Rolling Stone caught up with Kiedis while the band is touring Europe in support of their latest album, “I’m With You,” to get his reaction and thoughts on the big news.
Upon hearing the Peppers were to be inducted, the first thing Anthony did was call family.
“I called my dad,” says the singer. “I told him that he couldn't say anything because it hadn't been publicly announced yet. I know my dad is a big Internet freak, and he's been known to be a Wikileaker. I was like, ‘Dad, you and I are blood. I'm going to tell you something, but you can't tell anybody.’ I guess it's just something that you want to share with the people that you're closest to, like family and longtime friends. My dad cried.”
“The most emotional part for me was thinking about Hillel Slovak,” continued Kiedis, thinking back to their original guitarist, who died of a heroin overdose in 1988. “That was where it got me. I felt very good about it, but I felt very much like our work has only just begun. Now that we've got Josh in the band, we have a chance to make some great records over the next few years. But there was something about going back and thinking about something that we started in a living room with Hillel Slovak. Because he's no longer with us, it seemed emotional and beautiful. It's really kind of his induction that I'm most excited about. He's a beautiful person that picked up a guitar in the 1970s and didn't make it out of the 1980s, and he is getting honored for his beauty.”
“It really fills my heart with the reality of how much we love doing what we do, and how much Flea and I love each other,” says Kiedis, wrapping up his thoughts on the honor. “We have stuck together through thick and thin and we want to keep on trucking and continue to do what it is we do. I feel an immense sense of brotherhood because we actually did it together. Like I said, I'm happy for Hillel. I feel a great sense of accomplishment with Chad and Flea, and so even more excited about the nightly experience of playing live with Josh.”
Read more at Rolling Stone here.
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See also:
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Flea comments on Rock Hall induction
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