John Frusciante Is Rejoining Red Hot Chili Peppers

His Third Stint with The Group

Red Hot Chili Peppers announced via social media that they are parting ways with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and welcoming John Frusciante back. Taking to Instagram to share the important announcement, they wrote: “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.”

They then added, “We also announce, with great excitement and full hearts, that John Frusciante is rejoining our group.”

This will serve as Frusciante’s third stint with the funk rock band. He first joined RHCP in 1988 at just 18 years old and he admitted it wasn’t easy playing with them. He said, “I wasn’t really a funk player before I joined the band. I learned everything I needed to know about how to sound good with Flea by studying Hillel [Slovak’s] playing and I just took it sideways from there.”

He was featured on the 1989 album Mother’s Milk and their 1991 magnum opus Blood Sugar Sex Magik which propelled them to another level of stardom. RHCP finally had their breakthrough but Frusciante struggled to cope with the instant fame. He later revealed that their newfound popularity was “too high, too far, too soon. Everything seemed to be happening at once and I just couldn’t cope with it.” He left in the middle of the tour in 1992.

He rejoined them six years later in 1998. He played on 1999’s Californication, 2002’s By the Way and 2006’s Stadium Arcadium. On July 2009, he left RHCP again but only announced his departure publicly on December 2009. Josh Klinghoffer then took over.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers already have two 2020 shows in the US – May 15 at the Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama and May 24 at Boston Calling.