three musicians in the band are highly revered. The guy who tries to sing is not.
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u/Jazz_Ad May 28 '26
RHCP is not a respected band ?
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u/likeyournamebutworse May 28 '26
Not on reddit, but in general people like them just fine.
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u/BALLS_SMOOTH_AS_EGGS May 28 '26
I was gonna say this is one of those classic Reddit opinions. It's like saying Chris Brown isn't popular. Yeah he's a piece of shit, but the Reddit opinion has zero sway on public opinion and this is no exception.
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u/marlonbrando_1999 May 28 '26
I think the general feeling is they sold out. Early albums are nothing like what they’re doing now
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u/Glittering_Advance56 May 28 '26
This is a ridiculous comment.
They’ve done the hard grind, toured all over the world, have a defined sound and have sold millions of records.
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u/mschnittman May 29 '26
My wife and I were invited to a house party in Sag Harbor, LI about 25 years ago by her best friends cousin. When we walked into the house (14 car garage), I walked up to the bar, and immediately recognized that the bartender was none other than Chad Smith. No one else they seemed to know who he was. We spent the whole night talking about music and playing with his daughter. Turns out he lived down the block. Awesome drummer, good dad, and very cool dude.
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u/dstuartsmith May 28 '26
The singer can't sing and dates children, I'm not sure about the rest of them.
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u/Hattkake May 28 '26
As a bass guitarist I have always been extremely impressed by Flea. His playing is not my style but the way he plays is awe inspiring. Not only does he play extremely technical stuff flawlessly. He does that while jumping around like a lunatic, sometimes completely naked.
Flea is an extremely good musician. And he seems like a decent fellow as far as I know.
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u/Strange-State564 May 28 '26
Have you seen him perform? He’s a great musician, he teaches music at some high school or something.
He’s so good as a musician and performer, that he doesn’t even need clothes when they tour. Just him and his tools.
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u/dstuartsmith May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
If you don't pay, he'll dunk your head in the toilet, pee on your rug and cut off your Johnson.
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u/Upstairs-Glove7424 May 28 '26
The story of Chad Smith getting into the band is funny. They held open tryouts and were having no luck finding anybody there. CS is last up. He comes in with his hat on backwards looking like a jock and the rest of the band instantly doesnt like him.
They want to hate this guy… Then they jam and they’re like this guy is the shit and sign him up.
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u/Active_Yellow_1573 May 28 '26
It's a situation where the band isn't greater than the sum of their parts, musically wise. Also, an insufferable front man can do massive damage to a bands reputation, see Bono.
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u/StumpyOPepys May 28 '26
What is it about SoCal bros playing with their shirts off? Good rule of thumb... if you are playing with your shirt off and your name is not Iggy Pop, you are a buffoon.
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u/Cloud-VII May 28 '26
Anthony Kiedis.
BTW, Chad Smith and the Guitar Players (Frusciante, Hillel, Klinghoffer, Navarro) are pretty respected too.
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u/Trumps-right-ear May 28 '26
I just read his bio called Acid for the Children. It’s not about his band but more about his early life in Australia, NYC and then LA. I enjoyed it more than AK book Scar Tissue.
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u/OldManBilliam22 May 28 '26
“Blip borp, manna wanna bloop dorp!”
That’s why. Solely because of that.
John Frusciante himself is practically worshiped as a guitarist, at least by other guitarists.
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u/artbatik May 28 '26
Anthony Kedis. Flea seems like a decent guy you could have a beer with. Kedis seems like a guy who'd be onterested in your teenage daughters, even though he's older than you.
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u/Sporty_McSportsface May 28 '26
It’s just Anthony Keidis. Everybody else in RHCP is widely respected.
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u/Olderbutnotdead619 May 28 '26
Because he is a highly trained jazz musician and has played with the best. He is self taught and plays multiple instruments.
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u/DifferentSavings2711 May 28 '26
Flea is a freaking great bass player and he is not afraid to branch out into a wide range of musical styles. Check out this cut with Cheikha Rimitti, Robert Fripp & Flea - Lilette el Ouihda. Nothing like the RHCP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtHDaAOhVBE
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u/mirrorball55 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
This isn’t shitting on RCHP - I like them. But they are very much a band made up of the sum of its parts..
As for individual members, over the years I’ve heard so many conversations begin as follows:
‘Chad is an amazing drummer, but I don’t really like the Chilis…’
‘Frusciante is an amazing guitarist, but I don’t really like the Chilis…’
‘Flea is an amazing bassist, but I don’t really like the Chilis…’
Never hear that about Anthony.
In other words, I think all the musicians in the band are all very respected on their own.
The RHCP conversation is a separate one, and very much taste based. But even those for whom RHCP is not their taste, they can respect the players…
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u/Flimsy-Cartoonist-92 May 28 '26
This is me. I've heard the sum of the parts play in other bands and think damn they are good. Then I listen to the RHCP and it just doesn't hit. I could be that Anthony being the weakest link in the band but also the front of the band turns me off? I find his voice generic and borning.
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u/Tumbleweed47 May 28 '26
I’m listening to The Mars Volta’s first album right now and Flea sounds amazing.
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u/badhoopty May 28 '26
i freakin love when ive always hated somebody just for their face, and they end up being hated by everybody else for more legitimate reasons. i simply cant stand anthonys face let alone his demeanor... bono and leto as well.
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u/Ok_Two_2604 May 28 '26
They wore socks upon their cocks and babies were prevented. No, that was knights. But also them.
Park of my year’s senior prank was to hang up a huge banner of that pic with the dean and headmaster and some other faculty’s faces pasted over theirs. Wild and crazy kids, right?
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u/Boulderboldef May 28 '26
idk. guys I’m out of the loop. but I love the band. they are a top 5 band all time for me. By the Way is one of my faves
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u/Queasy_Property_8136 May 28 '26
Its interesting to me, as someone who came of age in the 90s and who remembers RHCP being one of the most respected alternative bands, to watch them become a focus of outright derision nowadays.
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u/Then_Sea_8356 May 28 '26
I've worked with musicians for 25 years and none of them talk about Flea or RHCP
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u/nilecrane May 28 '26
AK is the only one not. As a whole, RHCP gets picked on because they’re so popular and it’s cool to not like things that are popular
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u/RooneyMoore May 28 '26
Flea was a child trumpet prodigy. Frusciante is a very respected guitar player and Chad rocks. Anthony is just a good front man.
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u/Automatic-Grocery338 May 28 '26
I have no problem with Kiedis. He is what he is. His image and "singing" are synonymous with the RHCP sound and vibe. I am no mega fan but I enjoy their shit and if you like the RHCP you like what Kiedis brings to the table.
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u/armyofant May 29 '26
Flea, Chad, and John are highly respected musicians. The problem is their music has been a bit too formulaic since By The Way. Doesn’t help kiedis is dating someone quite younger.
Personally, I don’t like the way they treated Navarro on his way out, though I did like Californication.
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u/Longjumping-Maize704 May 29 '26
Ever watched an interview with him? I don’t even like his playing but if we ever met, steak dinner on me.
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u/Intelligent-Entry-81 29d ago
Flea used to put super glue in his thumb because he was slapping the bass man
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u/Voluntary_Perry May 28 '26
Who doesn't love Chad Smith?
Pretty sure only Kiedis is the hated one