The members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers through the years

In the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the guitarist shapes the sound. Every change in that seat produced a different album. Below are all the members, with when they played and which albums you can hear them on.

The current line-up

• Anthony Kiedis, vocals. Co-founder, born in 1962 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, raised in Hollywood.
• Flea (Michael Balzary), bass. Co-founder, born in 1962 in Melbourne. He started on the trumpet. Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons asked him to learn bass so he could play in their school band, Anthem.
• John Frusciante, guitar. In the band from 1988 to 1992, from 1998 to 2009 and again since December 2019.
• Chad Smith, drums. Since December 1988, the band's longest-serving drummer.

Every member at a glance

The founders: four friends from Fairfax High

Kiedis, Flea, Slovak and Irons went to Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. Their first gig, on 16 December 1982, was meant as a one-off support slot under the name Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem. The crowd wanted more. By March 1983 they were called Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Slovak and Irons also had their own band, What Is This?. When it landed a record deal at the end of 1983, they chose it over the Chili Peppers. That is why you don't hear them on the debut album.

The guitarists

Hillel Slovak (1982–1983, 1985–1988)

Slovak was the one who got Flea onto bass, and he defined the early funk-punk sound. He returned in 1985 and played on Freaky Styley and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan. On 25 June 1988 he died of a heroin overdose, aged 26. Kiedis later wrote Otherside about him, and in 2026 Netflix released a documentary about his part in the early years.

Jack Sherman (1983–1985)

Sherman replaced Slovak on the 1984 debut album. He clashed with Kiedis and Flea and was let go after the tour. When the band entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, he was not among the inducted members. Sherman died in 2020.

John Frusciante (1988–1992, 1998–2009, 2019–now)

Frusciante was eighteen and a fan of the band when he was asked to join in 1988. On Mother's Milk he was still finding his feet; on Blood Sugar Sex Magik he found them. Talking to Guitar World in 1991, he said of Slovak:

In the same interview he admitted it took him a while to find his own place in the band. He quit on 7 May 1992 during the tour of Japan, came back clean in 1998 and left in 2009 to focus on his solo work. In December 2019 the band announced his second return, the start of his third spell.

The stand-ins of 1988 and 1992–1993

DeWayne McKnight, formerly a guitarist with Parliament-Funkadelic, played only a handful of gigs in 1988. After Frusciante left in 1992, Arik Marshall finished the tour, Lollapalooza included. Jesse Tobias was hired in 1993 but didn't fit and was gone within a few weeks.

Dave Navarro (1993–1998)

Navarro came from Jane's Addiction and was the band's first choice to replace Frusciante. His heavy, psychedelic playing colours One Hot Minute (1995). It became his only album with the Chili Peppers.

Josh Klinghoffer (2009–2019)

Klinghoffer was a friend of Frusciante and had already played on the Stadium Arcadium tour. He played on I'm with You (2011) and The Getaway (2016). When Frusciante returned in 2019, he had to make way. He did go into the Hall of Fame with the others: he was in the band in 2012.

The drummers

• Jack Irons (1982–1983, 1986–1988): the first drummer. He stopped after Slovak's death. He later played in Pearl Jam.
• Cliff Martinez (1983–1986): drummed on the first two albums. He went on to become a film composer, with scores for Traffic and Drive among others.
• D.H. Peligro (1988): the Dead Kennedys drummer filled in for a few months. He died in October 2022.
• Chad Smith (1988–now): the last to audition, in December 1988. He has drummed on every album since Mother's Milk.

Who plays whom in De Peppers

There are four of us, and each of us plays the part of one Chili Pepper. Daan sings Kiedis, Mark plays Frusciante's guitar, Tom Flea's bass and Jan Chad Smith's drums. Which albums those four made together, you can read in every album ranked.

De Peppers editorial team

Written by the editors at De Peppers, the Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band from Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands. Every fact is sourced at the bottom of the piece. Spotted a mistake? Email info@mia-automation.com and we will check it.

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