Things You Should Know About RHCP
22- Kiedis got clean with help from a magical elk
Christmas, 1994: Kiedis, strung out on coke and heroin, was driving home to Michigan with his girlfriend when a "gigantic super-elk" leapt into the road. "It [was] an omen," he wrote in his memoir, Scar Tissue. "The spirit of that elk was saying to me, 'Wake up, mitherfucker, because you're dying.'"
23- They stopped smoking the buddha, and started studying him instead
"Rick Rubin turned me on to transcendental meditation about eight years ago," said Flea in 2002 interview. "It helps me to just be in the moment and not be scared of pain and anxiety." Kiedis and frusciante are also devotees, and Smith is "getting into yoga."
24- Kiedis almost knicked Liam Gallagher's lights out
During an Oasis show in 1996, Kiedis and a girlfriend ducked into an electrical closet for a little what's-the-story-morning-glory. Flush with passion, they accidentally flipped a switch, plunging the room into darkness; a few inches left and they'd have cut the lights to the whole arena. "We were," Kiedis wrote, "one lever away from bringing the concert to a grinding halt." So to speak.
25- Ladies love to suck Anthony's kiss
Kiedis, a lifelong bachelor, has a list of exes that would make George Clooney jealous: Heidi Klum, Sinead O'Connor, Sofia Coppola, Ione Skye, Sporty Spice. His secret ? Easy, says Smith. "He's charismatic, handsome, powerful, rich and smart. If I were a woman, I'd get with him."
26- Woodstock '99 wasn't their fault...
When the peace festival erupted into blazes and brawls, many blamed the Peppers' riotous closing set, which they capped with a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire". Not fair, says Smith. "There might have been one little bonfire waaaaay in the distance, like a mile away. But everyone we saw was having a great time."
27- ...And neither was Fred Durst
The Peppers may have singlehandedly invented rap-rock, but that doesn't mean they're proud of all they spawned. "The world should not hold us accountable for limpbizkit," Smith says with a laugh. "Please-it's not our fault !"
28- They're accomplished thespians
Flea has several screen credits to his name (The Big Lebowski, Psycho, The Wild Thornberrys), and Kiedis was a child actor who played Sly Stallone's son in the forgettable Teamster drama F.I.S.T. "I went to his trailer to get into character with him," Kiedis says. "He started screaming, 'Get this kid outta here !'"
29- They once moonlighted as the spice girls
For Flea's daughter's tenth birthday - at the height of Spice Girl Mania - the band staged a mock concert, starring Flea as Baby Spice, Frusciante as Sporty, their drum tech as Scary and Kiedis as Posh. (Ginger had already left the group.) "Imagine these poor girls'horror when they realized we were a bunch of grown men with beards and hairy legs," Kiedis laughs. "They're probably scarred for life."
30- They love L.A.
"Every single thing I write is about Los Angeles, either directly or indirectly," Kiedis says. "We rehearse in the Valley, we record in Laurel Canyon, I've lived everywhere from Hollywood Boulevard to Malibu - it's just in us. It's a magical spot."
31- They really do give it away, give it away, give it away now
Since 2000, the Peppers have quietly donated a quarter of their tour profits to charity. "We try to focus on the kids, the environment, women, old folks - anyone who needs a little leg up," says Kiedis.
32- They are impervious to aging
Despite a combined eight-plus decades of drug and alchool abuse, the band look almost frighteningly fit. "Our performances are very physical," explains Smith. "I saw Lynyrd Skynyrd on TV the other night, and they're just these huge fat guys - they don't jump around or anything".
33- Their ninth record is "just the beginning"
Stadium Arcadium is the band's boldest statement yet: a sprawling double CD produced by Rubin in the same Hollywood mansion as Blood Sugar. "I think it's our best ever, but it's just a preview," says Kiedis. "I'm still just a freshman in the college of music. We've got some other cool shit in us."
---Josh Eells
