Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, real name Michael Peter Balzary, is widely considered to be one of the most legendary bass players of all time. When you’re talking about the greatest bass players to ever live, some of the names that always come up are John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Cliff Burton (Metallica), John Entwistle (The Who), and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
If you’re like me and haven’t ever had any formal training in Music then you can probably sense when someone is a ‘great’ but you really don’t know why, or what sets them apart from the rest. This video from Polyphonic does a great job at explaining what makes Flea such a legend, and why he’s unanimously considered to be one of the greatest bass players in history.
Without giving the entire video away, some of the things mentioned here that Flea such a legend include his ability to fuse Funk and Punk. The Funk is where we see Flea’s iconic slapping style come from. Before Flea, Funk bass lines were aggressive and quick. When Flea introduced the slap to Punk bass lines it changed the genre forever and went a long way in giving the Red Hot Chili Peppers their iconic sound.