Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Bassist Flea landed a book deal to write his autobiography. Grand Central Publishing signed Flea, born Michael Balzary, to a deal to pen his memoirs, though a title and release date have yet to be announced.
In a press release, the publisher notes that Flea will be writing the book himself: "[Flea] will share stories from his intense and dynamic life, including his move from a "normal" upbringing in the suburbs of New York to Los Angeles to live a bohemian life with a jazz musician step-father; his young, rebellious life on the streets of LA where he befriends Anthony Kiedis and founds the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Kiedis and two other high school friends; details about his sometimes complex friendship and collaboration with Kiedis; his myriad experiences with hard drugs; and, of course, the tumultuous creative journey of the legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers through its various incarnations over the last 30 years, according to Flea."
The seven-time Grammy winning bassist wrote in the same statement, "I love literature deeply. I view books as sacred things, and in writing my story, I'm going to do my best to honor the form that has played such a huge part in shaping who I am."
This isn't the first time that Flea, also in Thom Yorke's Atoms for Peace, has taken to the pen to explain his story. After the Red Hot Chili Peppers were criticized for lip-syncing during their Super Bowl halftime show performance with Bruno Mars, Flea wrote a 700 word open letter on the band's website. He explains in the long-winded letter that the NFL was not willing to budge on using pre-recorded tracks and recalls that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were thrown off of Britain's Top of the Pops in the '80s for refusing to mime. He states that playing music is "a sacred thing for us" and says they talked with other musician friends before taking the Super Bowl gig, which they thought would be "a surreal like, once in a liftetime crazy thing to do." Flea writes about lip-syncing: "We thought it better to not pretend. It seemed like the realest thing to do in the circumstance. It was like making a music video in front of a gazillion people, except with live vocals, and only one chance to rock it."
