Red Hot Chili Peppers

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John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers performs on stage at Palau Sant Jordi on May 30, 2006 in Barcelona, Spain.

“We pulled a few guitars out – I loved the ’61 Strat immediately. John said, ‘I want you to take that guitar with you – it’s yours”: John Frusciante gave away a prized vintage Fender Stratocaster to a fan who became one of his favorite modern guitarists

By Michael Astley-Brown published

This 1961 Olympic White Strat has the rare honor of being played by both Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer during the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Stadium Arcadium tour – but Frusciante eventually handed it over to a fan who would go on to become one of his favorite contemporary guitar players

Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarists

Red Hot Chili Peppers survived 5 guitarist swaps, and each one shook up their sound. Here’s how the band’s guitar style evolved with each personnel shift – and what you can learn from them, too

By Jamie Hunt published

From Hillel Slovak to the second coming of John Frusciante, we trace the RHCP funk-rock sound through five guitarists

Photos of Francis Rocco PRESTIA & Josh Smith

“Rocco Prestia could have held that 16th-note pattern in his sleep – it’s airtight” Halestorm bassist Josh Smith picks his top 5 bass albums

By Nick Wells published

From Tower Of Power to The Beatles, Josh Smith reveals the influences that helped shape his heavy-riffing bass style with Halestorm

Flea, Anthony Kiedis, Hillel Slovak and Cliff Martinez in 1984Red Hot Chili Peppers 1984

Flea names his least favorite Red Hot Chili Peppers album – and says he wants to re-record it

By Matt Parker published

The RHCP bass icon revealed he has tried to convince the band to take another crack at it, but “can never talk anyone into it”

John Frusciante and Steve Vai perform live

John Frusciante’s guitar teacher once told him he wasn’t a good guitarist – so he learned to play like Steve Vai: “No-one was going to say that to me again”

By Michael Astley-Brown published

The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitar hero recalls being criticized because he couldn’t play the blues scale fast enough: “It was about the worst feeling I could imagine”

Red Hot Chili Peppers play a concert on May 11, 2013 at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon

Flea names the one bassline that he would “go back and fix” from the Red Hot Chili Pepper's 1995 album, One Hot Minute

By Scott Malandrone published

Flea on the making of One Hot Minute: “I thought it sounded like another stupid white boy trying to be funky!”

Guitarist John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers performs at Allegiant Stadium on April 01, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Does John Frusciante have a signature Fender Stratocaster in the works? Here’s the truth

By Michael Astley-Brown published

After sightings of a replica ’62 Strat prototype and some special deliveries from Fender, the Red Hot Chili Peppers rumor mill has gone into overdrive – we got the real story from Frusciante’s guitar tech

Justin Hawkins and John Frusciante

Justin Hawkins explains why he thinks John Frusciante is overrated

By Matt Owen published

In his podcast, The Darkness guitarist discussed why he gets “nothing from John Frusciante’s guitar playing” – and why he thinks no good rock 'n' roll has ever been played on a PRS

Iggy Pop (R) and Mike Watt (L) of Iggy Pop and the Stooges performs on stage during the Festival Cruilla 2012 held at the Forum on July 6, 2012 in Barcelona, Spain.

Mike Watt: “I think for every 7-string bass they should make a 1- string!”

By Karl Coryat published

The patriarch of punk unravels his punk rock roots and the making of his 1995 solo album Ball-Hog or Tugboat?

Josh Klinghoffer onstage with Jane's Addiction

Josh Klinghoffer thinks Red Hot Chili Peppers were making “cooler music” with him: “I was shocked when I heard their new record”

By Matt Parker published

The guitarist says he doesn’t want to badmouth his former band, but the experience of hearing their latest recordings with John Frusciante was “tough”

Flea at the Silverlake Conservatory

Watch the trailer for Flea’s new podcast series

By Nick Wells published

First guests on the show will include Rick Rubin, Patti Smith and Thundercat

Joe Dart performs on stage with the Fearless Flyers at Ahoy on July 10, 2022 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Watch Vulpeck's Joe Dart break down Flea and Victor Wooten's slap bass technique 

By Nick Wells published

How Will Smith brought back, er, slap: "The two main slap basslines of our generation were Will Smith samples..."

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