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.