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50 free Red Hot Chili Peppers trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Red Hot Chili Peppers trivia quiz starts at Fairfax High School in 1982, when four classmates played one show under a much longer name, and follows the band through every line-up change: Hillel Slovak's death, an 18-year-old John Frusciante, the Blood Sugar Sex Magik sessions in a Laurel Canyon mansion, Dave Navarro's one album, Frusciante's two departures and returns, and Josh Klinghoffer's decade. It covers the records too (which album finally debuted at number one, which sold 16 million, which was the first without Rick Rubin), the songs (what Under the Bridge is really about, the band's first Grammy), and the trivia around the edges: the Woodstock '99 fire, the Super Bowl backing tracks, the Pyramids show, and the 2026 catalogue sale. Questions run from easy (who plays bass) to expert (who produced the debut). Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing. Not a lyric in sight, but plenty of facts about the songs.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which city were the Red Hot Chili Peppers formed in 1982?
Los Angeles
The founding members were classmates at Fairfax High School.
Q 02Who was the Red Hot Chili Peppers' founding bassist when the band formed in 1982?
Flea
Rolling Stone readers voted him the second-best bassist ever, behind John Entwistle.
Q 03What is Flea's real name?
Michael Balzary
He was born in Melbourne, Australia, and moved to New York at age four.
Q 04In which country was Flea born?
Australia
He said in 2000 that he intended to retire to his native land one day.
Q 05What absurdly long name did the band play its first gig under?
Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem
Their first show was on December 16, 1982, to about 30 people at the Grandia Room.
Q 06Where were Kiedis, Flea, Slovak and Irons classmates?
Fairfax High
Slovak and Irons already had a band there called What Is This?, which is why they missed the debut album.
Q 07Which Gang of Four guitarist produced the band's 1984 debut album?
Andy Gill
The band thought the result was over-polished.
Q 08Which funk legend produced the second album, Freaky Styley (1985)?
George Clinton
Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley played on it.
Q 09Which original member died of a heroin overdose in June 1988?
Hillel Slovak
He was born in Israel and considered a major influence on the band's early sound.
Q 10How old was John Frusciante when he joined the band after Slovak's death?
18
He first appeared on Mother's Milk in 1989.
Q 11Which Stevie Wonder song did the band cover on Mother's Milk?
Higher Ground
They played it at their 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction with Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez on drums.
Q 12Which producer, who had turned the band down in 1987, made Blood Sugar Sex Magik?
Rick Rubin
He said no the first time because of their drug problems.
Q 13Where was Blood Sugar Sex Magik recorded?
A Laurel Canyon mansion linked to Houdini
Rubin suggested the house; the band lived there and the documentary Funky Monks captured it.
Q 21Which Jane's Addiction guitarist played on One Hot Minute (1995)?
Dave Navarro
His first show with the band was at Woodstock '94.
Q 22Which guitarist appeared in the Simpsons episode 'Krusty Gets Kancelled' as a member of the band?
Arik Marshall
He was a stopgap in 1992-93 and also appears in the 'Breaking the Girl' video.
Q 23Which album is the band's biggest seller, at 16m copies worldwide?
Californication
It was released in June 1999 after Frusciante's first return.
Which Jimi Hendrix cover was the band blamed for playing as riots broke out at Woodstock '99?
Q 14What was the first single from Blood Sugar Sex Magik?
Give It Away
It became their first number one on the Modern Rock chart and won them their first Grammy.
Q 15What did the band win their first Grammy for?
Best Hard Rock Performance With Vocal
The 1993 win was for 'Give It Away'.
Q 16Where did 'Under the Bridge' peak on the Billboard Hot 100?
Number two
It remains the band's highest-charting single.
Q 17What was Kiedis reflecting on when he wrote the lyrics to 'Under the Bridge'?
Loneliness and staying clean from drugs
He had been sober about three years and felt distant from bandmates who still smoked together; he almost kept the lyrics to himself.
Q 18Which film director shot the 'Under the Bridge' video and the Blood Sugar Sex Magik artwork?
Gus Van Sant
He knew Flea from casting him in My Own Private Idaho.
Q 19Which three bands opened on the Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour?
Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins
All three were on the verge of becoming the era's biggest alternative acts.
Q 20In which city did Frusciante abruptly quit the band in May 1992?
Tokyo
He had performed off-key on Saturday Night Live and was hiding a heroin addiction.
Fire
Kiedis later wrote that the event was 'symbolic of greed and cashing in'.
Q 25Which was the first Chili Peppers album to open at the top of the US Billboard 200?
Stadium Arcadium
The 28-track double album was originally planned as a trilogy.
Q 26Which 2006 single won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group?
Dani California
It was the band's fastest-selling single and hit number six on the Hot 100.
Q 27Who replaced Frusciante on guitar from 2009 to 2019?
Josh Klinghoffer
He had already toured with the band as a sideman on the Stadium Arcadium tour.
Q 28Which producer made The Getaway (2016), the band's first album in 27 years without their usual producer?
Danger Mouse
The 'Dark Necessities' video was directed by actress Olivia Wilde.
Q 29With which artist did the band share the Super Bowl XLVIII half-time show in 2014?
Bruno Mars
Flea explained that NFL rules required the instruments to be pre-recorded; only Kiedis's vocals were live.
Q 30In which year were the Red Hot Chili Peppers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
2012
Frusciante was invited but did not attend; Navarro and Sherman were left out.