Red Hot Chili Peppers have enjoyed a hugely successful 2022, releasing two studio albums, Unlimited Love, which charted at number 1 in 16 countries including the UK and US, and Return of the Dream Canteen, which debuted at number 1 in 6 countries.
The quartet - Anthony Kiedis, John Frusciante, Flea and Chad Smith - also announced a huge worldwide stadium tour, which is set to kick off on June 4 at the Estadio La Cartuja De Sevilla in Seville, Spain.
Given how successful the LA band's comeback has been, then, they may not be too disappointed that they lost out in the three categories - Favorite Rock Artist, Favorite Rock Song and Favorite Rock Album - in which they were nominated at this year's American Music Awards, which took place last night, November 20, at the Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live in their beloved hometown.
The fans-voted awards ended up being something of a celebration of the underdogs, as far as the rock categories were concerned, with Sweden's Ghost triumphing over the Chilis, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons and Machine Gun Kelly to win the Favorite Rock Album award for Impera and Italy's Måneskin picking up the Favorite Rock Song award for Beggin' ahead of the Chili Peppers, Imagine Dragons, Foo Fighters and er, Kate Bush.
Rapper-turned-punk rocker Machine Gun Kelly bagged the award for Favorite Rock Artist, a category which included Imagine Dragons, The Lumineers, Måneskin and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
MGK won the same award at the 2021 AMAs, after which he declared, "I read a headline that said the age of the rock star is dead, but looks pretty alive to me."
Picking up his 2022 award, in an eye-catching spiky purple suit which he said is "really uncomfortable to pee in", Kelly added, "Speaking of uncomfortable, there have been some people in the rock community who've called me a tourist, but they're wrong, I'm a rocket man... These last two rock albums, to me, were me going to the moon, and I'm not done exploring the universe... See you on Mars motherfuckers!"
Watch Machine Gun Kelly's acceptance speech below:
Machine Gun Kelly has also received a Best Rock Album nomination at the 2023 Grammy Awards for Mainstream Sellout, while Ghost are nominated in the Best Metal Performance category for Call Me Little Sunshine. Red Hot Chili Peppers are nominated in the Best Rock Song category for Black Summer.
Meanwhile, the Chili Peppers have canceled their proposed 2023 performance in Israel, due to "schedule constraints."
The band said in a statement: "We greatly appreciate the understanding and patience of the best audience in the world and look forward to hosting the beloved band in the future in Israel."
