Celebrating 25 years of Red Hot Chili Peppers since 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik'

Shuffling Roster

Mentioned above, the founding members of the band were disbanded before 1991. Guitarist Hillel Slovak tragically died in 1988 from a heroin overdose. Shortly after Slovak's death, drummer Jack Irons left. Kiedis and bassist Flea then brought in guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith. The quartet of Kiedis, Flea, Frusciante and Smith went on to be the most successful and universally known combination of Peppers to date. They would not, unfortunately, remain together. 

Blood Sugar Sex Magik Tour 

This tour spanned from January 1991 to February 1993 and packed in 145 shows in seven different legs. On the first leg of the tour, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins all opened for the Chili Peppers. At the time, those three bands were dubbed "up-and-comers" as most opening bands are. By the end of the tour, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins were headlining their own individual tours and on their way to mega-success.

Nevermind

Fun historical fact: Nirvana's album Nevermind was released on the same day as Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Sept. 24, 1991.

John Frusciante 

The guitarist was with the band from 1988-92 (he abruptly quit in May 1992) and then rejoined from 1998-2009.

In July, Kiedis told GuitarWorld.com that Frusciante was "one of the most wonderful and easiest people to make music with. We could sit down on the floor, John and I, and I could take out a piece of paper, and I would say, ‘Okay, I wrote these words.’ 

"And he would like [say], ’Let me see those words,’ and he would take take the words, he would read them, and he’s like, ‘Okay.’ He would start to play something, I would start to sing it, and I would say, ‘Can you play something that feels like this?’ And he would say, ‘Okay, let me try this.’ Then we would have a song."

But the relationship wasn't always smooth, at least reportedly. It was reported that Kiedis and Frusciante often butted heads, which led to the guitarist leaving the Chili Peppers originally while they were in Japan and about to do a show at Tokyo's Club Quattro. But when he left again in 2009, he left amicably and was replaced by guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.

Naked Rolling Stone Cover

The Red Hot Chili Peppers appeared on the magazine's cover completely naked on June 25, 1992, signifying the acquired Blood Sugar Sex Magik fame. It was the band's first time on the cover. As described on RollingStone.com, "Their clothes would never quite come all the way back on for any of the group's later covers."

Platinum

Blood Sugar Sex Magik went certified multi-platinum seven times by the Recording Industry Association of America. 

Lollapalooza 1992

The Peppers headlined Lollapalooza in 1992. This marked the beginning of peak grunge, which wasn't necessarily the Peppers' identity, but they were definitely linked to that scene. In 1991, Lollapalooza only consisted of a few dates around the country and one stage. In 1992, it was a massive tour and touted two stages. I guess you could say the Peppers and Lollapalooza made the leap together. This was also the band's first major appearance without Frusciante, who was replaced by Arik Marshall.

Video Music Awards

The Chili Peppers won the Breakthrough Video Award for "Give It Away" at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. During their acceptance speech, Flea jumped up on the podium and started dancing obscenely before Kiedis said, "You never want to take this stuff too seriously because the awards, it's cool to be honored by your friends and respected and everything like that, but the fact is that the sincerity and the beauty in the power of somebody's creative expression whether it's music or film or art can never truly be awarded by an award. That comes from the soul."

In 2000, the Chili Peppers were given the MTV Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award to acknowledge their many iconic career achievements.

Flaming Helmets 

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' performances were synonymous with outrageous costumes. Among the most out there: performing while wearing helmets literally on fire. Here's a video of them performing "The Power of Equality" (a track off of Blood Sugar Sex Magik) at Reading Festival while on fire in 1994.

Dave Navarro

Navarro was one of Frusciante's replacements at guitar. He joined the band in 1993 and departed in 1998. In an excerpt from Jeff Apter's book Fornication: The Red Hot Chili Peppers Story published in 2004, Navarro's time as a Pepper is described in part: "Navarro had never been a comfortable fit, both as a guitarist and a bandmate. He seemed diametrically opposed to everything the band was about: they loved to play goofy, he was as serious as death; they dressed in day-glo colors, he wore basic black..." 

Drugs 

Major addiction problems bookended Blood Sugar Sex Magik, beginning with the tragic death of Slovak in 1988 and continuing through Kiedis's addiction to cocaine and heroin during the recording of Blood Sugar Sex Magik and beyond. In his 2004 memoir titled Scar Tissue, Kiedis details his battle with drugs, including how his "drug-dealer-turned-actor" father introduced him to the Hollywood drug landscape at a very young age.

Rick Rubin

The very accomplished producer worked with the Peppers on Blood Sugar Sex Magik and six albums in total. Rubin was nominated for 16 Grammy Awards while collaborating with the band. Their working relationship ended in 2014.

Haunted Mansion

It was Rubin who urged the Chili Peppers to record Blood Sugar Sex Magik in an abandoned mansion that the band believed to be haunted. According to The Houston Press, "the only person apparently not frightened is John Frusciante." At one point while recording the album, Chad Smith got too scared and left temporarily. 

Funky Monks

There is a homemade documentary titled The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Funky Monks that followed the band while making Blood Sugar Sex Magik. 

Top 500

Blood Sugar Sex Magik was ranked as the 310th best album of all time by Rolling Stone when the magazine compiled a Top 500 Greatest Albums list. 

Outtakes 

A total of 25 songs were recorded originally for the album with only 17 making the cut. But a "B side" was released, which included four outtakes. One of those was "Soul to Squeeze," a single that soared on its own thanks to being on the soundtrack of Coneheads. Another outtake, "Sikamikanico," appeared on the Wayne's World soundtrack.

Hurricane Katrina 

In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina made landfall and destroyed everything in its path, there was a live telethon called "ReAct Now" broadcast through MTV networks, among others. There were 26 songs performed in total, including "Under the Bridge," which speaks to the song's (and album's) lasting gravitational pull. 

Under the Bridge

It has been reported several times throughout the years, including in Kiedis's memoir, that "Under the Bridge" almost never left the page. Specifically worded on Pitchfork.com in July 2016: "'Under the Bridge' might have remained a scribbled-down poem had Rubin not spotted it while flipping through Kiedis’ notebook; he suggested he show it to the band, despite Kiedis’ reservations that it didn’t sound like it could be a Chili Peppers song. He was right, but that didn’t matter. ... The power ballad sounded wildly different than anything they’d ever recorded."

Super Bowl XLVIII

In February 2014, the Red Hot Chili Peppers joined Bruno Mars on stage for the Super Bowl halftime show at MetLife Stadium. The band played "Give It Away," a song still holding up and gracing the lips of Bruno Mars 23 years later. Of course, they performed shirtless.

Carpool Karaoke 

I highly doubt the Red Hot Chili Peppers envisioned that they would one day be rehashing the songs they were recording in 1991 with a late night talk show host, fully clothed (well, most of the time), in 2016. But James Corden drove around Los Angeles with the band in June for The Late Late Show's viral "Carpool Karaoke." During the ride, Corden began playing "Give It Away" before pausing and asking, "Wait, what have you got that you're going to give to my mum?" Kiedis responded, "Love and affection." They go on to dissect the song's suggestive lyrics. They also sang "Under the Bridge," and songs from the Chili Peppers' other albums.