Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea has slammed retirement rumours as "silly talk".
The ‘Californication’ hitmakers sparked speculation of the demise of the band last week after drummer Chad Smith claimed he "didn’t know if the band could continue" to tour.
He said at the time: "We were riding in a van after a gig and Flea was like, ‘How much longer do you think we should … How do you think we should end this?’ I was, like, ‘I don’t know!’ I want to make records, I still love making records, but the touring part … I don’t know if we can continue.
"I mean, three of us are 54 years old — Anthony [Kiedis, singer], me and Flea. Josh [Klinghoffer, guitarist] is 38 or 39, so he’s a young man. But I don’t know if we can continue to do the long tours — the year, year and a half we normally do. That’s a good question."
But now, 54-year-old bassist Flea – real name Michael Peter Balzary – has claimed the notion the band are due to split is just "silly talk", as they very rarely look beyond "the immediate future" and don’t know what’s in store for them just yet.
Speaking to TMZ.com, the ‘Can’t Stop’ musician said: "I don’t know if you know it, but that’s just silly talk. We never really look past the immediate future, but we’re on tour right now, we’re rocking out, we feel in the spirit, letting the music move us.
"To be honest, since we first started this band 35 years ago, I’ve never ever known what’s next or round the corner or anything. I think the power of the band lies in that – just staying in the moment and the energy that’s moving."
Meanwhile, Chad furthered rumours of a shorter touring schedule when he pointed out the ‘Under The Bridge’ rockers also have families to think of and don’t like being away from their children for too long.
He said: "We all have families and different things, your priorities shift a little bit. You kinda see that what’s gonna work for you maybe doesn’t necessarily work for other bands.
"But again, we’re just so grateful that people want to come and see us play, and we love to perform. I don’t know in the future how that’s gonna look."
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea: We’re not retiring!
