Red Hot Chili Peppers have announced their first tour since beloved guitarist John Frusciante returned to the rock band.
They announced the tour in a parody video from the fake news station KHOT. In the clip, Anthony Kiedis (as Johnson Hammerswaddle) and Flea (as Todd the Squirrel) welcome Frusciante, who reveals that the world tour starts in June 2022, with U.S. dates beginning the next month. Stay tuned for particulars regarding cities and dates. The video also includes a cameo from Chad Smith as weatherman Randy Raindrops.
Frusciante re-joined the band in 2019. Nearly a decade following his original departure, the band announced his return.
“The Red Hot Chili Peppers announced that we are parting ways with our guitarist of the past ten years, Josh Klinghoffer. Josh is a beautiful musician who we respect and love. We are deeply grateful for our time with him, and the countless gifts he shared with us,” the band explained in the announcement, couching the bigger news by adding, “We also announce, with great excitement and full hearts, that John Frusciante is rejoining our group. Thank you.”
Frusciante first joined the California rockers back in 1988, when the band will still reeling from the loss of founding guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died of an overdose. The teenaged guitar phenom reenergised the group during their recording for Mother’s Milk (1989) and their crossover smash album Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), before departing and returning in 1998 for their albums Californication (1999), By the Way (2002) and Stadium Arcadium (2006).
Frusciante then left the band in 2009, with Klinghoffer joining and performing on the band’s next two albums, 2011’s I’m With You and 2016’s The Getaway. During his time away from the RHCP, Frusciante had an expansive solo career, having released 12 solo albums and seven EPs. In 2016, Frusciante briefly reunited with Anthony Kiedis and Flea at a benefit concert. Now, he’s back once again and RHCP fans across the world are delighted.
Listen to the best of Red Hot Chili Peppers on Apple Music and Spotify.