USA: ROCK BAND RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS RETURN TO THE TOP OF THE AMERICAN POP CHARTS

Record ID: 392958

  • Title: USA: ROCK BAND RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS RETURN TO THE TOP OF THE AMERICAN POP CHARTS
  • Date: 9th July 2002
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JULY 9, 2002) (REUTERS) SCU SOUNDBITE (English) KIEDIS SAYING: "It's almost like a pulse that runs through us and we just don't want it to stop. There's a reason for it to go on and whatever that is, we're trying to stick with it."
  • Embargoed: 24th July 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6C2OYVA6M2THHUPLO5L5AEAE7
  • Story Text: Veteran rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers are back and on top of the U.S. music charts with their latest release "By the Way." Frontman Anthony Kiedis sat down with Reuters to talk about the new album and about the band's twenty years together.
    The 1991 hit "Under the Bridge" may be one of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' best-known songs, but it's a long and sometimes rough career that preceded it. Frontman Anthony Kiedis and bassist Michael "Flea" Balzary hooked up in high school and, along with a guitarist and drummer, formed the Chili Peppers in 1983. And since that time, the band provided finances, friendship and much more for Kiedis.
    "Red Hot Chili Peppers has given me personally, a reason to exist for the past twenty years," Kiedis told Reuters.
    Though the L.A. band certainly has a signature sound, Kiedis says they never stick to simple formulas. In 2000, the band won a Grammy Award for "Scar Tissue" as best rock song.
    The album also landed the band a Grammy in 2001 for best group rock performance.
    "It's an amazing feeling to know that when we get together and rehearse, that shit happens - ideas just come flying out of the walls and it feels meaningful, it doesn't feel like we're rehashing or lost, it's just exciting to write music in this band; the chemistry is happening," Kiedis said.
    So if their latest sound is reflective of where they are now, it could be interpreted as a more mature, thoughtful, and somber Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it isn't light music.
    "It might not be as blatantly bombastic as other records, but the sort of weight of the emotion and the intention behind these songs is quite heavy, really," the singer said.
    Known for their wild stage antics and a wardrobe that sometimes includes nothing more than strategically strapped tube socks, the Chili Peppers have earned a hearty fan base while continuing to attract new listeners with each album.
    And they continue to amaze even themselves.
    "It's almost like a pulse that runs through us and we just don't want it to stop. There's a reason for it to go on and whatever that is, we're trying to stick with it," Kiedis said.
    "By the Way" is currently on store shelves around the world and debuted at No. 2 on this week's (July 18, 2002) U.S.
    albums chart.
    --
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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