Do lead singers count as musicians? Red Hot Chili Peppers bandmates Flea and Anthony Kiedis once debated the issue on Flea’s podcast “This Little Light”.
Flea says Kiedis “Doesn’t really consider himself a musician” because he doesn’t have any formal education. “He used to say we should change the band’s name to Idiot and the Three Geniuses.”
Flea says it’s one of his favorite interviews ever: “We were both kind of in tears because I’d never talked to him about stuff like that.”
When Flea was asked if he thought Kiedis was a good singer, Flea explained,
“I think he’s a great singer. And he’s always learning and getting better. When we started the band, he couldn’t sing a note – he just yelled. Now he’s got melodies, and he doesn’t even stick to them. He flows around and improvises…Look, I know who the great singers are: Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Roger Daltrey. But for me, all I care about with any musician is that a person sounds like themselves. And nobody sounds like Anthony Kiedis.”