The Red Hot Chili Peppers announced on Sunday that after 10 years, they have parted ways with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. The vacancy in the band will be filled by none other than John Frusciante – the guitarist Klinghoffer replaced in 2009.
“Josh is a beautiful musician who we respect and love,” Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote in an Instagram post. “We are deeply grateful for our time with him, and the countless gifts he shared with us.”
The band added, “We also announce, with great excitement and full hearts, that John Frusciante is rejoining our group.”
This will be Frusciante’s third stint with the band. He joined the SoCal rock group for the first time in 1988 following the tragic overdose death of original guitarist Hillel Slovak. (DeWayne McKnight filled in temporarily during 1988 before the band hired Frusciante). Frusciante was featured on the Chili Pepper’s 1989 LP Mother’s Milk and their breakout album, 1991’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik but due, in part, to the enormous success of the recorded, left the group in 1992, right before the band headlined the Lollapalooza tour.
He unexpectedly returned to the Chili Peppers six years later, after they parted ways with Dave Navarro, playing on the band’s 1999 album Californication, 2002’s By the Way and 2006’s Stadium Arcadium.
The guitarist then quit the band again in September 2009 during their extended hiatus and was replaced by Klinghoffer, who was the band’s backup touring guitarist on Stadium Arcadium tour.
Klinghoffer remained a member of Red Hot Chili Peppers for their two most recent studio albums, 2011’s I’m With You and 2016’s The Getaway and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the group in 2012. He was only 32 years old at the time of the ceremony, making him the youngest ever living inductee.
Frusciante will be with Red Hot Chili Peppers for their run of 2020 festival shows in the US and Europe. See below for a current list of shows.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Californication”
Red Hot Chili Peppers 2020 Tour Dates
May 15 – Gulf Shores, AL @ Hangout Music Festival
May 22 – Boston, MA @ Boston Calling Music Festival
Jun 5 – Markopoulo, Greece @ Ejekt Festival 2020
Jun 13 – Florence, Italy @ Firenze Rocks, Visamo Arena
Jun 19 – Landgraaf, Netherlands @ Pinkpop Festival
Jun 20 – Lyon, France @ Felyn Stadium Festival
