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performance in Los Angeles. Greatly influenced by the L.A. punk scene as well as funk, the Chili Peppers (originally "Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem") began their career performing in strip bars along the Sunset strip. Later on that year the band landed a record deal with EMI. Over the past 23 years, group has produced 9 studio albums which have sold near 50 million copies worldwide.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' current band members are Anthony Kiedis (lead vocals), Michael "Flea" Balzary (bass), John Frusciante (guitar/backing vocals), and Chad Smith (drums). Despite their numerous band line-up changes and personal problems, RHCP have managed to maintain their unique sound fusion of funk, punk, rap, psychedelic rock and heavy metal.

Their first album Mother's Milk was released in 1989. The album's surprising success was largely due to MTV's great exposure of the videos "Higher Ground", a Stevie Wonder cover, and "Knock me Down" a song about the unexpected death of their original band mate Hillel Slovak.

After moving to Warner Brothers in 1991, the Chili Peppers experienced an incredible breakthrough with their fifth album Blood Sugar Sex Magik produced by Rick Rubin. Blood Sugar Sex Magik sold 7 million copies in the United States and was listed # 310 in the Rolling Stone Magazine's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Blood Sugar Sex Magik includes such hits as "Give It Away" which won a Grammy Award in 1992 for "Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal" and their first Top Ten single "Under the Bridge".

Following the success of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the band experienced many predicaments due to the destructive drug addiction of guitarist John Frusciante. After Frusciante's abrupt mid-tour departure in 1992, the Red Hot Chili Peppers made two unsuccessful guitarist replacement attempts. Eventually, Dave Navarro from Jane's Addiction joined the group for the release of One Hot Minute in 1995. In 1998, Navarro left as he was not coinciding with the band as well as expected.

John Frusciante returned in 1999 for The Red Hot Chili Peppers' reunion album, Californication, which unexpectedly outsold 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Californication peaked at #3 in the United States and experienced much success with the Grammy Award-winning "Scar Tissue", as well as other hits "Otherside", and "Californication".

In 2002, the band released By the Way, adding several more chart toppers to the list such as "By The Way", "The Zephyr Song", "Can't Stop" and "Dosed".

The Red Hot Chili Peppers released their 9th studio album in 2006. Stadium Arcadium debuted at #1 in the US charts, a first for the group. Stadium Arcadium is a double album consisting of 28 tracks. The first single, "Dani California" was the Chili Peppers fastest selling single.