Red Hot Chili Peppers Just Made a Massive Business Move

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have an extensive catalog of hit songs, and the band had reportedly made [...]

By Stephen Andrew

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have an extensive catalog of hit songs, and the band had reportedly made a massive business move regarding their tunes. According to Variety, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are selling their music to Hipgnosis Songs for a pricetag of what could be up to $140 million. This purchase would likely include major hits like "Californication," "Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away."

The Chili Peppers would certainly not be the first music artists to reap a financial windfall by making such a big decision. Folk icon Bob Dylan sold his songwriting catalog to Universal Music Publishing for over $300 million and Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks sold her catalog to Primary Wave for $100 million. When it comes to the Chili Peppers, Variety reports that their "catalog generates $5 million to $6 million in net publishers' share." Notably, the outlet reached out to representatives of both the band and Hipgnosis but had not received a response as of this writing.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers were formed in Los Angeles in 1983, with the founding members being singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons. Slovak passed away in 1988 of a drug overdose, prompting Irons to quit due to severe depression and grief. The band eventually gained drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante, who has quit and returned to the band a few times over the years.

To date, the band has released 11 full-length albums and been nominated for nearly countless awards. They have won six Grammys, including Best Rock Song for both "Scar Tissue" and "Dani California," and Best Rock Album for 2006's Stadium Arcadium. The band has also won eight MTV Video Music Awards and four American Music Awards.

The most recent Red Hot Chili Peppers album was 2016s The Getaway, but a new one is on the way. Recently, Smith spoke with New York radio station Q104.3 and shared that the band has been working on new music. "There's something coming. We're coming for you," he said. "I can say this — we're making a record, we're making new music and it's very exciting. I don't know when it's coming out, but we can't wait for people to hear it and we can't wait to perform for people, just like everybody else that really misses that experience."

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