Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis Says He Doesn’t Consider Himself a Musician

During an episode of Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea’s podcast series, This Little Light, his bandmate Anthony Kiedis opened up about his perspective on being a musician. Surprisingly, Kiedis revealed that he didn’t consider himself one. This revelation apparently led to a deeply emotional conversation between the two, resulting in both Flea and Kiedis shedding tears.

The news of Kiedis’ feelings comes after The Los Angeles Times had asked Flea to choose his favorite interview from his podcast. “A really good one was with Anthony. We were both kind of in tears because I’d never talked to him about stuff like that. Anthony doesn’t really consider himself a musician or that he’s had any music education whatsoever. He used to say we should change the band’s name to Idiot and the Three Geniuses,” Flea revealed.

“And people would be down on him, you know? Eddie Vedder’s up there like fucking Pavarotti, but the resonance is different with Anthony.”

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When ask if he thought Kiedis was indeed a good singer, Flea responded, “I think he’s a great singer. And he’s always learning and getting better. When we started the band, he couldn’t sing a note – he just yelled. Now he’s got melodies, and he doesn’t even stick to them. He flows around and improvises. Look, I know who the great singers are: Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Roger Daltrey. But for me, all I care about with any musician is that a person sounds like themselves. And nobody sounds like Anthony Kiedis.”

Formed in Los Angeles in 1982, the Red Hot Chili Peppers (also known as RHCP) is an esteemed American rock band. The group consists of vocalist Kiedis, bassist Flea, guitarist John Frusciante, and drummer Chad Smith.

Having sold more than 120 million records globally, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have solidified their place as one of the most successful bands in history. Their achievements include holding the records for the highest number of number-one singles, and the most top-ten songs on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, and the most cumulative weeks at number one 91. The band has been honored with six Grammy Awards, they have been inducted into the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, and in 2022 they received their Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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