Red Hot Chili Peppers

About

Also known as: RHCP, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Red Hot Chilly Peppers, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Few bands have bent as many genres at once as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Rooted in Los Angeles and formed in 1982, they built their sound by smashing funk, punk, hip hop, and hard rock together, a combination that has since sold over 120 million records and earned them the record for most number one singles on the American Alternative Songs chart, sitting at 15. Their lineup of Anthony Kiedis on vocals, Flea on bass, Chad Smith on drums, and John Frusciante on guitar is the version most fans know best, though getting there involved plenty of turbulence, lineup shake ups, and hard won comebacks. Blood Sugar Sex Magik from 1991 was the turning point that made them genuine global stars, but Californication in 1999 pushed things even further, moving 16 million copies worldwide. Stadium Arcadium in 2006 became their first album to top the Billboard 200. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, and in 2022 they dropped two albums back to back: Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen. Tracks like Californication, Otherside, Scar Tissue, and Dark Necessities give a good sense of how far their range actually stretches.