D/O/B: October 16th, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH: Melbourne, Australia
JOB: Bassist
FULL NAME: Michael Peter Balzary
OTHER INSTRUMENT: Trumpet
Flea was born in Melbourne, Australia(also my hometown :-)) on October 16th, 1962. He stayed in Melbourne until 1967, when he moved to New York after his parents divorced earlier that year. He got along with his stepfather, every week he went to the weekly jam with him. 5 years later they moved to Los Angeles, and Flea attended FairFax Highschool, where he was teased because of his 'weird' music taste and funny australian/american accent. One day at Fairfax: Flea got into a messy fight and his opponent was....Anthony Kiedis! Later on they decided to become buddies, and soon were best friends.
Flea fell in love with funk after his 1st funk album, and during that time he started to play bass. The 1st real band Flea was in was called Anthym, created by Jack Irons and Hillel Slovak. Then Anthony formed a band..Tony Flow and the Majestic Masters of Mayhem. They renamed the band a few times, then the final decision of the band name was chosen by Flea, 'The Red Hot Chili Peppers'. He thought it would better describe their style of music.
Flea got married in 1985 to a woman named Loesha. He has her name tattoed on his chest, close to his heart. Loesha gave birth to their daughter Clara, in 1987. But soon after, Flea's and Loesha's marriage didn't last unfortunately.
Flea has appeared as the bass player in a few albums of Jane's Addiction (which Dave Navarro was in too). He played bass for an Alanis Morrisette song aswell(she's a big Flea fan). Also there was a rumour going around that during that "time of nothing"(what flea use to call it) when Dave Navarro quit the band, he was going to do a solo album.
Flea appeared in many movies, I personally see him as a very good actor! Some of the movies are: Liar's Poker, The Chase(with Anthony), Son In Law, Fear, Psycho, Just Your Luck, My Own Private Idaho, Less Than Zero, The Big Lebowski. He plays the lead role in Liar's Poker (well done Flea!).
He won the award for 'bassist of the year' in 1996, and appeared in many magazines.
A while ago, Flea made a video about how he plays bass, called 'Flea: Master Session.' River Pheonix interviews him! I recommend you go out and buy it, he has an amazing unique talent. Chad Smith features in the video, drumming away.
Around a year ago there was a site created on the official web page called 'FleaMail' , where he writes from the road, you should visit it.
If you find that you have questions about anything written on this page, or if you have more info on Flea, please e-mail me.
This Page Was Last Updated: 31-10-99
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