Steve Keros; ABC/Randy HolmesRed Hot Chili Peppers‘ new album, The Getaway, includes the song “Sick Love,” which features Elton John on piano. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis sheds some light on how the collaboration came to be.
“[Bassist] Flea came in one day with this bass line that melted my heart,” Kiedis remembers. “He was inspired by the chords of Elton John’s ‘Bennie and the Jets.'”
The singer continues, “We finished writing this song and it was really nothing like Elton’s — different tones, different textures, different lyrics, different melodies. But we felt like Elton had an ownership of those chords.”
The Chili Peppers then approached John to give him a songwriting credit on “Sick Love,” and it felt only natural that he play on the track, too.
“We said, ‘Elton, we’d like to give you credit for this, but we’d also like you to play on it,” says Kiedis. “With his blessing, it seemed to make more sense.”
The Getaway, featuring lead single “Dark Necessities,” is out now.
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