Red Hot Chili Peppers Admit Guitars Not Plugged In At Super Bowl Halftime Show

RHCP This year’s Super Bowl halftime show featuring live performances from pop singer Bruno Mars and famous alternative rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers was a success based on the amount of positive reviews that have been written week, but the event didn’t avoid all controversy.

During the show, fans watching on television noticed that the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitars were not plugged in, leading viewers to believe that the songs were prerecorded. The band explained the situation in a lengthy statement released on Tuesday.

“When we were asked by the NFL and Bruno to play our song “Give It Away” at the Super Bowl, it was made clear to us that the vocals would be live, but the bass, drums and guitar would be pre-recorded,” band member Flea wrote. “I understand the NFL’s stance on this, given they only have a few minutes to set up the stage, there are a zillion things that could go wrong and ruin the sound for the folks watching in the stadium and the TV viewers. There was not any room for argument on this, the NFL does not want to risk their show being botched by bad sound, period.”

“The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ stance on any sort of miming has been that we will absolutely not do it. The last time we did it (or tried to) was in the late 80’s, we were thrown off of ‘The Top Of the Pops’ television program in the U.K. during rehearsals because we refused to mime properly. I played bass with my shoe, John played guitar atop Anthony’s shoulders, and we basically had a wrestling match onstage, making a mockery of the idea that it was a real live performance.”

You can’t blame the band for agreeing to the NFL’s terms. Even if they weren’t ideal, the opportunity to perform at halftime during the Super Bowl is too good to pass up.

Photo via T witter/RYOTNews