Red Hot Chili Peppers

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John Frusciante stretching his fingers

John Frusciante gets struck with cramp, forcing him to stretch his fretting fingers in the middle of a blistering live solo

By Matt Owen published

The 53-year-old succumbed to cramp despite having one of the most intense warm-up routines around, which includes plenty of finger strengthening and a Sous Vide cooking machine

John Frusciante and YouTuber Paul Davids

John Frusciante says this YouTuber’s mindblowing theory on the secret to his Scar Tissue sound is... dead on

By Matt Parker published

The Red Hot Chili Peppers man says Paul Davids’ idea about his Scar Tissue tuning is absolutely right – he just didn’t know he’d done it

Flea of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers performs at Accor Stadium & Alanis Morissette performs at Palais Theatre on January 22, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia

Why Flea’s bass track had to be fixed in the mix on Alanis Morissette's hit record

By Nick Wells published

Mix Engineer Chris Fogel: “Flea was way out of time on You Oughta Know”

John Frusciante

Watch a 17-year-old John Frusciante shred like a hair-metal guitar hero in newly unearthed footage

By Michael Astley-Brown published

One year before he joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frusciante could be found tearing up the fretboard of a Kramer-inspired SuperStrat with two-hand tapping, blinding legato and Floyd Rose whammy bar squeals

Flea and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers

John Frusciante says he views bass as the lead instrument in Red Hot Chili Peppers: “I see each song as being like a bass solo where I'm there to support it”

By Matt Parker published

Frusciante and the band have been discussing their connection in a rare full-band interview on 60 Minutes

Josh Klinghoffer performs onstage

Jane’s Addiction tap Josh Klinghoffer to fill in for Dave Navarro on upcoming live shows

By Matt Owen published

The former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist will join the fold for a handful of shows this March as Navarro continues to recover from long Covid

John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers performs at Mt Smart Stadium on January 21, 2023 in Auckland, New Zealand.

We finally have a good look at John Frusciante’s gigantic new Red Hot Chili Peppers pedalboard

By Michael Astley-Brown published

A newly posted photo gives us a closer look at the guitar hero’s all-encompassing pedal picks and choice settings

Jack White, Eric Gales, Tim Henson, Tosin Abasi, Rhian Teasdale

The best guitar albums of 2022

By Jonathan Horsley published

As voted by you, these are the records that blew minds and inspired guitarists the world over

Kanami Tōno performs with Band-Maid at the MCM London Comic Con at The London ExCel on May 28, 2016 in London

From cosmic collaborations to blistering, chug-powered breakdowns: here are this week's essential guitar tracks

By Matt Owen, Michael Astley-Brown, Jackson Maxwell, Sam Roche published

Kick off December with a bang with invigorating new songs from Metallica, Donovan & David Gilmour, Band-Maid, Leap, Jack Gardiner, Bury Tomorrow, Subsonic Eye, Miniature Tigers, and more

John Frusciante

Rhythm and lead guitar lessons you can learn from John Frusciante

By Martin Cooper published

The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist borrows from the best and puts them through his unique filter. Here we take a look at his Hendrix-esque rhythm and fuzzed-out Strat soloing approach

John Frusciante performing live

John Frusciante nearly abandoned his Eddie Van Halen-inspired guitar solo: “Doing that solo was a mind f**k”

By Matt Owen published

Frusciante’s EVH-esque effort on Eddie was the last solo he recorded for Red Hot Chili Peppers' mammoth studio session, and the guitarist admitted he came close to cutting it altogether

Multi-instrumentalist Josh Klinghoffer of Pluralone performs live on stage at Viejas Arena at San Diego State University on May 03, 2022 in San Diego, California.

Josh Klinghoffer: “I’ve never lost this sense that I’m a beginner, and I think that gives me a more primal approach to the guitar”

By Joe Bosso published

Josh Klinghoffer was a Red Hot Chili Pepper – and now he records with Eddie Vedder and performs with Pearl Jam. What is it about him that all these (hugely successful) acts want?

Flea (L) and John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers perform during the ACL Music festival 2022 at Zilker Park on October 09, 2022 in Austin, Texas.

Watch Red Hot Chili Peppers cover Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit with John Frusciante on lead vocals

By Michael Astley-Brown last updated

The funk-rockers tackled the grunge classic during a recent show at Flea’s Silverlake Conservatory of Music

Rival Sons' Jay Buchanan (left) and Scott Holiday perform at The Warfield on November 11, 2021 in San Francisco, California

From Blink-182's powerchord-fueled return to eerie psychedelic soul: here are this week's essential guitar tracks

By Sam Roche, Michael Astley-Brown, Matt Owen, Jackson Maxwell published

We're spoiled for choice this week, with spicy new songs from Rival Sons, Architects, The Arcs, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Gojira, Wunderhorse, Wild Pink & Yasmin Williams, Dry Cleaning, and more

Guitarist John Frusciante during a concert by rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Estadi Olimpic de Barcelona on June 7, 2022, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Blues? Prog? Floydian grunge? 5 guitar highlights from Return of the Dream Canteen, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ most eclectic album yet

By Michael Astley-Brown last updated

John Frusciante lets loose on a record that takes considerably more risks than Unlimited Love

Anthony Kiedis (left) and Josh Klinghoffer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform onstage at the Whole Child International's Inaugural Gala at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel on October 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California

Josh Klinghoffer says playing with the Red Hot Chili Peppers was "enormously stifling creatively": "They’re an established band with an established sound"

By Jackson Maxwell published

Though he said his decade-long tenure with the stadium-conquering funk rockers was "a blessing and a beautiful experience,” Klinghoffer felt his attempts to push the band in new sonic directions were met with little enthusiasm

John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers performs during the ACL Music festival 2022 at Zilker Park on October 09, 2022 in Austin, Texas.

Watch John Frusciante channel Eddie Van Halen with a tapping-heavy solo in Red Hot Chili Peppers’ live debut of tribute track, Eddie

By Michael Astley-Brown published

Frusciante’s three-minute solo showcases some of the wildest playing of his career, including two-hand tapping, whammy dives and blazing pentatonic licks

Sammy Hagar (left) and John Frusciante perform live onstage with their respective bands in 2022

Sammy Hagar praises Red Hot Chili Peppers' "soulful" Eddie Van Halen tribute song

By Jackson Maxwell published

Eddie, the latest single from the band's forthcoming album, Return of the Dream Canteen, was also commented on positively by Wolfgang Van Halen

Flea and Omar Rodríguez-López

Flea played bass on the Mars Volta’s best album – but you probably never noticed

By Michael Astley-Brown last updated

A radically different bass rig meant the Red Hot Chili Peppers funkateer’s contributions might have flown under your radar

John Frusciante and Eddie Van Halen

Hear Red Hot Chili Peppers pay tribute to Eddie Van Halen in emotional new single, Eddie

By Matt Owen last updated

The track was written the day after EVH's passing, and it's the latest single from the band's upcoming album Return of the Dream Canteen