John Frusciante Back With the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Photo: electronicbeats.net

In the best music news I’ve heard in a long time, guitarist John Frusciante has reunited with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  The band announced Sunday they have parted ways with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who replaced Frusciante 10 years ago.  Quoted from the band’s Instagram account: “The Red Hot Chili Peppers announce 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.  We also announce with great excitement and full hearts, that John Frusciante is rejoining our group.  Thank you.”

This is will mark the third stint Frusciante has had in the Chili Peppers.  His first began in 1988 after the band’s original guitarist Hillel Slovak passed away and ended when he quit in 1992 when the band’s extreme success became too much for him and he dove into a life of drugs.  He cleaned up and rejoined the band in 1998, where he played until 2009 when he left the band on good terms to branch out musically.

John Frusciante is without a doubt one of my favorite guitarists of all time, and may very well be my favorite if I had to choose.  His talents make it obvious he is one of the best to ever pick up a guitar and his style fits in so perfectly with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ sound.  For the past ten years while the band has still made music, I have felt like haven’t been 100% the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Josh was a good guitarist, but John IS the Red Hot Chili Peppers, just like Anthony Kiedis (singer), Flea (bassist), and Chad Smith (drummer) are.  When the four are together, the band is complete.  If you aren’t that familiar with the Chili Peppers, then pretty much every song you’ve heard from them was with Frusciante playing guitar, such as the work from the albums Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Californication, By the Way, and Stadium Arcadium.

I really can’t wait to see where the band goes from here and what their next album will be like.  There’s no doubt it will sell like crazy with all the Chili Pepper fans out there who have been waiting, but doubted, for Frusciante’s return.  I also really want to go see them live now.  I would have went to a concert in the past ten years if I had the opportunity, but wouldn’t have been nearly as excited about it as I would have if they would’ve had John in the group.  Now that they do, I’ll be checking the tour dates.

Garett