Thom Yorke made a surprise appearance with Flea last night in London, the first time the two Atoms For Peace bandmates have played live together for some time.

Flea was appearing at KOKO in Camden, the only UK date on his current Honora tour and brought out Yorke to play Traffic Lights, their recent collab on Flea’s solo album. Check out the footage below:

And they followed that with a 10 minute version of Marvin Gaye’s funk classic Got To Give It Up, with – as you’d expect - the Radiohead singer bringing the falsetto vocals.

It comes a week after Yorke was honoured at the Ivor Novello Awards with their Academy Fellowship Award. In time-honoured Thom Yorke-style, he used his acceptance speech to bemoan all those horrible music industry people, saying: “This industry will die and arseholes with it, if all you do is devalue the next generation of artists and their fans. Just remember: without us, you ain’t shit!”

Lovely.

At the Ivors, he also revealed that he’s putting together a new solo album. “It’s been a really fun process, and it’s pretty f***ing different for me.”

Yorke added: “I’m too close to it to know for certain. I get moments of going, ‘This is good, I like this’. That’s enough for me. What else can I say about it? There’s a song called Arse-Kissers.”

Flea’s solo album Honora was released last week and the Chili Pepper has given an interview to Apple 1’s Zane Lowe about it, his recent collaborations and the next Chili Peppers' album.

One of the highlights of the record is a cover of Wichita Lineman with a guesting Nick Cave. “I’ve been a huge fan of his forever,” Flea said. “He always gets right down to it. Initially, it [the track] was going to be an instrumental – I had no plans for anyone to sing on it.”

As he explains, he had originally had just a trumpet there for the top line. “(But) I was sitting back listening to it and I recalled the few times in my life I had conversed with Nick, we had spoken about Jimmy Webb.. and I just thought ‘Oh man, maybe Nick would want to sing on this?’"

"(So) I sent it to him, and he responded within a half hour, you know, ‘I’m leaving to go on tour in two days but I’ll try to get in the studio right away tomorrow and do it’. And he did and he was like ‘it’s my gift to you – take it.’”

"He recorded it right away. He sent it to me and I'm, like, sobbing… in tears, because it was so… I mean, he's a poet"

“He’s such a kind, soulful, heartbeat of a man,” the bassist summarised, revealing that when he heard Cave’s vocal he ended up sobbing. “He was in touch with the narrative of the story, in a soulful real way. You can tell – he feels every word. He is a very humane, in-touch person.

"When I spoke to him afterwards, I could tell it meant a lot to him to do it and he really cared about it. And that he saw the song itself as this infinitely powerful vehicle, and to inhabit that vehicle meant he had to really bring it. And he did.”

Another guest was Thom Yorke, who appears on the track Traffic Lights. “Again I had no intention of having any vocal on this song. I was sitting listening to it through the speakers, thinking ‘this is cool’ and then having the thought ‘I can’t wait to play this to Thom – he’s going to love this. This is right up his alley’, which segued to the next thought, which is ‘maybe Thom would want to sing on this?’ And he did. And he sang and it was beautiful and everything that Thom does.”

And the inevitable Chili Peppers' question? The band are “writing” according to Flea. “(We’re) getting together, putting songs together, feels really good, feels different. All I can say is that it’s different… really different,” he says, wondering if he’s already said too much. “We’re putting together music, and it feels beautiful.”

On 25 June 1988, Hillel Slovak, guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, died of a heroin overdose at the age of 26.

It was a tragedy that had a profound effect on the other members of the band, as bassist Flea recalls in a new interview with MOJO magazine.

“It was devastating,” Flea says. “Just unbelievable. When it happened I was so shocked I just fell on the floor, gasping for air.”

Hillel Slovak was one of the four founding members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers alongside Flea, vocalist Anthony Kiedis and drummer Jack Irons.

Slovak was born in Haifa, Israel, but it was after his family relocated to the US, settling in Los Angeles, that he met Flea, Kiedis and Irons while attending Fairfax High School.

Flea was an accomplished trumpet player in his youth, but his friendship with Slovak proved hugely influential in shaping his future.

Speaking to MOJO, Flea says of Slovak: “He was the one who asked me to start playing the bass. I would never have played bass without him, and without him I would never have been in a rock band. He taught me so much.”

He recalls his first meeting with Slovak and acknowledges how he and Kiedis gained an education in music from the young guitarist.

“When Anthony and I met him, we were young,” Flea says. “We were out hitch-hiking the street and we saw him and he had a car. He was fucking 16 and he had a car! A Datsun 510.

“He had a stereo in the car and he was smoking weed and listening to [Led] Zeppelin. He gave us a ride and I think he gave us some weed. He showed me Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck and then the Gang Of Four, all this stuff.”

It was in 1982 that the four friends formed the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Slovak and Irons briefly left the Chili Peppers to focus on a new band named What is This?

As a result, the Chili Peppers’ self-titled debut album, released in 1984, was recorded with guitarist Jack Sherman and drummer Cliff Martinez.

But Slovak returned for the second album Freaky Styley – produced by Parliament/Funkadelic leader George Clinton and released in 1985.

Jack Irons also rejoined the band for the 1987 album The Uplift Mofo Party Plan.

This turned out to be the only Chili Peppers album to feature all four founding members. It was also the last album Hillel Slovak ever made.

Following Slovak’s death, the band recruited John Frusciante.

In an emotional tribute to Slovak, Flea tells MOJO: “I looked up to him. I was in love with him. He was a beautiful boy and troubled like all of us were, difficulties at home, difficulties everywhere.

“His guitar playing was beautiful, his hair, the way he dressed… everything. A beautiful friend. And really sadly a drug addict, heroin, and he didn’t make it through.”

Flea has been part of one of the world’s biggest bands for over four decades, but one thing he has never done in all that time is a solo album.

That will change next year – the bass icon’s solo debut is in the works and the first single from it has been released this week. It's called A Plea. You can see the video below.

Don’t expect it to get heavy radio rotation though. It’s a seven-minute track, with plenty of bass (surprise!) which includes a three-minute intro before Flea’s spoken word vocals come in. And as you can hear, it’s seriously jazz.

The video – directed by Flea’s daughter Clara Balzary – is something else. For the long intro, the Chili Pepper indulges in a bit of mime artistry before indulging in some impressive dance moves. With his pink hair and bright yellow DUB T shirt, the 63-year-old looks very much the original rave grandad.

The bassist has also talked a bit about the lyrics. In a statement accompanying the single, Flea said: “(They tap into) yearning for a place beyond, a place of love, for me to speak my mind and be myself. I’m always just trying to be myself. I don’t care about the act of politics.

"I think there is a much more transcendent place above it where there’s discourse to be had that can actually help humanity, and actually help us all to live harmoniously and productively in a way that’s healthy for the world. There’s a place where we meet, and it’s love.”

Also featured on the single are Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker and percussionist Mauro Refosco, who’s best known for his work with David Byrne.

It’s not technically Flea's first solo release – that was a 2012 benefit EP for the Silverlake Conservatory Of Music. He has had a few extracurricular side projects in his time though – with Thom Yorke in Atoms For Peace and in Damon Albarn’s shortlived band Rocket Juice And The Moon. And over the years there have been plenty of guest slots on other people’s records by Alanis Morissette, Tom Waits, Jane’s Addiction and Patti Smith.

Students from Flea’s Silverlake Conservatory of Music have shown their appreciation of their school’s founder in the shape of an EP called Our Loving Tribute to Red Hot Chili Peppers.

It’s a four track release and was executive produced by the bassist himself, alongside Merck Mercuriadis, the founder of Hipgnosis Songs. The four Chili Peppers songs the kids cover are Subway To Venus, Sick Love, Hump de Bump and Soul To Squeeze.

The EP was attributed by the SCM All Stars, a collective of the top students at the school. As you can see below, the group performed their version of Hump de Bump on Good Day LA recently with a guesting Flea on trumpet.

Anyway, Flea sounded made up by the tribute, saying in a statement: “The kids! I’m so grateful that our music can be a vehicle for their spirits to fly. This is what music is for. I am so proud of them.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis was impressed too saying, “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be tributized by.” (Is ‘tributized’ a word?)

“Student musicians are the best,” he added. “Let’s all take a listen to how they interpret these tunes. Thank you Flea and good work Merck.”

The Chili Peppers release is the third in a series of tribute EPs the Conservatory students have put out this year. They previously released Our Loving Tribute to The Pretenders in May and Our Loving Tribute to Neil Young in July.

Flea founded the Conservatory way back in 2001 with sometime Chilis member Keith ‘Tree’ Barry. The bassist has maintained close links with the school since – he released his first solo EP via the Conservatory’s website in 2012 and the Chili Peppers played a charity event there in 2019 which turned out to be their final performance with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.

Patti Smith was given the all-star tribute treatment last night at New York’s Carnegie Hall. A long list of A-list musicians lined up to pay homage to a true rock 'n’ roll icon at an event called People Have the Power: A Celebration of Patti Smith.

Who was there? Well, Bruce Springsteen for starters. Alongside Flea and Rolling Stones’ tour drummer Steve Jordan, the Boss performed a version of Because The Night (originally a Springsteen song, of course, but a hit for Smith).

Matt Berninger of The National had opened the evening by performing Piss Factory. Kim Gordon and Michael Stipe both made appearances, whilst Scarlett Johansson, Jim Jarmusch and Sean Penn all stepped up to read selections of Smith’s poetry. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs fronted a stomping cover of Gloria.

Meanwhile another A-lister, Johnny Depp, turned up unannounced and played guitar on a version of Dancing Barefoot, with Flea on bass and The Kills’ Alison Mosshart on vocals.

And, of course, the first lady of punk was there too. The evening ended with Smith herself performing a none-more-poignant version of People Have The Power, which ended with just about every guest on stage and 78 year old singer instructing the audience to ‘use your fucking voice’.

Being the subject of a tribute night when you’re still alive might suggest that Smith’s power is on the wane, but as you can see in the footage above ,that’s very much not the case. She’s on the road later this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her groundbreaking debut album, Horses. There are just two UK dates though – at the London Palladium on October 12 and 13. Tickets are now sold out, it seems.

Flea has named the person he thinks is the "greatest rock bass player", and some might see it as a slightly surprising choice for a man whose name is most closely associated with funk and out-and-out rock.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers man appeared on Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson’s podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name (I wonder where they got the inspiration for that title from?) and he got talking about Paul McCartney, whose bass playing skills are often overshadowed by his songwriting and the immense weight of his achievements whilst part of the Beatles.

“I think Paul’s the greatest rock bass player,” Flea said. “He’s just great. I mean, there are so many guys that are great in different ways, but Paul’s bass playing is so lyrical and melodic, and it’s just so beautiful. One of the things I’ve heard is that he put the bass on after. A band like mine, the bass sometimes the song starts with basslines, so coming first, or the music comes first.”

He continued: “Whereas I think Paul and John and George when they wrote songs and Paul would do the bass. And after multitracking came in, at the beginning of them, they just went and played live and would do it after, like ‘Sgt Pepper’s, the melody is already there. So then he’s doing, like a counter melody, so the bass is like a melody as opposed to just rhythm, and that’s amazing. He’s amazing.”

Separately, Flea took to Twitter/X and a propos of nothing named his favourite female rock singer in a single sentence: “Chrissie Hynde is the greatest female rock singer of all time.”

The Chili Peppers played to their biggest ever audience on Sunday night when they were part of the Olympics closing ceremony. Their 2002 hit By The Way was heard as Tom Cruise took the Olympic flag from the Stade De France and was seen roaring through the streets of Paris on his motorbike. Then, when the flag – through the magic of television – appeared in Los Angeles seconds later, the action moved to a live gig at Venice Beach where the band played Can’t Stop before handing over to fellow Los Angeles artists Billie Eilish and Snoop Dogg.

Everyone knows Chad Smith for his work in the Red Hot Chili Peppers, where together with bassist Flea he’s formed one-half of the most famous rhythm section in rock for the last 30 years. More recently, Chad has been stretching out with session appearances with some heavy hitters including Joe Satriani, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop and…Dua Lipa.

Chad recently sat down with Drumeo to discuss his involvement in the studio version of the UK pop artist’s song, Break My Heart, the chorus of which famously features an interpolation of INXS’s Need You Tonight.

His role came about via the song’s producer, Andrew Watt, who the Chili Pepper worked with on Ozzy Osbourne and Iggy Pop’s respective albums. Chad tells Drumeo, “My friend Andrew Watt is quite the producer extraordinaire, and he was working with Dua Lipa. I came down and they were just finishing up the session, they’d just kind of written everything, pretty much. Andrew was like ‘I’m so glad you’re here! we were just talking about how this song needs live drums!’. I’m like, ‘Here we go! Great!”

Chad goes on to talk about his approach to the song — a straightforward, tight disco groove —explaining that there was already a programmed beat on the track, and that he kept it four-to-the-floor. “In a situation where you’re the artist’s ‘band’, if it’s a singer, you’re just trying to do whatever they need or want to help make it feel good. There’s no…I’m not trying to get my thing in there at all. 

“I want to just play, and be the drummer in their band for that two weeks or whatever it is while you’re making that record. This was just literally putting drums over a pretty finished track. There was some drum machine on it already, but they just wanted that kind of disco-funk thing. So I did some of that, and it ended up working. While he was there, Chad took the opportunity to play through the song - doing so with razor-sharp precision against the quantised finish version.

Break My Heart featured on Dua Lipa’s second album, 2020’s Future Nostalgia, and was released as a single the same year. Despite peaking at a moderate number six on the UK charts and number 13 on the US Billboard chart, the song has since gone on to amass over one billion streams on Spotify, and the official video has been played over half a billion times on YouTube. Not bad for a chance encounter with a mate!  

Red Hot Chili Peppers have released a new music video accompanying their latest single, Tippa My Tongue.

Taken from the forthcoming album Return of the Dream Canteen – due out on 14th October – the Rick Rubin-produced track is quintessential Chili Peppers, driven by a deep funk groove and laced with a hefty dose of acid rock.

Featuring trippy animation by Julien Calemard and Thami Nabil, the band’s latest vid is a psychedelic extravaganza and was directed by Malia James with creative direction by guitarist John Frusciante’s girlfriend, Marcia Pinna aka Aura T-09.

Return of the Dream Canteen follows up this year’s Unlimited Love album and was announced by the band during a live concert in Denver, Colorado last month.

It was a surprise for fans, many of whom didn’t expect the news so soon after Red Hot Chili Peppers’ latest album release.

However, Frusciante had previously alluded to the prospect of more new material during an interview with Total Guitar.

“Before we knew it, we had way more songs than we’d ever written for a record before,” he recalled, adding, “I definitely feel like we saved some of the best stuff for the potential next album.”

Speaking of their new album, a band statement on the Red Hot Chili Peppers website reads:

“We went in search of ourselves as the band that we have somehow always been. Just for the fun of it we jammed and learned some old songs. Before long we started the mysterious process of building new songs. A beautiful bit of chemistry meddling that had befriended us hundreds of times along the way…

“When all was said and done, our moody love for each other and the magic of music had gifted us with more songs than we knew what to do with. Well we figured it out. 2 double albums released back to back.”

Pre-order Return of the Dream Canteen here.