Flea Posts Heartfelt Tribute to Late RHCP Guitarist Jack Sherman

Early-era Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Jack Sherman died in August, and the band posted a tribute on social media at the time. Now, bassist Flea has shared his own personal tribute to the late axe-slinger.

On Instagram, Flea posted a photo of Sherman and detailed some of his memories of the guitarist. He wrote that they stopped playing music together in 1985, and their rare correspondence in the years that followed was "often fraught."

That being said, he acknowledged Sherman's enduring influence on his musical career: the funk records they bonded over, they way he taught Flea to treat his body better, and the guitar riff that still informs the way the bassist approaches rhythm. He ended the post by writing, "The excitement we shared over music, and the joy that bubbled up between us will last forever. Rest In Peace Sherm I love you."

Read the heartfelt tribute below.
 

 

 

 

 

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It has taken me a couple of weeks to process the death of Jack Sherman. Our relationship was complicated, we stopped playing music together in 1985 and things were often fraught in the rare times we communicated since. I found him to be unreasonable sometimes, and I'm sure I behaved like an obnoxious asshole with him sometimes. This morning, in pondering him, a wave of appreciation washed over me, which is really the only truth of the matter. When I first went to his house he had a ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE flag on his bedroom wall, and he played me funk I had never heard, like March To the Witches Castle. He was beaming with glee when he played it, and we were enrapt in the mythology of the funk like a couple of little kids. He played the most wicked guitar part on our song Mommy Where's Daddy, a thing that influenced the way I heard rhythm forever. He taught me about diet, to eat clean and be conscious of my body. But more than anything, he was my friend. We came from very different backgrounds, had different world views, and it was hard for us to relate to one another often. But the excitement we shared over music, and the joy that bubbled up between us will last forever. Rest In Peace Sherm I love you.

A post shared by Flea (@flea333) on Sep 8, 2020 at 9:31am PDT