Happy Birthday, Flea! 🎉

Best known as a fundamental member of one of the '80s and '90s most popular rock bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea (aka Micheal Peter Balzary) is regarded as one of rock's most talented bassists. Flea creates an original bass playing style by combining funk, psychedelic, punk, and hard rock elements into his playing. He uses a wide range of bass guitar techniques, mainly popping and slapping and changing the speed of his tempo during songs and his quick improvisation. He was born on the 16th of October 1962 in Melbourne, Australia. His family relocated to Los Angeles while he was young. Even though his music career compromised of mostly rock music, Flea's first love was jazz! He concentrated on mastering the trumpet during his high school days. He attended Fairfax High School similar to Hillel Slovak and Anthony Kiedis. They met each other and the trio soon became inseparable. Slovak taught Flea how to play bass and introduced him to the wonders of Jimi Hendrix and punk rock. Even though he was able to land a bass playing slot in LA's confrontational punk rock band, Fear; he decided to form a band with Slovak on guitars, Kiedis on vocals, and Jack Irons on drums. This band eventually became the Red Hot Chili Peppers we know and love and attracted a huge following in California with their audacious stage shows. Due to his musical versatility, Flea became a hugely demanded session musician as well. he appeared in Mick Jagger's Wandering Spirit, Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, Johnny Cash's Unchained, Jewel's Spirit, and more. In addition to his music career, Flea has shown up in several films including cameos in popular movies such as Back to the Future, My Own Private Idaho, The Big Lebowski, Baby Driver, and several more. Fun Fact: The nickname of "Flea" was reportedly given to the bassist by Kiedis after a skiing trip, when the RHCP frontman noticed Flea's jumpy and capricious style.