Like many bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers first came together as school friends. They went on to make a lasting impression on the music world as one of the most original rock bands of the 1980s.

Anthony Kiedis, Michael Balzary and Hillel Slovak became friends at Fairfax High School in California. Slovak was already a promising guitarist, and he taught Balzary to play bass. Then, the two convinced Kiedis to set the poetry on which he’d been focusing to music. The trio added drummer Jack Irons and, influenced primarily by funk and punk, formed Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem. By 1983, had renamed themselves the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Balzary had also gained a new moniker, becoming known simply as Flea.

Slovak and Irons left the band, but Jack Sherman was added on guitar, and Cliff Martinez signed on to play drums. With the new lineup in place, the Chili Peppers released their debut album, 1984’s self-titled effort. The band wasn’t especially successful, but they began to gain a reputation in the college underground scene. Slovak returned, and “Freaky Styley” came out, but the band still had problems capturing the spark that had been evident in their live shows.

In 1986, Irons returned to the band as well, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers put out “The Uplift Mojo Party Plan” in 1987. The album cracked Billboard’s Top 200, and the band played Europe for the first time. But in 1988, Slovak died of a heroin overdose, and Irons quit after the death of his friend.

Kiedis and Flea kept going with some temporary members before finally settling on drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante. “Mother’s Milk,” a high-energy mix of several musical styles, came out in 1989 and finally got the band mainstream attention and media exposure, leading to it going gold the following year. “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” was the follow-up, and it became a huge hit when it was released in 1991. It featured the band’s first Top Ten single, “Under the Bridge,” and suddenly, everyone wanted Red Hot Chili Peppers concert tickets and its smash album, which went on to sell 12 million copies worldwide.

The band’s next three albums went multi-platinum as well, though the Chili Peppers endured more drug problems and lineup changes, along with a few controversies. The band’s latest effort, “Stadium Arcadium,” was released in 2006, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are set to support the CD with a world tour, beginning in Europe.