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Michael Peter Balzary (born October 16, 1962), known professionally as Flea, is an Australian-American musician, singer and actor. He is best known as the bassist and founding member of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Flea briefly appeared as the bassist for such bands as What Is This?, Fear, and Jane's Addiction. He has performed with rock supergroups Atoms for Peace, Antemasque, Pigface, and Rocket Juice & the Moon, and collaborated with Mars Volta, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Alanis Morissette, and Young MC. Flea also performed live with Nirvana (band) in 1993 playing the trumpet.
Flea incorporates elements of funk (including slap bass), psychedelic, punk, and hard rock. In 2009, Rolling Stone readers ranked Flea the second best bassist of all time, behind only John Entwistle.[1] In 2012, he and the other members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[2]
Since 1984, Flea has acted in over 20 films and television series such as Suburbia, Back to the Future Part II and Part III, My Own Private Idaho, The Chase, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thrashin', Dudes, Son in Law, The Big Lebowski, Low Down and Baby Driver, in addition to voicing the character Donnie Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys animated television series and films.
Flea is also the co-founder of Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a non-profit music education organization founded in 2001 for underprivileged children. In 2019 Flea will release his long awaited book Acid for the Children: A Memoir which will detail his life prior to the formation of Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Flea briefly appeared as the bassist for such bands as What Is This?, Fear, and Jane's Addiction. He has performed with rock supergroups Atoms for Peace, Antemasque, Pigface, and Rocket Juice & the Moon, and collaborated with Mars Volta, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Alanis Morissette, and Young MC. Flea also performed live with Nirvana (band) in 1993 playing the trumpet.
Flea incorporates elements of funk (including slap bass), psychedelic, punk, and hard rock. In 2009, Rolling Stone readers ranked Flea the second best bassist of all time, behind only John Entwistle.[1] In 2012, he and the other members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[2]
Since 1984, Flea has acted in over 20 films and television series such as Suburbia, Back to the Future Part II and Part III, My Own Private Idaho, The Chase, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thrashin', Dudes, Son in Law, The Big Lebowski, Low Down and Baby Driver, in addition to voicing the character Donnie Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys animated television series and films.
Flea is also the co-founder of Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a non-profit music education organization founded in 2001 for underprivileged children. In 2019 Flea will release his long awaited book Acid for the Children: A Memoir which will detail his life prior to the formation of Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Flea (musician) - Wikipedia
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Red Hot Chili Peppers - Born to Be - Biography & Documentary - Full (HQ)
Aired: Much Music's "Born to Be" Series. Date: 2006? Starring: Anthony Kiedis, Michael Peter Balzary (Flea), John Frusciante and Chad Smith. Sorry about the ...
Thank you my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that October 16 is the anniversary of the birth of Australian-American musician, singer and actor Michael Peter Balzary who is known professionally as Flea and is best known as the bassist and founding member of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Happy 56th birthday Michael Peter Balzary.
Background from allmusic.com/artist/flea-mn [login to see] /biography
"Best known as an integral member of one of the '80s and '90s most popular rock bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea(real name Michael Balzary) is widely regarded as one of rock's most talented bassists. By combining funk-style bass (à la Funkadelic) with psychedelic, punk, and hard rock, Balzarycreated an original playing style that has been copied numerous times. In fact, the "copy cat syndrome" got so out of hand that he refused to use his popular slap technique for the Peppers' massive 1991 hit Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
Born on October 16, 1962 in Melbourne, Australia, Balzaryand his family relocated to Los Angeles while he was still a youngster. Unlike other teenagers, Balzary's first musical love was jazz (not expected hard rock), as he concentrated on mastering the trumpet while attending Fairfax High School. It was around this time that he met two other Fairfax students who would eventually change his life -- guitarist Hillel Slovak and poet Anthony Kiedis. The trio soon became inseparable, as Slovak taught Balzary (who around this time was rechristened "Flea") how to play bass and eventually turned him on to the wonders of rock music via Jimi Hendrix and punk rock. Flea landed the bass-playing slot in the confrontational L.A. punk band Fear by the early '80s, but decided to form a band with Slovak on guitar, Kiedis on vocals, and another friend, Jack Irons, on drums. The band eventually became the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and automatically attracted a large following in California with their explosive, high-energy stage show.
The Peppers eventually signed to EMI/Capitol, issuing a string of albums that expanded their fan base with each subsequent release, eventually leading to their big commercial breakthrough with their aforementioned 1991 multi-platinum hit, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (their first for Warner Bros). The band didn't have an easy ride, however, suffering the drug overdose and death of Slovak in 1988, and a subsequent revolving door of guitarists, but the Peppers have remained one of rock's most popular and enduring bands. In addition to his duties with the RHCP, Flea has dabbled in acting -- including cameos in such popular flicks as Back to the Future, Pts. 1 & 3, My Own Private Idaho, The Big Lebowski, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, among others. And due to his musical versatility, Flea has also become a much in-demand session musician, appearing on such albums as Mick Jagger's Wandering Spirit, Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, Johnny Cash's Unchained, Jewel's Spirit, and Porno for Pyros' Good God's Urge. In 2013, he surprised fans when he released a solo EP of experimental music that he'd created while practicing studio recording techniques after the Stadium Arcadium tour, named Helen Burns after a character in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. After releasing the album online as a download, he reassured his audience that he had no plans for leaving the Chili Peppers and that this was just an experimental side trip."
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Born to Be - Biography & Documentary - Full (HQ) [Spanish subtitles]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WegM7bhNVm0
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Wayne Brandon LTC Bill Koski Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown Maj Marty Hogan MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt Jason McClish AN Christopher Crayne SPC Tom DeSmet SGT Charles H. Hawes SGT (Join to see) SSG David Andrews
Happy 56th birthday Michael Peter Balzary.
Background from allmusic.com/artist/flea-mn [login to see] /biography
"Best known as an integral member of one of the '80s and '90s most popular rock bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea(real name Michael Balzary) is widely regarded as one of rock's most talented bassists. By combining funk-style bass (à la Funkadelic) with psychedelic, punk, and hard rock, Balzarycreated an original playing style that has been copied numerous times. In fact, the "copy cat syndrome" got so out of hand that he refused to use his popular slap technique for the Peppers' massive 1991 hit Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
Born on October 16, 1962 in Melbourne, Australia, Balzaryand his family relocated to Los Angeles while he was still a youngster. Unlike other teenagers, Balzary's first musical love was jazz (not expected hard rock), as he concentrated on mastering the trumpet while attending Fairfax High School. It was around this time that he met two other Fairfax students who would eventually change his life -- guitarist Hillel Slovak and poet Anthony Kiedis. The trio soon became inseparable, as Slovak taught Balzary (who around this time was rechristened "Flea") how to play bass and eventually turned him on to the wonders of rock music via Jimi Hendrix and punk rock. Flea landed the bass-playing slot in the confrontational L.A. punk band Fear by the early '80s, but decided to form a band with Slovak on guitar, Kiedis on vocals, and another friend, Jack Irons, on drums. The band eventually became the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and automatically attracted a large following in California with their explosive, high-energy stage show.
The Peppers eventually signed to EMI/Capitol, issuing a string of albums that expanded their fan base with each subsequent release, eventually leading to their big commercial breakthrough with their aforementioned 1991 multi-platinum hit, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (their first for Warner Bros). The band didn't have an easy ride, however, suffering the drug overdose and death of Slovak in 1988, and a subsequent revolving door of guitarists, but the Peppers have remained one of rock's most popular and enduring bands. In addition to his duties with the RHCP, Flea has dabbled in acting -- including cameos in such popular flicks as Back to the Future, Pts. 1 & 3, My Own Private Idaho, The Big Lebowski, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, among others. And due to his musical versatility, Flea has also become a much in-demand session musician, appearing on such albums as Mick Jagger's Wandering Spirit, Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, Johnny Cash's Unchained, Jewel's Spirit, and Porno for Pyros' Good God's Urge. In 2013, he surprised fans when he released a solo EP of experimental music that he'd created while practicing studio recording techniques after the Stadium Arcadium tour, named Helen Burns after a character in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. After releasing the album online as a download, he reassured his audience that he had no plans for leaving the Chili Peppers and that this was just an experimental side trip."
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Born to Be - Biography & Documentary - Full (HQ) [Spanish subtitles]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WegM7bhNVm0
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Wayne Brandon LTC Bill Koski Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown Maj Marty Hogan MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt Jason McClish AN Christopher Crayne SPC Tom DeSmet SGT Charles H. Hawes SGT (Join to see) SSG David Andrews
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Threw me for a loop until I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers...definitely a coffee shortage in me this morning.
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