Flea Honors Early Chili Peppers Guitarist Jack Sherman in Candid Tribute
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has paid tribute to the band's early guitarist Jack Sherman, who died at the age of 64 last month.
The stirring remembrance arrived after the bass player took "a couple of weeks to process" the musician's death. Sherman played guitar in the Chili Peppers from 1984 to 1985, between stints by founding shredder Hillel Slovak. On Wednesday (Sept. 8), Flea recognized Sherman's contributions.
He said of the guitarist, "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."
Flea continued, "This morning, in pondering him, a wave of appreciation washed over me, which is really the only truth of the matter. … [M]ore 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."
In the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist's Instagram post, Flea also recalled how the guitarist taught him about diet and to be "conscious of [his] body." Of course, the RHCP member also remembered Sherman's musicality: "He played the most wicked guitar part on our song 'Mommy Where's Daddy,'" Flea said.
No cause of death for Sherman was reported last month, as Rolling Stone noted.
Despite his role in the early incarnation of the Chili Peppers, Sherman was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of the group in 2012. Dave Navarro, the band's mid-'90s guitarist who plays on the One Hot Minute album, was also omitted from the induction ceremony.
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