John Frusciante has Rejoined the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Again), Replacing Josh Klinghoffer

The Red Hot Chili Peppers chose a Sunday afternoon to drop some gigantic news: Guitarist John Frusciante, who has been away from the band since 2009, is back in the mix, replacing Josh Klinghoffer — who had taken over for Frusciante when the longtime guitarist split from the group after the release of the double album Stadium Arcadium in 2006.

The big announcement was made via social media:

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A post shared by Red Hot Chili Peppers (@chilipeppers) on Dec 15, 2019 at 12:28pm PST

With Klinghoffer, the Chili Peppers released two albums, 2011’s I’m With You and 2016’s The Getaway, an era in which the band continued touring the world and playing major festivals on a pretty regular basis.

Klinghoffer also recently released a new album with a project titled Pluralone, as well.

For John Frusciante, he’s released some solo music since departing from the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2009 — his second official ‘break’ from the band, after one in the early 1990s in which Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro took over — but now that he’s back in the fold with Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith and Flea, it’s endlessly intriguing to see what comes next.

Frusciante is an especially emotive guitar player, his tone contributing a great deal to the signature sound the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band used in its early days to amass the global success that has made them a rock institution to this day. So yeah, this is a big deal.

As of right now, the Chili Peppers have two concerts on the schedule for 2020: May 15 at the Hangout Festival in Alabama and Boston Calling on May 24.

Stay tuned for more …