Red Hot Chili Peppers death 2022

At the upcoming 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are set to perform and will be honored with the Global Icon Award. The band has been making music since 1983, and not all of Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ current members were with the band at the beginning.

Red Hot Chili Peppers death 2022
Red Hot Chili Peppers | Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation

Who are the current members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers?

There are four current members in Red Hot Chili Peppers: Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante, and Chad Smith.

Of these four members, two are founding members of the band. Both Kiedis and Flea helped found the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1983.

In the band, Kiedis is the lead vocalist. Meanwhile, Flea, whose real name is Michael Balzary, primarily plays the bass and provides backing vocals. He is also known to play the trumpet and piano for the band when needed.

Frusciante joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1988 and has had multiple stints in the band. He primarily plays guitar and like Flea provides backing vocals. Frusciante also plays the keyboard in the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Like Frusciante, Smith joined the group in 1988. He has been a consistent member since then and plays the drums.

RELATED: Looking Back on Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Wild Performance at the ’92 VMAs 30 Years Later

Over the years, multiple musicians have been part of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Some artists were only temporary replacements while others remained in the group for longer tenures.

Hillel Slovak was another founding member of the band and played guitar. He died in 1988. Following his death, Jack Iron, the band’s founding drummer, left the band.

In between Slovak’s stints in the band, Jack Sherman played guitar in the Red Hot Chili Peppers from 1983 to 1984.

Sherman died in 2020. According to BBC, “he died at the age of 64.”

Following his death, the Red Hot Chili Peppers tweeted, “We of the RHCP family would like to wish Jack Sherman smooth sailing into the worlds beyond, for he has passed. Jack played on our debut album as well as our first tour of the USA.”

In a follow-up tweet, the band wrote, “He was a unique dude and we thank him for all times good, bad and in between. Peace on the boogie platform.”

RELATED: Review: Red Hot Chili Peppers Are Finally Back With Their Chart Topper ‘Unlimited Love’

The band will perform at the 2022 MTV VMAs

The 2022 MTV VMAs will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Aug. 28. At the upcoming award show, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are nominated for Best Rock and Group of the Year.

While fans will have to wait and see if the band wins Best Rock or Group of the Year, it has already been announced that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will receive the Global Icon Award.

The band is also part of the award show’s performance lineup along with Nicki Minaj, Jack Harlow, Lizzo, Måneskin, Kane Brown, Anitta, BLACKPINK, J Balvin, Marshmello and Khalid, and Panic! At The Disco.

RELATED: Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers Had a Prank War During a 1999 Tour That Involved Golf Balls and Pasta

Red Hot Chili Peppers death 2022

Getty (L-R) Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith of The Red Hot Chili Pepper receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are MTV’s 2022 recipients of The Global Icon Award and, as part of the honor, are performing at the Video Music Awards for the first time in 22 years.

According to Variety, the legendary punk rock group, which chose to be given the award by iconic comedy duo Cheech & Chong during the August 28 show, has won eight VMAs across their career nearly 40-year career. The Chili Peppers have experienced enormous success, including their 2012 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but only two members have been with the band since the very beginning. Here’s who’s in the band today…


A History of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Band Members

Red Hot Chili Peppers death 2022

Anthony Kiedis and Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2016

In the late 1970s, according to Britannica, singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Michael Balzary (known as Flea), guitarist Hillel Slovak, and drummer Jack Irons met at school in Los Angeles and formed a punk band called Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem, and grew a following by performing along the Sunset Strip. By 1983, under the new name Red Hot Chili Peppers, they had a recording contract with EMI.

But Slovak left the band and was replaced by Jack Sherman, whose guitar playing can be heard on the band’s 1984 self-titled debut album. According to Entertainment Tonight, he toured with the band and co-wrote much of their second album, “Freaky Styley,” which was released in 1985. Sherman, who died in August 2020 at age 64, left the band that year due to tension with Kiedis, and Slovak returned.

In 1987, “The Uplift Mofo Party Plan” was the band’s first record to hit the Billboard 200 charts. But the following year, just as the Chili Peppers were beginning to have commercial success, Slovak died of a heroin overdose and Irons left the band.

Kiedis and Flea then reformed the band with guitar player and singer John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith. In 1989, the foursome released the Chili Peppers’ first album to go gold,  “Mother’s Milk,” and became household names in 1991 with their hit record, “Blood Sugar Sex Magik,” which included the band’s first top ten single, “Under the Bridge,” and their Grammy-winning “Give It Away.”

Frustrated by the band’s rising popularity and creative direction, Frusciante quit the band in 1992, not long after trying to sabotage the group’s live performance on “Saturday Night Live,” according to Live for Live Music. The Red Hot Chili Peppers then recruited Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro to join them on tour and he performed on their 1995 album, “One Hot Minute,” per Amercian Songwriter.

Red Hot Chili Peppers death 2022

GettyRed Hot Chili Peppers in 2016, featuring (L to R) Flea, Kiedis, Smith and then-guitarist Josh Klinghoffer

Frusicante rejoined the band in 1998, but after several successful albums together, the band went on hiatus in early 2008 and Frusciante left the group again to pursue a solo career, according to The Guardian. The band reemerged two years later with a new lead guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer, who had been one of the band’s supporting musicians on a past tour.

A decade later, in 2019, the band announced via Instagram that they were parting ways with Klinghoffer, whom they called a “beautiful musician” and expressed gratitude for the “gifts” he’d brought to the group. In the same post, they announced that Frusciante was returning as lead guitarist.

In 2020, Frusciante told Total Guitar, “While I think no one person is at fault in a situation where somebody quits a band, I’d grown enough as a person to see my side in it, as opposed to just playing the victim.”

Despite the ups and downs over the years, most Chili Pepper fans identify Kiedis and Flea, both 59, and Smith, 60, as the band’s founding members, with Frusciante, 52, rounding out the foursome that’s considered to be the most enduring, true-to-its-roots version of the band.


Red Hot Chili Peppers are on a Roll in 2022

In addition to being named 2022 VMA Global Icons, the Chili Peppers scored their 29th VMA nomination for their single, “Black Summer.” The song is featured on the group’s 12th studio album, “Unlimited Love,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in April 2022, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The band, in the midst of a global tour, plans to release another studio album, “Return of the Dream Canteen,” on October 14. They released that album’s first single, “Tippa My Tongue,” and a music video for it on August 19. In April, the group also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Despite having such a busy year, drummer Smith has also been supporting the rising career of his teenage daughter, Ava Maybee, who appeared on season 20 of “American Idol.” He tweeted support for her and even attended one of the shows to watch her perform. Maybee made it to the Top 14 and has spent the summer on tour with Phangs and Moontower.

Which Red Hot Chili Pepper member died?

In between Slovak's stints in the band, Jack Sherman played guitar in the Red Hot Chili Peppers from 1983 to 1984. Sherman died in 2020. According to BBC, “he died at the age of 64.”

How did the Red Hot Chili Peppers died?

Founding Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak — beloved by fans of the band's rougher, funk-driven early records — died of a heroin overdose 25 years ago today in his native Los Angeles.

Why did Josh leave Red Hot Chili Peppers?

“The timing of my leaving the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam deciding they needed an extra voice and set of hands on the tour for the Gigaton record could not have been more perfect. Eddie and I spoke about it on his birthday in 2019, eight days after my dismissal from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”