Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea performed the national anthem at Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s final NBA game on April 13.
Bryant delivered an epic performance for his send-off with a 50-shot, 60-point night as the Lakers earned a 101-96 comeback victory over the Utah Jazz.
Longtime Lakers megafan Flea raved about Bryant before performing at the Staples Center on Wednesday.
"I've watched, listened to or at least read about pretty much every game that Kobe Bryant played his entire career," Flea tells Rolling Stone. "And I see someone who put a lot of stock in discipline and work ethic and nurturing his creativity. I just have always respected him so much – even when he was young and arrogant and foolish and you know, arguably self-centered. He's always meant so much to me.
"I look at him as someone like, you know, Charlie Parker or John Coltrane or Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix, you know? He's been able to change and evolve and grow and be such a master of his craft. It's been great seeing him grow up, because he joined the Lakers when he was 17, and he's done so much for our city."
Flea and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are currently in the studio mixing the full-length follow-up to 2011’s “I’m With You.”
The group have brought in Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck) to handle mixing duties for their 11th album after teaming up with producer Danger Mouse on the recording.
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Search Red Hot Chili Peppers at hennemusic