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Flea (musician)
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Flea (musician)

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Also known as Michael Balzary, Michael Peter Balzary

Michael Peter Balzary, known professionally as Flea, is an Australian and American musician and actor. He is a founding member and bassist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Flea is the only continuous member of the band and, alongside vocalist Anthony Kiedis, the only one to appear on every album. Flea has also been a member of the supergroups Atoms for Peace, Antemasque, Pigface, and Rocket Juice & the Moon, and has played with acts including the Circle Jerks, the Mars Volta, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Alanis Morissette, Young MC, Nirvana, What Is This, Fear, and Jane's Addiction.

OverviewAI-generated

Michael Flea is a male bass guitarist, actor, and trumpeter born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on October 16, 1962. He is a member of the alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers and has also worked with Jane's Addiction. His career began in 1979, and he is educated at the USC Thornton School of Music. He holds citizenship in both the United States and Australia.

Flea resides in Los Angeles and Malibu. He speaks and writes in English. His spouse and unmarried partner is Frankie Rayder. In addition to playing the bass guitar and voice, he has worked in the acting department.

Synthesized by Vinony from 26 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, MusicBrainz, TMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Film & TV

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Michael Peter Balzary (born October 16, 1962), known professionally as Flea, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He is a founding member and bassist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Flea was born in Melbourne, Victoria; his family moved to Rye, New York, when he was four. After his parents divorced, Flea spent his childhood in the United States and Australia, before settling in…

Known for

  • Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt — Self2026
  • The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel — Self2026
  • Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That's the Weight of the World) — Self2026
  • FireAid Benefit Concert — Self2025
  • 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony — Self2025
  • Harley Flanagan: Wired for Chaos — Self2025
  • Inside Out 2 — Jake (voice)2024
  • Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird — Self2024
  • ZEF - The Story of Die Antwoord — Self2024
  • Paris 2024 Olympic Closing Ceremony — Self (Red Hot Chili Peppers)2024

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Country
Malibu
Active from
1962

Discography

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Wikipedia views (30d)

130,106 total

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Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Michael
Gender
male
Citizenship
United States
Place of birth
Melbourne
Occupation
voice actor
Languages spoken
English language
Native language
English language
Instrument
voice
Image
Flea at Prudential Center.jpg
Residence
Los Angeles
Show 9 more facts
Commons category
Flea (musician)
date of birth
1962-10-16
Commons gallery
Flea
unmarried partner
Frankie Rayder
start of work period
1979-00-00
social media followers
369586
name in native language
Flea
writing language
English language
Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Michael Peter Balzary (born October 16, 1962), known professionally as Flea, is an Australian and American musician and actor. He is a founding member and bassist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Flea is the only continuous member of the band and, alongside vocalist Anthony Kiedis, the only one to appear on every album. Flea has also been a member of the supergroups Atoms for Peace, Antemasque, Pigface, and Rocket Juice & the Moon, and has played with acts including the Circle Jerks, the Mars Volta, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Alanis Morissette, Young MC, Nirvana, What Is This, Fear, and Jane's Addiction.

Flea's playing incorporates elements of funk (including prominent slap bass), psychedelia, punk, and hard rock. In 2009, Rolling Stone readers ranked Flea the second-best bassist of all time, behind John Entwistle. In 2012, he and the other members of Red Hot Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Flea (musician)” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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