Red Hot Chili Peppers
Take a smorgasbord of talented musicians, mix in punk/funk/heavy metal, add a
dash of rap and melodic flare and you have the Anthony Kiedis-led band the Red
Hot Chili Peppers.
From their inception in 1983 to the breakthrough hit, a cover of Stevie
Wonder's "Higher Ground" and beyond, the Peppers have proved to be an
overpowering collage of musical formats and typical rock star cliches,
including being self-destructive and having drug problems.
Their hits, the somber ballad "Under The Bridge" and the rapid-fire, "Give It
Away" from the highly successful 1991 lp "Blood Sugar Sex Magik," a Grammy
Award winner in 1992 for "Best Hard Rock Performance With Vocal" and other
singles such as "Breaking The Girl" and "Suck My Kiss," the Red Hot Chili
Peppers proved to be an international sensation, selling more than 10 million
copies worldwide.
Withstanding many personal changes, drug addiction and inner turmoil, the band
released "One Hot Minute" in 1995 which, despite mixed reviews, was nonetheless
a commercial success, selling more than five million copies internationally and
secured the band's third number one single "My Friends."
Live album releases and compilation albums followed, keeping the Pepper sound
alive and in 1998, after recovering from drug addiction, John Frusciante
rejoined the band and the Pepper's were whole again, musically and spiritually.
In 1999, after months of intense practicing, "Californication," the band's
seventh album was released. The album proved to be their most successful
album, with more than 15 million copies sold worldwide. With three more number
one modern rock hits ("Scar Tissue," "Otherside," "Californication") and
another Grammy Award (for "Scar Tissue"), the Red Hot Chili Peppers were back
and appealing more to the mainstream audience.
The album "By The Way," released in 2002, was the band's most noteworthy chart
debut, selling over 700,000 albums in the first week and spawned the hits "By
The Way," "The Zephr Song" and "Can't Stop" among others. It was a different
Chili Peppers album focusing on brilliant melodic pop as opposed to their
previous styles of funk/rap and heavy metal.
The Peppers sustained their inactivity between album releases and their
irresistible and extraordinary interest for years by releasing compilation
albums and "Best Of" albums. The band also embarked on several international
tours and in 2006 released a Grammy Award winning double album "Stadium
Arcadium.". The album made its debut at number one on the U.S. charts and
number one on the UK charts, as well as number one in 25 other countries.
The album won five Grammy Awards, "Best Rock Album," "Best Rock Song" (for
"Dani California"), "Best Boxed or Special Limited Package" as well as "Best
Rock Performance By A Duo or Group" (again for the song "Dani California") and
"Best Producer" (Rick Rubin).
Like the recipe or not, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have proved to be able to mix
rap/funk/punk/hard rock, overpowering pop, memorable ballads and maturing song
writing skills to produce an internationally famous blend of mainstream
success.
Author Robert Benson writes about rock/pop music, vinyl record collecting and
operates
www.collectingvinylrecords.com, where you can secure your
copy of his
ebook called "The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting."
Robert can be contacted at
robert@collectingvinylrecords.com.
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