Red hot Chili Peppers are a Californian funk-rock quartet who have tackled everything from ballsy, funky, bass-heavy punk to emotive acoustic ballads in their 25 year career. Despite a turbulent history fraught with addiction, break-downs and overdose, they have progressed and developed as a music force to find hard-earned critical and public acclaim. Few rock groups of the '80s were as original and broke down as many musical barriers with their intoxicating musical style of funk and punk that was powerful, exciting and sexual. The Chilis spawned a plethora of imitators in their wake, but still evolved and survived to be at the head of the field into the 21st century.
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The roots of the band lay in a friendship forged by Anthony Kiedis, Michael Balzary and Hillel Slovak, who all attended Fairfax High School in California. At the start of the '80s Slovak taught Balzary to play bass and encouraged Kiedis to put his poetry to music so they could rehearse with drummer Jack Irons. By 1983, Balzary had been nicknamed ‘Flea’, and the group had changed to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Word spread about the promising act, but before the Chilis could begin work on their debut, both Slovak and Irons announced that they were leaving. So with replacement members filling in, the Peppers released their self-titled debut in 1984, but it failed to capture the excitement of their live show without the four friends together. The group began to build a dedicated underground following the album’s popularity and by 1985, Slovak and Irons returned to the fold, resulting in the extra funky, George Clinton produced Freaky Styley. The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987) was the group's first to make an impression on the charts, and they followed it up a year later with, The Abbey Road EP (1988). But just as the things were starting to heat up for the Peppers, tragedy struck when Slovak died from a heroin overdose and Irons left the group. Worthy replacements were found in newcomers John Frusciante and Chad Smith and the new-look Chili Peppers found success immediately, their first album together, Mother's Milk (1989), became a hit and was certified gold with exposure of their videos "Knock Me Down," and a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". They moved away from distractions to a mansion-turned-studio with producer Rick Rubin to work on their most successful release yet. The stripped-down Blood Sugar Sex Magik(1991) became a monster hit, spawning hits Give It Away and the group's first Top Ten single, Under the Bridge. However, a disenchanted Frusciante abruptly left the band mid-tour in early 1992.

After a substantial lay-off the band returned to the studio to work on their sixth much-delayed release with former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro. One Hot Minute (1995) was a sizeable hit, with eclectic epic rock songs, intricate guitar and some of Flea's most astonishing bass-lines, but it became apparent during the album's ensuing tour that Navarro wasn't fitting in as well as originally hoped, and he left the band in early 1998. Fortunately, Frusciante emerged from rehab healthy and refocused, tearfully accepting a happy invitation to rejoin the Peppers once more. Reunited as a rock family, Californication (1999) proved to be another magnificent success - with a perfect blend of melodic funk-rock, it re-established Chilis as one of alternative rock's top bands.

They returned to the studio in November of 2001 and by the summer they had a new album ready, By the Way (2002) and the more considered songwriting and increasing musicianship made the kind of mainstream record that only the Chilis could create. A highly anticipated follow-up came in the form of a chart-topping two-CD album Stadium Arcadium (2006) as they continued with a mature style, laden with vocal harmony and poignant songwriting that never loses its energy.
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