John Frusciante Rejoins Red Hot Chili Peppers

Introducing Endless Mode: A New Games & Anime Site from Paste

Read our announcement | See the 10 Best Games of 2025 (So Far)

Guitarist John Frusciante is back as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the first time since 2009. Frusciante, who first joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1988, previously left the group from 1992-1998.

Frusciante has appeared on five of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ studio albums, including their breakout Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), chart-topping Californication (1999) and Grammy-winning Stadium Arcadium (2006). After making his second departure in 2009, Frusciante was replaced by Josh Klinghoffer, who in 2012 became the youngest-ever inductee to the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame as a member of the Chili Peppers at age 32.

In an Instagram post Sunday, the band expressed their gratitude to Klinghoffer and announced that Frusciante was returning as a member:

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

The Chili Peppers announced last year that they had begun work on an album set for release in early 2020. There has been no confirmation yet on whether Frusciante will play a role on the forthcoming release. Stay tuned for more updates, and celebrate his return with Red Hot Chili Peppers video from Woodstock 99, from the Paste archives.