Red Hot Chili Peppers have released their new single, which pays tribute to Eddie Van Halen.
The group’s frontman Anthony Kiedis has praised the late rocker – who passed away in 2020 aged 66 – as “one of a kind”, as the band dropped new track ‘Eddie’.
The 59-year-old singer said: “Sometimes we don’t realise how deeply affected and connected we are to artists until the day they die. Eddie Van Halen was a one of a kind.
“The day after his death Flea came into rehearsal with an emotional bassline.
“John, Chad and I started playing along and pretty soon with all our hearts, a song in his honour effortlessly unfolded. It felt good to be sad and care so much about a person who had given so much to our lives.
“Although the song doesn’t speak to Eddie by name, it talks about his early days on the Sunset Strip and the rock n roll tapestry that Van Halen painted on our minds.
“In the end, our song asks that you not remember Eddie for dying but for living his wildest dream.”
‘Eddie’ features on the band’s forthcoming 13th studio album, ‘Return of the Dream Canteen’, which will be released on October 14th.
The group – also made up of Flea, Chad Smith, and John Frusciante – had already released single ‘Tippa My Tongue’ from the record in August.
The Chili Peppers confirmed the new album in July, saying the upcoming record is “is everything we are and ever dreamed of being”.
They explained: “We went in search of ourselves as the band that we have somehow always been. Just for the fun of it we jammed and learned some old songs.
“Before long we started the mysterious process of building new songs. A beautiful bit of chemistry meddling that had befriended us hundreds of times along the way.
“Once we found that slip stream of sound and vision, we just kept mining. With time turned into an elastic waistband of oversized underwear, we had no reason to stop writing and rocking.
“It felt like a dream. When all was said and done, our moody love for each other and the magic of music had gifted us with more songs than we knew what to do with.
“Well we figured it out. Two double albums released back to back. The second of which is easily as meaningful as the first or should that be reversed. ‘Return of the Dream Canteen’ is everything we are and ever dreamed of being. It’s packed. Made with the blood of our hearts, yours truly, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”