flea

BIOGRAPHY

Michael "Flea" Peter Balzary was born on October 16, 1962 in Melbourne, Australia. Flea is the character of the group, always hailed the most insane (& in this group, that's something to talk about). He has a sister named Karen & a daughter named Clara, who is eleven. Flea was married to a woman named Loesha, whom is the mother of Clara. They divorced after the recording of Mother's Milk . Flea parents divorced when he was very young, so he & his mother moved to Los Angeles. Flea's mother remarried a man who was a jazz musician. Flea's thirst for jazz music was quenched by his stepfather, who held frequent jam sessions in their home. Flea had played trumpet since he was very young, & his music teachers @ Fairfax High School believed him to be the most talented trumpet player they'd seen since Herv Albert, who attended there many years earlier.

Fairfax High is where Flea met Anthony. Flea had Anthony's best friend, @ the time, in a headlock. Anthony threatened Flea, so Flea backed away. Despite this, the two quickly became friends, feeling as though they could relate, largely due to their parents' divorces @ such young ages. They had a mutual friend named Hillel Slovak who played guitar, & the three found that they enjoyed nothing more than just being together & doing things that teenagers, as well as life long friends do.

Flea was not impressed w/rock music in any way, he was still a hardcore jazz lover until Hillel introduced him to Jimi Hendrix's music around the age of 14. Flea was blown away, actually enjoyed the music, & wanted to learn another instrument, so Hillel taught him to play bass. Their "band" was basically them jamming around w/whomever wanted to jam. Jack Irons was their regular drummer, & one particular night @ the Rhythm Lounge while they were on, Anthony jumped onstage & rapped out a poem he'd written entitled "Out In L.A." They were immediately in demand.

Flea was involved w/the L.A. hardcore punk band Fear @ the same time, but stuck w/the Chili Peppers. The Peppers were building a name for themselves, & they wanted to take this to the next step. Anthony suggested one night between the end of the set & the encore that they perform in socks. Socks on their cocks, to put it bluntly. This got them the reaction they were hoping for, everyone was hungry to see the Peppers. W/n six months, they'd landed a record deal on an indie label. Hillel & Jack were involved in another band, like Flea, but unlike Flea, they chose the other band. Flea & Anthony recorded the first album w/another drummer & guitarist. It was very unfocused & didn't do well, but they weren't discouraged because now Hillel & Jack were ready to come back. They called George Clinton to produce Freaky Styley. Flea was very well liked by George, & they all enjoyed their time w/him. Things moved along very quickly from then on for the band, as their second album was a promise of what was to come.

Uplift Mofo Party Plan didn't break that promise as it hit the Billboard charts & they toured heavily. Flea wasn't involved in heavy drugs, unlike Hillel & Anthony, who were trying to get clean because they'd realized it was only going to bring them down. Flea, instead, was being supportive of helping his friends steer clear of drugs. The RHCP were/are a very closely knit band, so they were together 90% of the time, & after the tour everyone went their separate ways. This proved to be Hillel's death. W/no support, he wasn't strong enough to stay away from the drugs. The addiction had won over Hillel, & by the way things were looking, over the band. Jack Irons quit, but Flea & Anthony refused to let drugs take their band away.

They held auditions for a new guitarist & drummer. John Frusciante, a 17-year-old guitar prodigy was hired. Chad Smith was brought in as the drummer. Mother's Milk production began, & it became their first gold record.

Flea got married to a woman named Loesha, & they had a baby girl named Clara on September 16th, 1988. They were divorced soon after the Mother's Milk era, & Flea sites Clara as his number one joy in life. Moving in together to record BloodSugarSexMagik , the band became close. John had the same musical approach to the guitar as Hillel, so Flea was elated to play w/John. The album was released & RHCP became the "it" band of that time. BSSM sold 8 million copies rather quickly, & RHCP were in demand. Everyone wasn't thrilled, John became increasingly disenchanted w/the band & quit @ a vital time for it. Flea invited his friend Dave Navarro, formerly of Jane's Addiction, to replace him.

John became a voluntary drug addict, & it scared Flea greatly. Flea has said that he was sure John was going to die, it was just a question of when. Hurt by his friend's departure, he wasn't as happy, the RHCP weren't as successful, losing their funk sound w/Dave.

Time went by & John was convinced to go to rehab. Flea was ecstatic, & invited him to re-join the band as they'd been on a bit of a hiatus. John was also very excited, & the Chili Peppers were a cohesive unit once again after meeting & feeling the love they still had for one another. In 1998, recording for Californication began, & it was released in June of 1999. Going double platinum in five short months, it's promising to be one of their most memorable.