Anthony Kiedis is apparently not comfortable with calling himself a musician, despite being the frontman of the Red Hot Chili Peppers for 40 years.
The vocalist's lack of confidence in the job title came up during a conversation with bandmate Flea on the bass player's series This Little Light, a podcast about "falling in love with music" and learning about the lives and careers of various musical guests from all genres to "discuss the teachers who guided them, the influences that inspired them" and more.
According to Flea, the heart to heart discussion with the RHCP singer reduced them both to tears, the moment of which he picks as his favourite interview from within his series.
He tells the Los Angeles Times : "A really good one was with Anthony. We were both kind of in tears because I’d never talked to him about stuff like that. Anthony doesn’t really consider himself a musician or that he’s had any music education whatsoever. He used to say we should change the band’s name to Idiot and the Three Geniuses.
"And people would be down on him, you know? Eddie Vedder’s up there like fucking Pavarotti, but the resonance is different with Anthony.”
When asked if he believes Kiedis to be a talented singer, Flea responds: "I think he’s a great singer. And he’s always learning and getting better. When we started the band, he couldn’t sing a note — he just yelled.
"Now he’s got melodies, and he doesn’t even stick to them. He flows around and improvises. Look, I know who the great singers are: Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Roger Daltrey. But for me, all I care about with any musician is that a person sounds like themselves. And nobody sounds like Anthony Kiedis."
Earlier this month, Red Hot Chili Peppers kicked off their European tour with a stadium show in Warsaw, Poland. The Californian funk rockers next show will see them travel to Leuven Rock in Wercther, Belgium.
Check out their tour dates below:
Jun 30: Leuven Rock Wercther, Belgium < >
Jul 02: Milan IT I-Days, Italy =
Jul 06: Lisbon NOS Live, Portugal =
Jul 08: Madrid Mad Cool, Spain =
Jul 11: Lyon Groupama Stadium, France <~
Jul 14: Vienna Ernst-Happel Stadion, Austria <~
Jul 17: Carhaix Les Vieilles Charrues, France =
Jul 21: London Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, UK %~
Jul 23: Glasgow Hampden Park, UK %~
Aug 06: Chicago Lollapalooza, IL =
Sep 27: Hershey Hersheypark Stadium, PA #
Sep 30: Bridgeport Sound on Sound, CT =
Oct 31: San José Estadio Nacional, Costa Rica
Nov 04: Rio de Janeiro Estádio Engenhão Nilton Santos, Brazil
Nov 07: Brasilia Arena BSB Mané Garrincha, Brazil
Nov 10: São Paulo Estádio do Morumbi, Brazil
Nov 13: Curitiba Estádio Couto Pereira, Brazil
Nov 16: Porto Alegre Arena do Grêmio, Brazil
Nov 19: Santiago Movistar Arena, Chile
Nov 21: Santiago Movistar Arena, Chile
Nov 24: Buenos Aires Estadio River Plate, Argentina
Nov 26: Buenos Aires Estadio River Plate, Argentina
^ The Strokes
< Iggy Pop
% The Roots
# St. Vincent
> The Mars Volta
* City and Colour
+ Thundercat
~ King Princess
= Festival Date
