Red Hot Chili Peppers: the guide

This guide answers the questions people search for most about the Red Hot Chili Peppers: which albums, which songs, who was in the band and when. We are De Peppers, a tribute band from North Brabant in the Netherlands. We play this music at every rehearsal, so we write about it as fans who know the parts.

The band at a glance

The Chili Peppers started out as a raw funk-punk band playing Hollywood clubs. The breakthrough came in 1991 with Blood Sugar Sex Magik, their first album with producer Rick Rubin. Then came the big melodic records with John Frusciante: Californication (1999), By the Way (2002) and Stadium Arcadium (2006), their first US number 1.

Where do you want to start?

• The albums. All thirteen studio albums, from weakest to strongest, with the producer and guitarist for each: every album ranked.
• The songs. From Californication to Give It Away, and what makes each one stand out: the 15 best-known songs.
• The people. Four founders, eight guitarists and four drummers: the members through the years.
• The masterpiece. A haunted house, Rick Rubin and 25 recorded songs: the story behind Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
• From the archive. Flea and Frusciante on their playing in 1991, from Guitar World: read the interview.
• An opinion. Our claim: By the Way is better than Californication.
• Quick answers. First album, first hit, the documentary and the socks: questions and answers.
• Test yourself. The quiz and the poll on the best album.

The story in five chapters

1982–1988: the Hillel years

Kiedis, Flea, Slovak and Irons knew each other from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. On 16 December 1982 they played their first gig, still under the name Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem. Slovak and Irons also had another band, What Is This?, and so missed out on the 1984 debut album. Slovak returned in 1985, Irons in 1986. On 25 June 1988 Hillel Slovak died of a heroin overdose. He was 26. Irons left shortly afterwards.

1988–1992: Frusciante, Smith and the breakthrough

Kiedis and Flea carried on with eighteen-year-old guitarist John Frusciante, a fan of the band, and drummer Chad Smith. Mother's Milk (1989) gave them their first radio success with their cover of Higher Ground. Two years later they made Blood Sugar Sex Magik in an old house in Laurel Canyon. Under the Bridge and Give It Away went round the world. Frusciante could not cope with the fame and quit on 7 May 1992, in the middle of a tour of Japan.

1993–1998: the Dave Navarro years

After two short-lived stand-ins, Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction joined in 1993. The Chili Peppers made one album with him: One Hot Minute (1995), heavier and darker than anything before it. Navarro left in 1998.

1998–2009: Frusciante returns

Flea brought back Frusciante, who had recently got clean. What followed was the band's most successful period: Californication, By the Way and the double album Stadium Arcadium, with Scar Tissue, Can't Stop, Dani California and Snow (Hey Oh). In 2009 Frusciante left again; his musical interests, he wrote, had taken him in a different direction.

2009–now: Klinghoffer and the second return

Josh Klinghoffer, already the band's touring guitarist, played on I'm with You (2011) and The Getaway (2016). In December 2019 the band announced that Frusciante was back for the second time: his third spell in the band. In 2022 two albums came out of the same recording sessions: Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen.

Why a tribute band writes a guide

When you learn a Chili Peppers song to play it, you get to know the band differently from someone who only listens. You notice that Flea hardly slaps at all on Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and that the Californication intro is a handful of notes with nowhere to hide. That knowledge is in this guide. What we play live is in our repertoire; who we are, you can read on the band page.

Organising a party or festival yourself and want these songs played live? Read how to book a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band.