Flea on the emotional moment John Frusciante rejoined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2019 It all began one night over dinner. “We're talking and listening to music and hanging out and talking like friends,” Flea recalls. At one point, Flea’s wife and Frusciante’s girlfriend left the room, and suddenly the two old bandmates were alone. “And I was just like, ‘Dude, just from my heart, I fucking miss playing with you.” Tears began streaming down the bass player’s eyes after the admission left his lips. “I hadn't said that to him, because I wanted to respect what he would want to do,” Flea says. “He was very respectful about what we were doing, even though I imagined it wasn't always easy for him.” And yet, Frusciante apparently felt the same. His eyes began watering, too, as he stared back at his old pal. “He responded to me saying, ‘I really miss playing with you too.’” Consequence Interview with Flea in 2022 consequence.net/cover/red-ho… Photo: São Paulo, Brazil. November 10th 2023.

Ozzy Osbourne Tribute at the Grammys 2026. In Memoriam. Chad Smith, Slash, Duff McKagan, Andrew Watt and Post Malone perform Black Sabbath's War Pigs. #GRAMMYs2026 #GRAMMY @RHCPchad

If You Have to Ask Outro Jam Red Hot Chili Peppers at Rock in Rio 2001

John Frusciante on rejoining the Red Hot Chili Peppers “It was mainly because I love them and felt that we had unfinished business on a soul level. There are aspects of our love and respect for each other that can only be communicated by playing together.” March 31, 2022 Interview with the Los Angeles Times latimes.com/entertainment-ar…

John Frusciante by Bruce Weber in January 1991

“When you're at odds with yourself, it's hard to create. Sometimes the writing process is as easy as opening up the window and letting in the breeze. And sometimes it's like chiseling away at a block of granite with a pencil.” - Anthony Kiedis

Anthony Kiedis and Flea discuss John Frusciante's return with Clash Music back in 2022 Anthony: “When we got together and had our talks to see how we feel, it felt like a lot of the old misgivings and damage had found a way to repair itself or heal to some degree, that in the end, the value of creativity and making music together as a family outweighed any of the differences that we might have personality-wise. Because, it turns out, sometimes those peculiarities of your brethren are really what makes them creative and special and interesting, and as fucked up as I might be, or as fucked up as anyone else in this band might be, that’s kinda what makes them special and it makes them pour the juice that they pour.” Flea: “I don’t think of it as a reincarnation or a rebirth or anything, I just think of it as we just are still fucking doing it, man, you know? It’s just what we do. This is our life’s purpose. This is our mission. This is our gig.” clashmusic.com/features/conn… #RedHotChiliPeppers Photo by Clara Balzary

“Performing live is something I mostly do with Anthony, Chad, and Flea. I just never felt the urge to try and create that kind of energy with another group of people. I felt like a magical force brought us together when I was eighteen, and I'm pretty sure that only happens once in a lifetime to musicians who are very lucky.” – John Frusciante November 2020 Interview with Mondo Sonoro Photo: Unlimited Love Tour in Miami on Aug 30th 2022

Anthony Kiedis in 1999. By Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

Californication was so important to me but less important to everyone else. Every time I’d bring it up, everyone would go, “We’ve got twenty-five other songs recorded. We don’t need another one.” “No, we have to have this,” I urged. “This is the anchor of the whole record. It’s as good a lyric as I’ve written in a long time. It has to be a song.” It was such a sense of relief and gratification, to know that Californication didn’t end up in the same trash bin as “Quixotic Elixir” and a number of other songs that I had high hopes for. - Anthony Kiedis (Scar Tissue) Photo by James Dimmock, Los Angeles 2002

Red Hot Chili Peppers perform Around The World live in Verona, Italy on Sep 4th 1999. Festivalbar Music Festival.

"I probably shouldn't really talk about it because band business, you know, but we're just starting to write and stuff. Just trying to put together some music." – Flea, July 2025 Dinner with the Macleans Podcast. July 22nd 2025 facebook.com/redhotchilipepp…

"If you look for the bad in the world, you'll always find something bad, but if you look for the good in the world, you'll find it. It's there." – John Frusciante, 2001