title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: Eggers was inspired by sailors' myths and classical mythology. After finally obtaining the light, and the knowledge of what is in the light, Howard falls to his death down the stairs of the lighthouse and his organs are plucked out by seagulls, invoking the myth of Prometheus. Wake was modeled on Proteus, a "prophecy-telling ocean god who serves Poseidon." Not only is he later shown with tentacles and sea creatures stuck to his body, but "he also makes that uncannily accurate prediction for how Ephraim will die at the end of the movie." Albrecht Dürer's engraving "The Sea Monster" inspired Wake's appearance: Eggers said "The Proteus figure that is more clearly nautical is somewhat based on a sea monster by Dürer, who carries a tortoise shell shield."


title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: Eggers explains his mythological inspiration for the film: it's "partially because [Herman] Melville goes there and partially because of I'm sure our unhealthy Jungian leanings you get into classical mythology in this movie."


title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: "The Lighthouse" contains explicit depictions of male sexuality and primarily depicts two men alone in close quarters on an island. But when asked whether the film was "a love story", Robert Eggers replied:


title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: Sexual fantasy and masturbation are recurring themes in the film. For Dafoe, the androphilia in the film is blatant, but it is also used to explore what it means to be a man: "They have a sense of guilt, of wrong [...] it's got existential roots [...] about masculinity and domination and submission." After beating Wake into submission, Howard assumes a dominant role, calling Wake "dog" and dragging him on a leash. Commenting on this scene, Pattinson said "there's definitely a take where we were literally trying to pull each other's pants down. It literally almost looked like foreplay."


title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: The film's mythological and artistic influences underscore its eroticism. Eggers acknowledged the visual influence of symbolist artists Sascha Schneider and Jean Delville, whose "mythic paintings in a homoerotic style," he said, "[became] perfect candidates as imagery that's going to work itself into the script." The composition of a shot in the film was consciously adapted from Schneider's "Hypnosis".


title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: "The Lighthouse" had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight section on May 19, 2019. It was also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Atlantic Film Festival in September 2019. The film was distributed by A24 in North America and by Focus Features internationally. It was released on October 18, 2019.


title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: "The Lighthouse" grossed $10.9 million in the United States and $7.5 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $18.3 million.


title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: In its limited opening weekend on October 18, the film grossed $419,764 from eight theaters, for an average of $52,471 per venue. In its second weekend the film expanded to 586 theaters, grossing $3.75 million, eighth at the box office. The following weekend, the film expanded to 978 theaters, falling 34.7% to $2 million and finishing 13th.


title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critics' consensus reads, "A gripping story brilliantly filmed and led by a pair of powerhouse performances, "The Lighthouse" further establishes Robert Eggers as a filmmaker of exceptional talent." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."


title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: Owen Gleiberman of "Variety" called the film "darkly exciting" and "made with extraordinary skill," commenting that "the movie, building on "The Witch", proves that Robert Eggers possesses something more than impeccable genre skill. He has the ability to lock you into the fever of what's happening onscreen." Robbie Collin of "The Daily Telegraph" gave the film a perfect score, calling Dafoe's performance "astounding" and comparing Pattinson's to that of Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood", commenting, "that's no comparison to make lightly, but everything about "The Lighthouse" lands with a crash. It's cinema to make your head and soul ring."


title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: Writing for "The Guardian", Peter Bradshaw also praised the performances of Dafoe and Pattinson, in addition to the screenplay stating "Their script is barnacled with resemblances to Coleridge, Shakespeare, Melville – and there's also some staggeringly cheeky black-comic riffs and gags and the two of them resemble no-one so much as Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett: Steptoe and Son in hell." From "The New York Times", Manohla Dargis gave positive remarks to the character development, production design, acting, and themes. From the "Chicago Tribune", Michael Phillips gave a mostly positive review where he recommended the film to readers, compared it to "The Odd Couple" (1968) and "The Dumb Waiter" (1957), and lauded the cinematography while giving the feature three stars out of five.


title: The Lighthouse (2019 film)

text: While "The Sydney Morning Herald" said its attempts at suspense were not successful, the "San Francisco Chronicle" mentioned that everything in "The Lighthouse" was well-made to the point that it was brought down due to its screenplay. "The Guardian"s Simran Hans gave it two stars out of five and said the performances felt more like an "experiment than conducive to eliciting meaning." For "Slate", Dana Stevens summarized by stating that ""'The Lighthouse" is at its strongest when it resembles the dark comedy of a [Samuel] Beckett play, complete with earthy scatological humor [but] the film sometimes seems funny in a different way [...] in spite of the filmmakers' intentions. Its effect on movie audiences is less spiritually corrupting [but] I found myself identifying with the stranded seafarers: I desperately wanted to get out."


title: Johnny Galecki

text: John Mark Galecki (born April 30, 1975) is an American actor. He played Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" (2007–2019) for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and David Healy in the ABC sitcoms "Roseanne" (1992–1997; 2018) and "The Conners" (2018–2019). Galecki also appeared in the films "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (1989), "Prancer" (1989), "Suicide Kings" (1997), "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997), "Bookies" (2003), "In Time" (2011), and "Rings" (2017).


title: Johnny Galecki

text: Galecki was one of the highest paid television actors in the world, with his role in "The Big Bang Theory" earning him approximately US$900,000 per episode between 2017 and 2019. In 2018, he was estimated to be the world's second highest-paid male TV actor by "Forbes" (behind only his "The Big Bang Theory" co-star Jim Parsons), earning $25 million.


title: Johnny Galecki

text: Galecki was born in Bree, Limburg, Belgium to American parents of Polish, Irish, and Italian descent. His mother, Mary Louise (Mary Lou) Noon, was a mortgage consultant, and his father, Richard Galecki, was a member of the U.S. Air Force stationed in Belgium and worked as a rehabilitation teacher. Galecki is the eldest of three children with a sister, Allison, and a brother, Nick, whom he describes as a "mechanical genius" in the automotive industry. Galecki grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. He dropped out of school after 8th grade, attending high school for only one day.


title: Johnny Galecki

text: During an interview with New Zealand radio station ZM, Galecki recalled his childhood relationship with his mother. As a child, he was well known for making up long stories and tales. In such situations, his mother used to make him play the "quiet game", where he had to see how long he could go without talking. He also recalled that despite being a loving mother, she was also very tough. One phrase she would lovingly use was, "I love you, now get out."


title: Johnny Galecki

text: After working in the Chicago theatre scene as a young child, Galecki made his onscreen acting debut in the 1987 CBS miniseries "Murder Ordained" with JoBeth Williams and future "Roseanne" co-star John Goodman. In 1989, Galecki portrayed Rusty Griswold in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation". In 1990, he was cast as Danny Nash, the son of Robert Urich's lead character, on the NBC comedy "American Dreamer"; the following season, he was a regular cast member on the ABC sitcom "Billy", a spin-off from "Head of the Class". He appeared in one episode of "Blossom" in 1991, opposite his future "The Big Bang Theory" co-star Mayim Bialik. He played a young delinquent in "A Family Torn Apart", a 1993 TV movie based on a true story about a serial killer.


title: Johnny Galecki

text: During his run on "Billy", Galecki began making guest appearances on the hit ABC sitcom "Roseanne" as the younger brother of Mark Healy (Glenn Quinn), who began a relationship with Darlene Conner (Sara Gilbert). Introduced in his first appearance as Kevin Healy, his name was soon changed to David. After a few more guest shots, Galecki was named a permanent "Roseanne" cast member from the fall of 1992 onward, after the cancellation of "Billy". He would remain in the role of David Healy until the end of "Roseanne"'s run in 1997, with the character eventually marrying Darlene and fathering two children with her. Galecki's character on "The Big Bang Theory" would also have a short-lived relationship with Gilbert's character on the same show.


title: Johnny Galecki

text: After "Roseanne" ended, Galecki had small roles in a string of films, including the 1997 summer slasher film "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (as the killer's first victim), "Bean" (1997), "The Opposite of Sex" (1998), "Bounce" (2000) and "Vanilla Sky" (2001). He had larger roles in the 1997 film "Suicide Kings" and the 2003 film "Bookies", a comedy thriller film about four college students. Galecki appeared as a golfer in a 2005 episode of "My Name Is Earl" entitled "Stole Beer from a Golfer".


title: Johnny Galecki

text: In 2005, Galecki played Mark Corrigan in a pilot for a US adaptation of the British sitcom "Peep Show". He played a character named Trouty on TBS's sitcom "My Boys", and the half-brother of the main characters, sisters Hope Shanowski and Faith Fairfield, in the sitcom "Hope & Faith". Galecki originated the role of Alex, a male prostitute, in the play "The Little Dog Laughed" by Douglas Carter Beane, in 2006 at Second Stage Theater. He stayed in the role for the play's Broadway run at the Cort Theatre in late 2006 and early 2007. Galecki said at the time, "At its core, the play is about what we all sacrifice to be successful, whatever our careers or goals." The play was a commercial and critical success, and Galecki won a 2007 Theater World Award for his performance.


title: Johnny Galecki

text: Galecki played Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory", which ran from 2007 to 2019 and was, for most of its run, among the top three most popular television comedies in the US. Galecki was originally asked to play the role of Sheldon Cooper, but he felt he was better suited for the role of Leonard, and Sheldon's role was eventually given to Jim Parsons. During the show's run, two of Galecki's former "Roseanne" co-stars appeared on the show: Sara Gilbert (as Leslie Winkle, Leonard's colleague) and Laurie Metcalf (as Mary Cooper, Sheldon's mother). Galecki is a cellist, a talent that was used on the show. Until 2013, Galecki and his "Big Bang" co-stars Kaley Cuoco and Jim Parsons each earned US$325,000 per episode. By 2014, the three were earning US$1 million per episode.


title: Johnny Galecki

text: Galecki appeared briefly in the 2008 superhero comedy "Hancock", alongside Will Smith and Jason Bateman. In July 2011, he played a parody version of himself in three episodes of "Entourage". He also appeared in the film "In Time" (2011) with Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried.


title: Johnny Galecki

text: Galecki appeared in one episode of the 2018 revival of "Roseanne" on ABC. The show, despite its high ratings, was cancelled after Roseanne Barr posted a racist and controversial tweet about Valerie Jarrett. "Roseanne" was replaced by a new program, "The Conners", which premiered in October 2018 and featured the same cast without Barr. Galecki has occasionally appeared as David on "The Conners".


title: Johnny Galecki

text: As a teenager, Galecki dated his "Roseanne" (and later "The Big Bang Theory") co-star Sara Gilbert (their characters also dated). During their relationship, Gilbert realized she was a lesbian. They remain close friends.


title: Johnny Galecki

text: While working on "The Big Bang Theory", Galecki dated co-star Kaley Cuoco for about two years until December 2009 while the two also played a couple on the show. Cuoco told "CBS Watch" that they have remained on good terms since ending their relationship.


title: Johnny Galecki

text: Galecki owns 360 acres of land in Santa Margarita, California. His property included vineyards and a log cabin. In late June 2017, Galecki's ranch was destroyed in a major wildfire known as the Hill Fire. Galecki, in a media statement, said wildfire was "the threat ... we live with constantly, which may seem crazy to some but we do so because living in our beautiful, rural area makes it worthwhile".


title: Johnny Galecki

text: In August 2018, Galecki started dating Alaina Meyer. Their son, Avery, was born in November 2019. In November 2020, it was reported that Galecki and Meyer had separated.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Michael Peter Balzary (born October 16, 1962), known professionally as Flea, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He is a founding member and bassist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea was born in Melbourne, Victoria; his family moved to Rye, New York, when he was four. After his parents divorced, Flea spent his childhood in America and Australia, before settling in California. At high school, he befriended singer Anthony Kiedis, with whom he formed the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1983. Flea is also a member of the supergroups Atoms for Peace, Antemasque, Pigface, and Rocket Juice & the Moon, and has played with acts including the Mars Volta, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Alanis Morissette, Young MC, Nirvana, What Is This?, Fear, and Jane's Addiction.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea incorporates elements of funk (including slap bass), psychedelic, punk, and hard rock in his playing. In 2009, "Rolling Stone" readers ranked Flea the second-best bassist of all time, behind John Entwistle. In 2012, he and the other members of Red Hot Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Since 1984, Flea has acted in films and television series such as "Suburbia", "Back to the Future Part II" and "Part III", "My Own Private Idaho", "The Chase", "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", "Dudes", "Son in Law", "The Big Lebowski", "Low Down", "Baby Driver", "Boy Erased", "The Wild Thornberrys", and "Obi-Wan Kenobi".


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea is the co-founder of Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a non-profit organization founded in 2001 for underprivileged children. In 2019, he published a memoir of his early life, "Acid for the Children".


title: Flea (musician)

text: Michael Peter Balzary was born on October 16, 1962, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He is of partial Hungarian and Irish descent. His father, Mick Balzary, an avid fisherman, often took him fishing. When Flea was four, his family moved to Rye, New York, for his father's career. In 1971, his parents divorced, and his father returned to Australia. Flea returned to Australia to spend time with his father, completing three years of school in the national capital Canberra. Flea and his sister Karyn stayed with their mother Patricia, who subsequently married jazz musician Walter Urban (1941–2011).


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea's stepfather frequently invited musicians to his house for jam sessions. The family moved to Los Angeles, California, where Flea became fascinated by the trumpet. He had no interest in rock music at the time; he idolized jazz musicians like Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. Flea described his childhood home as violent; his stepfather was an aggressive alcoholic who eventually became involved in shoot-outs with police. Flea said: "I grew up being terrified of my parents, particularly my father figures. It caused [me] a lot of trouble later in life." To cope, Flea began smoking cannabis at 13, and became a daily user.


title: Flea (musician)

text: He was first called "Flea" as a teenager for his seeming inability to sit still, and the nickname stuck. Nicknamed Mike B. the Flea, he attended Fairfax High School, and was something of an outcast due to his taste in music. However, he soon met Anthony Kiedis, and after a brief confrontation, the two became best friends. Kiedis recalled: "We were drawn to each other by the forces of mischief and love and we became virtually inseparable. We were both social outcasts. We found each other and it turned out to be the longest-lasting friendship of my life."


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea was introduced to rock music by Hillel Slovak, and particularly punk rock by Kiedis. Flea learned to play bass from Slovak, who shortly after asked him to be a bassist in his band, Anthym. Flea soon developed his own style and joined the group, but quit several months later in order to play for the punk rock outfit Fear. He then rejoined Slovak to form an intended one-off band: Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem along with Kiedis and Jack Irons, all of them at the time inspired by the free funk band Defunkt and the hip hop act Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.


title: Flea (musician)

text: The band changed its name to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, playing several shows at L.A. venues. Their repertoire grew to nine songs as a result of months of playing at local nightclubs and bars. The Red Hot Chili Peppers entered Bijou Studios to record a demo tape produced by the then-drummer of Fear and subsequently secured a record deal with EMI. Irons and Slovak, however, decided to leave the Red Hot Chili Peppers in order to pursue a "more serious" future with the rock band What Is This?. Flea ultimately respected the decision, but felt the band would be lost without them. He and Kiedis hired drummer Cliff Martinez and guitarist Jack Sherman to fill Irons' and Slovak's place, respectively. Andy Gill, formerly of Gang of Four, agreed to produce their first album. Gill and Sherman clashed with Flea and Kiedis; they continuously argued over music style, sound, and the album's production. Flea himself felt that the album was stiff and "a big mistake", but also admitted, "we [he and Kiedis] were just disrespectful and obnoxious". The band's eponymous debut album, "The Red Hot Chili Peppers", was released on August 10, 1984, to largely poor critical and commercial review. After a relatively unfruitful tour, Sherman was fired in early 1985. Slovak, who had been contemplating a return to the Chili Peppers, rejoined the group after being encouraged by Flea.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Funk musician George Clinton was hired to produce the band's second album, "Freaky Styley" (1985). The strong chemistry between Clinton and the Chili Peppers was felt instantly. Flea later referred to Clinton as "the warmest, kindest man in the world". "Freaky Styley" was released in August 1985. It received only a bit more attention than "The Red Hot Chili Peppers" with roughly 75,000 copies sold by year's end. Flea was somewhat indifferent to the poor album sales as he had recently proposed to girlfriend Loesha Zeviar, who was pregnant with their child. The band hired Michael Beinhorn, their last resort among potential producers, to work on their next album. What Is This? had finally disbanded, and drummer Irons returned to the Chili Peppers in mid-1986 after Martinez was fired. Flea, Slovak and Kiedis especially were involved in heavy drug use and their relationships became strained. Flea recalled that "it began to seem ugly to me and not fun; our communication was not healthy". Kiedis became dependent on heroin, leaving Flea and Slovak to work on much of the album's material by themselves.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Kiedis was briefly kicked out of the band and given a month to rehabilitate. Kiedis completed the rehab and returned with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Los Angeles to record their third album "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan" (1987). Flea has referred to the album as "the 'rockingest' record" the band has ever made. "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan" proved to be far more successful, commercially and critically, than the Chili Peppers' preceding albums, registering at number 148 on the "Billboard" 200. Following the "Uplift" tour, Slovak's drug use dramatically increased. Flea's relationship with Slovak faded, and Slovak became isolated and depressed. On June 28, 1988, Slovak was found dead of a heroin overdose. Flea reflected: "I didn't really know how to deal with that sadness, and I don't think [Kiedis] knew how to deal with it either." Irons, who was taking Slovak's death particularly hard, left the group.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea and Kiedis took some time to collect themselves, but they kept the band together. Guitarist DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight and drummer D.H. Peligro were added, and the band entered the studio to record a new album. McKnight soon began to create tension within the group, as his style did not mesh with the rest of the band. Peligro, the former drummer of the punk rock band Dead Kennedys, was a friend of John Frusciante, an 18-year-old guitarist and avid Red Hot Chili Peppers fan. Peligro introduced Frusciante to Flea, and the trio jammed together on several occasions. Flea was impressed with Frusciante's skill, and astonished by his knowledge of the Chili Peppers' repertoire. Flea realized that Frusciante could provide the spark McKnight was lacking. McKnight was fired, and Frusciante accepted an invitation to join the band. Peligro was fired shortly thereafter; the Chili Peppers brought in drummer Chad Smith as his replacement.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea and his wife Loesha started to grow apart, and he began trying to recreate the memories of his adolescence by smoking marijuana on a daily basis. The Chili Peppers entered the studio, and completed recording of their fourth album, "Mother's Milk", in early 1989. Upon release, the album was met with mixed reactions from critics, but received far more commercial attention, peaking at number 52 on the "Billboard" 200. After this, Flea made appearances playing the trumpet on Jane's Addiction's 1988 album "Nothing's Shocking", and bass on the critically acclaimed 1989 Young MC album "Stone Cold Rhymin'". He would also appear in the video for "Bust a Move", the hit single from the same album.


title: Flea (musician)

text: The ensuing "Mother's Milk Tour" put even further strain on Flea's marriage. In order to make money, he needed to tour, and therefore spent time away from his family. Furthermore, he and Smith were arrested on charges of battery and sexual harassment after a performance on MTV's coverage of spring break; charges were eventually dropped. The band was, however, attracting over three thousand people per show; "Mother's Milk" had been certified as a gold record in early 1990. By the time Red Hot Chili Peppers returned to Los Angeles, Flea and Loesha agreed to a separation. He tried to put the separation out of his mind by smoking marijuana and having sex with random groupies, when the band was on tour for "Mother's Milk".


title: Flea (musician)

text: When the successful Mother's Milk tour was over, the Red Hot Chili Peppers severed ties with EMI and signed instead with Warner Bros. Records. Rick Rubin, who had rejected an opportunity to produce "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan", agreed to produce their next album. Flea had largely used the principal slap bass technique on the band's preceding four albums, and decided to downplay this style in favor of more conventional, melodic bass lines. To record the album, Rubin suggested they use a mansion that once belonged to magician Harry Houdini. Flea felt it was "a creatively fertile situation", and decided to bring his daughter Clara with him. He and the rest of the band, excluding Smith, remained inside the house for the entire recording process. When not writing or recording the album, Flea spent a large portion of his time with Frusciante smoking large quantities of marijuana. The emotions Flea felt during the album's recording were like nothing he had ever experienced:


title: Flea (musician)

text: When "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" was released on September 24, 1991, it received an extremely positive critical response. The album peaked at number three on the "Billboard" Hot 200, and went on to sell over 7,000,000 copies in the U.S. alone. The album's ensuing tour was critically acclaimed—the Chili Peppers commonly performed shows with over 20,000 in attendance. Seattle-based grunge band Nirvana also toured with them during the West Coast leg of their United States tour. The massive attention the Chili Peppers started receiving, however, caused Frusciante to feel extremely uncomfortable, and he abruptly quit the band during the Japanese leg of the album's tour, replaced temporarily by Arik Marshall.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Following the tour in 1993, Flea was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and was ordered to rest for a year. Flea and Kiedis felt it best to fire Marshall


title: Flea (musician)

text: due to lack of chemistry and briefly replaced him with Jesse Tobias, although his tenure was very short and he was quickly replaced by Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, who was once recruited in 1992 to replace Frusciante. The band was ready now to record their next album although Kiedis was in the middle of a heroin relapse, which forced Flea to assume the role of lyricist, something he had not yet done. He wrote most of the song "Transcending", and the intro to "Deep Kick". Flea also wrote the entire lyric to a song, "Pea", in which he both played bass and sang. These three songs appeared on the Chili Peppers' sixth record "One Hot Minute", which was released on September 12, 1995. The album received mixed reviews and was significantly less commercially successful than "Blood Sugar Sex Magik". The "One Hot Minute Tour" was ultimately cut short due to various injuries Kiedis and Smith received, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers decided to go on hiatus. Flea was so miserable that at one point during the tour he discussed quitting the band. Flea began to practice Transcendental Meditation and yoga, and slowly decreased his marijuana consumption. Due to the Chili Peppers' inactivity, Flea joined Navarro in a Jane's Addiction reunion tour in 1997, filling in for ex-Jane's Addiction bassist Eric Avery. Rumors spread, that the band was breaking up until Navarro stated otherwise: "I want to clarify that the Chili Peppers are not breaking up ... Flea and I are more than happy to do both projects, time permitting."


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea also had plans to record a solo album. He asked Chili Peppers manager Lindy Goetz to help him promote the record and his future solo career. Flea eventually abandoned the idea in favor of offering his bass services to other artists. He performed on over forty records from 1995 to 1998, ranging from Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" (with Navarro) to former Minutemen bassist Mike Watt's debut solo album "Ball-Hog or Tugboat?". He also worked with Tori Amos and Michael Stipe on a track for the soundtrack to the 1995 Johnny Depp film "Don Juan DeMarco". Navarro was fired from the Chili Peppers in 1998, and Flea questioned whether or not the Red Hot Chili Peppers would stay together: "... the only way I could imagine carrying on is if we got John [Frusciante] back in the band." Frusciante had completed drug rehabilitation in 1997 after a severe addiction to heroin and crack cocaine left him on the brink of death. Flea visited Frusciante in early 1998, inviting him back to the Chili Peppers; an emotional Frusciante readily accepted.


title: Flea (musician)

text: With Frusciante back on guitar, the band began writing new songs during the summer of 1998 in Flea's garage. He and Kiedis were less confident in writing the album after the disappointing results of "One Hot Minute". Flea had also recently broken up with his girlfriend of two years, Marissa Pouw, causing him to enter a state of depression which was only lifted when his daughter, Clara, comforted him after several weeks of crying.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea was heavily influenced by electronica during the writing and recording of "Californication" (1999) and he attempted to emulate this when writing bass lines for the album. "Californication" took less than two weeks to record; by contrast, "One Hot Minute" took over a year. When "Californication" was released on June 8, 1999, it received overwhelmingly positive critical reviews and sold fifteen million copies worldwide—more than "Blood Sugar Sex Magik". The Chili Peppers played Woodstock 1999, with Flea playing completely naked—something he would do again at the Reading and Leeds Festivals the same year as well as several other "Californication" tour concerts.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Red Hot Chili Peppers spent most of 2001 writing their eighth studio album, "By the Way" (2002). The band began listening to more melodic, textured music, that would reflect heavily on the album. Frusciante became the driving force behind "By the Way", causing initial strife between him and Flea. If he introduced a funk rhythm into his bass lines Frusciante would consequently disapprove to the point where Flea almost quit the band because he felt his role was no longer important. "By the Way" was released on July 9, 2002, to positive reviews, and went on to sell over nine million copies worldwide. The ensuing tour was extremely profitable; the Chili Peppers performed three concerts in London's Hyde Park to over 250,000 attendees and a total gross accumulation of US$17.1 million. It became the highest-grossing concert at a single venue in history.


title: Flea (musician)

text: After another two-year world tour, the Chili Peppers wrote their ninth studio album, "Stadium Arcadium" (2006). Unlike "By the Way", both Flea and Frusciante were more musically conjoined, when writing the record. They found inspiration in Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Eddie Van Halen among others. The double album was ultimately released on May 9, 2006, to generally positive reviews, selling over seven million copies in less than two years. In November 2007, Flea's $4.8 million Corral Canyon home in Malibu was burnt down by a wildfire. The location was not, however, his primary residence and at the time of its destruction was being rented to musician and producer Butch Walker.


title: Flea (musician)

text: After the Chili Peppers announced a long hiatus due to exhaustion, Flea enrolled in music classes at the University of Southern California, where he studied music theory, composition and jazz trumpet. Flea attributed his interest to a newfound desire to widen his appreciation and understanding of music: "It's so much fun to learn this stuff because I never knew anything. I played trumpet in the school bands. I learned things I liked to play on my trumpet but I didn't learn why this note goes with this note and why it produces that sound. Or how to create tension in the composition [...] Knowing the structure is really fun." Flea said he planned to release a mainly instrumental solo record, recorded in his home; guest musicians would include Patti Smith and a choir from the Silverlake Conservatory.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In 2009, Flea joined Atoms for Peace, a supergroup formed by the Radiohead singer Thom Yorke to perform songs from Yorke's debut solo album, "The Eraser" (2006). Flea and the band recreated Yorke's electronic music with live instrumentation. They toured the United States in 2010, and released an album, "Amok", in 2013. "Amok" was followed that year by a tour of Europe, the US and Japan.


title: Flea (musician)

text: The Chili Peppers ended their hiatus in October 2009 without Frusciante, who quit the band to pursue other musical interests. He was replaced by Josh Klinghoffer. The Red Hot Chili Peppers released their tenth studio album, "I'm with You", on August 29, 2011. Also that year, Flea played bass on two songs on Tom Waits' album "Bad as Me", released on October 21. On October 27, 2011, it was announced that Flea's project with Damon Albarn and afrobeat drummer Tony Allen would be called Rocket Juice & the Moon. The band made their live debut on October 29, 2011, in London, and released an album on March 12, 2012.


title: Flea (musician)

text: The Red Hot Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2012. Flea commented on the induction by saying, "It's always been easy for me to pooh-pooh these awards—the [Rock] Hall of Fame too. But I inducted Metallica a couple of years ago, and it was really a beautiful thing to see as all these people were being inducted. It made me love it. I love halls of fame anyway—the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Baseball Hall of Fame. So I feel grateful for the recognition of what we have done and for the hope and potential of what we'll continue to do."


title: Flea (musician)

text: On July 19, 2012, Flea released a solo EP, "Helen Burns", composed mainly of instrumental tracks, except the title track (which Patti Smith sang on) and "Lovelovelove", which features the Silverlake Conservatory of Music's kids and adults choir. It is Flea's first solo release, who has only released solo songs previously on soundtracks and other projects. Flea said of the EP "I am putting it out to raise money for the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a community-based non-profit music school that I am an integral part of." The download of the EP is available at "a name your own price" on the Silverlake Conservatory website and was made available through all major digital outlets on August 9, 2012.


title: Flea (musician)

text: On October 16, 2012, his 50th birthday, Flea gave an interview with CNN discussing the Chili Peppers and was asked if he plans to continue with them. Flea responded by saying "I love the Chili Peppers, and I would love to. If there's anything I know, it's every time you start making plans, you don't know what's going to come up next. Anything can happen. So I love being in the Chili Peppers and it's my home, and I've been doing it for more than half my life. Of course, during the course of doing it, there's been all kinds of ups and downs, and moments of extreme (positivity), floating on clouds of greatness, and times of just groveling, and misery, and uncertainty, and anger, and love and all those things. Like being in a family. I really can't predict. But I love being in it for now, and right now, about as far as I'm thinking is getting through this tour that we're doing, performing at the highest level possible, then hunkering down and writing another record."


title: Flea (musician)

text: On April 9, 2014, it was revealed that Flea was working on a new musical project, the band Antemasque, with former Mars Volta members Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodríguez-López, and Dave Elitch. Two songs were released in early April though Flea has confirmed that he is not a member of the band and just recorded a few songs with them. Antemasque released their self-titled debut album on July 15, 2014.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea occasionally performs a bass rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before games of the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly called "Staples Center"), in a similar manner as Jimi Hendrix. His most famous rendition was before NBA superstar Kobe Bryant's final game against the Utah Jazz, on April 13, 2016.


title: Flea (musician)

text: The Chili Peppers released their eleventh studio album, "The Getaway," on June 17, 2016. The band embarked on a 151-date world tour which concluded in October 2017.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In December 2019, the Red Hot Chili Peppers announced that guitarist John Frusciante would be returning to replace Josh Klinghoffer. The band will focus on making a new album, which they hope to have released in 2020, along with performing on a few festival dates.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Since the summer of 2020, the Chili Peppers have been working on their twelfth studio album however due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been delays in the writing and recording along with their 2020 tour dates being postponed until 2021.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In January 2021 it was announced that Flea and John Frusciante contributed a cover of "Not Great Men" to the upcoming tribute album to Gang of Four titled "The Problem of Leisure: A Celebration of Andy Gill and Gang of Four". The double album was released on June 4, 2021.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In October 2021, the Chili Peppers announced the dates for their 2022 world tour which will begin in June and conclude in September. The tour includes the band's first-ever headlining stadium shows in the United States in support of their twelfth and thirteenth studio albums, "Unlimited Love" and "Return of the Dream Canteen", which were respectively released on April 1 and October 14, 2022.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea has pursued a minor acting career since the mid-1980s. His first role was as young punk Razzle in the Penelope Spheeris film "Suburbia" (1984). Shortly thereafter he starred alongside the Chili Peppers, who played themselves, in the skate drama "Thrashin'" (1986). He played the ill-fated punker Milo in another Penelope Spheeris film, "Dudes" (1987). He also made an appearance in the Bruce Weber documentary film about the life and career of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker entitled "Let's Get Lost" (1988). He portrayed the character Douglas J. Needles in "Back to the Future Part II" (1989) and "Back to the Future Part III" (1990), though in an interview he referred to "Part II" as "a multi-million-dollar piece of trash", saying that he was happy neither with the film nor his performance in it.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea played a minor role in the 1991 independent film "My Own Private Idaho" as the character Budd. He played a number of minor roles in films throughout the 1990s, including "Son in Law" (1993) as a tattoo artist, "The Chase" (1994) as a monster truck driver alongside Kiedis, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998) as a "Hippie", in "The Big Lebowski" (1998) as a German nihilist, and the 1998 remake of "Psycho". He has also lent his voice to the Nickelodeon animated series "The Wild Thornberrys" as the character Donnie. In 1992, Flea and the other Red Hot Chili Peppers appeared as themselves in the animated comedy "The Simpsons" on the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled".


title: Flea (musician)

text: In 2011, Flea appeared in the documentary, "Bob and the Monster". The film details the life of musician and drug counselor Bob Forrest.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea appears in the documentary "The Other F Word", which aired on Showtime and was released through Oscilloscope Laboratories (a company founded by Adam Yauch). The documentary, which was directed by Andrea Blaugrund Nevins, focused on a generation of punk rockers, how they have handled fatherhood, and how they went from public rebel to domestic authority figure. Mark Hoppus, Jim Lindberg, Art Alexakis, and Mark Mothersbaugh were also featured.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea made his return to acting and co-starred in the 2014 film "Low Down", which is based on the life of jazz pianist Joe Albany. Flea along with Anthony Kiedis executive-produced the film, which stars John Hawkes, Elle Fanning, Glenn Close, and Peter Dinklage. The film had a successful debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2014 and opened in limited release in October 2014. It was released in March 2015 on DVD. This marked his first acting role in 14 years. The film was directed by Jeff Preiss, who previously worked with Flea on the 1988 documentary "Let's Get Lost". In 2015, he provided the voice of the "mind cop" Jake in the Pixar film "Inside Out".


title: Flea (musician)

text: In 2015, Flea appeared as himself in the Amazon Prime series "Highston". It was announced in 2017 that Amazon Prime had cancelled plans for a full series of the show.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea plays Eddie No-Nose in Edgar Wright's action feature film "Baby Driver" (2017). That same year he had a cameo appearance during the fifteenth season of the FOX animated television series "Family Guy" in an episode titled "Peter's Def Jam". In a scene where Stewie Griffin said to his dog Brian Griffin that thanks to him, there's a recurring flea problem in Stewie's room, Flea enters and drops a bass line on his guitar. He asks Brian if he wants to hang out, but Stewie kicks Flea out of the room.


title: Flea (musician)

text: On February 16, 2018, Flea took part in the 2018 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game on a team led by Canadian musician Justin Bieber.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In August 2020, Flea was featured playing bass on multiple tracks on the new Bright Eyes studio album "Down in the Weeds Where the World Once Was."


title: Flea (musician)

text: On June 2, 2021, it was announced that Flea will star alongside Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Samara Weaving in the upcoming film, "Babylon", which will be directed by Damien Chazelle. This film will be set in the late 1920s during the movie industry’s transition from silent films to talkies and explores the rise and fall of multiple characters. The movie has been described as “The Great Gatsby on steroids.” The movie will be in limited release on December 25, 2022, before a wide release on January 6, 2023.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea appears in the Disney+ "Obi-Wan Kenobi" series, aired on May 27, 2022. The series is directed by Deborah Chow who directed the 2022 music video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers single, "Black Summer".


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea has been married two times and has three children. From 1988 to 1990, Flea was married to Loesha Zeviar (Loesha's name remains tattooed on Flea's chest). Their daughter, Clara Balzary, was born in 1988. Clara was featured in the band's "Funky Monks" documentary. She also has appeared at many shows and, as a child, provided artwork for the band's T-shirts and promotional material. She has also documented the band's "I'm With You" tour through photographs and videos. As an adult, Clara was most recently in the short-lived band the Tints and is also an aspiring artist and photographer, taking the promotional photographs for The Getaway. In 2005, Flea was engaged to model Frankie Rayder, who was once named "GQ" magazine's sexiest woman in the world. The couple never married however they had a child together, Sunny Bebop Balzary, who was born on October 26, 2005. The song "Hard to Concentrate" on the Chili Peppers' 2006 album, "Stadium Arcadium", was written by Kiedis as a wedding proposal to Flea and Rayder. Flea and Rayder since split up. In 2019, Flea got married for a second time when he married fashion designer Melody Ehsani. Flea said of Ehsani, "My life has changed forever and I am eternally humble and grateful. The person who sees all of me and knows who I am. My wife @melodyehsani." On July 31, 2022, Ehsani announced on her Instagram page that she was pregnant. On December 12, 2022, Ehsani gave birth to their first child together.


title: Flea (musician)

text: On October 30, 1993, Flea was playing at The Viper Room with the band P when his close friend River Phoenix was outside the venue having seizures as the result of an overdose. When this news filtered through the club, Flea rushed outside and accompanied Phoenix in the ambulance that took him to Cedars-Sinai Hospital. In August 2020, Flea appeared on two unreleased songs from Phoenix's band Aleka's Attic to mark what would have been his 50th birthday.


title: Flea (musician)

text: As an adult, Flea became a U.S. citizen. In a 2000 interview, he stated his intention to eventually retire to his native Australia.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea appeared in the 2011 documentary "The Other F Word", where he discussed the joys of being a father. "It's funny how you always hear people saying that classic parent attitude of, 'I brought you into this world, I gave you life!' You know, it's just, I think, completely the opposite. My kids gave me life. They gave me a reason."


title: Flea (musician)

text: In a June 23, 2011, interview, Flea discussed the band's return and how he almost quit the Chili Peppers during their hiatus. Flea said that he wanted to take two years away to see if the band was "something we should still be doing. . . . Things had gotten dysfunctional and not fun, even though I thought we were making great records, doing great shows and were a really powerful, mighty thing as a band. I was proud of what we did. . . . For me, the biggest thing during the time off, and what really made me want to continue doing the band, specifically after decided he didn't want to continue in the band anymore, [was] I just realized, Anthony, man, he's my brother, I love him so much, and we started this band when we were kids. I wanted to keep that going, I never want to let that go. Playing with him is something, even though I can do other things that are exciting and beautiful and I always will do those things and I'll always want to grow and do music outside of the band, the thing that we have is special to us and something that is blood."


title: Flea (musician)

text: In February 2015, Flea posted photos to his Instagram page showing that he had broken his arm during a skiing trip. His injury delayed the recording of the Chili Peppers eleventh studio album for six months with production expected to resume in mid-August according to Flea, who said on August 3, he was now healed enough to play bass again and continue recording.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In February 2018, Flea released a passionate and revealing op-ed through "Time" magazine about the opioid crisis as well as his own personal history of drug addiction about which for most of his career he had been very private. Flea hoped that by exposing his past issues with substance abuse that his stories could possibly help others battling their own addictions and raise more awareness on the need for those in the medical community and the government to help those in need. "I've been around substance abuse since the day I was born. All the adults in my life regularly numbed themselves to ease their troubles, and alcohol or drugs were everywhere, always. I started smoking weed when I was eleven, and then proceeded to snort, shoot, pop, smoke, drop and dragon chase my way through my teens and twenties," Flea said. Flea finally kicked his addictions in 1993; however, he revealed that in 2014 when he broke his arm in a snowboard accident he nearly had setbacks due to oxycontin that his doctor prescribed for him: "My doctor put me back together perfectly, and thanks to him I can still play bass with all my heart. But he also gave me two-month supply of Oxycontin. The bottle said to take four each day. I was high as hell when I took those things. It not only quelled my physical pain, but all my emotions as well. I only took one a day, but I was not present for my kids, my creative spirit went into decline and I became depressed. I stopped taking them after a month, but I could have easily gotten another refill. Addiction is a cruel disease, and the medical community, together with the government, should offer help to all of those who need it."


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Rams, and Los Angeles Lakers. He can often be spotted sitting courtside at Lakers games with some of his bandmates and has even performed the National Anthem prior to Lakers games. He is also known to be a fan of English football team Sheffield United.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In 1990, Flea (Balzary) was arrested in Daytona Beach, Florida and charged with battery, disorderly conduct, and solicitation to commit an unnatural and lascivious act, and Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith was charged with battery, after the two were accused of "attacking a woman" in the audience of one of their performances; as reported by a ranger from Volusia County,Balzary and Smith jumped into the crowd. / Balzary picked up the woman and began to spin her around on his shoulders, while Smith pulled her bathing suit to one side and began to slap her bottom... / [Unnamed officials also] said Balzary got on top of the woman, asked her to perform a sex act, then began to simulate the act.The woman "apparently was picked from the audience at random", and "[a]fter [she] cried for help, the band was escorted away." According to the same ranger, the victim "signed a complaint against the band members" (which resulted in the charges filed).


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea and the Chili Peppers appeared in 1992 PSA ads for Rock the Vote, a non-profit organization created to encourage 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States to vote in the upcoming presidential election.


title: Flea (musician)

text: The Chili Peppers were invited by the Beastie Boys and the Milarepa Fund to perform at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in June 1996 in San Francisco. They also performed at the June 1998 Washington, D.C. concert as well. The concerts, which were held worldwide, were to support the cause of Tibetan independence.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In 2001, Flea co-founded the Silverlake Conservatory of Music with his childhood friend Tree. The school is dedicated to help youth progress in music. Flea said he wanted to "fill the void" created by the lack of public funding for school music departments: "I grew up in LA public schools and was in the music department. It was really an important thing for my life, it gave me something to hold onto, and it was an important access for me. Without music I would've gotten into a lot of trouble and there are a lot of kids like me out there. I just wanted to try to provide something like what I got."


title: Flea (musician)

text: In September 2005, the Chili Peppers performed "Under the Bridge" at the benefit which was held to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Thirty million dollars was raised during the live event which was broadcast across the world on various television networks and online.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In October 2008, Flea (along with his daughter Sunny Bebop) appeared in a Vote for Change ad voicing his support for Barack Obama for president of the United States in the upcoming election.


title: Flea (musician)

text: On March 20, 2011, Flea ran the LA Marathon to raise money for the Silverlake Conservatory of Music through Crowdrise. Flea was also featured in "Runner's World" magazine discussing his preparation for the race.


title: Flea (musician)

text: The Chili Peppers performed a free concert in downtown Cleveland, Ohio on April 15, 2012, in support of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.


title: Flea (musician)

text: On May 11, 2013, the Chili Peppers performed a special concert in Portland, Oregon, for the Dalai Lama as part of the Dalai Lama Environmental Summit. According to the press release, "The musical element of this event is intended to be a display of joyful celebration and an inspiration to future generations to care for our planet. The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been great supporters of the Tibetan cause, of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and of the need to work to protect and preserve our environment."


title: Flea (musician)

text: In May 2015, Flea reached out to fans to help donate to the Special Olympics. Two lucky fans will be selected to be flown out to meet Flea for private bass lessons. Other prizes such an exclusive T-shirts, personalized video from Flea, tickets to a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert and various autographed items by Flea are available.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea took to his Facebook page in anger speaking out about May 19 Santa Barbara oil spill that pumped 100,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. Flea was at the beach with his young daughter when she stepped in a tar ball. Flea wrote "Dear plains all American pipeline, my daughter just dared step on the beach for a few minutes where we live about 75 miles from the Santa Barbara oil spill you caused. She got your oil shit product all over her feet." Flea stated he can no longer surf there or take his daughter to the beach further saying "Some kid in the hood who made a mistake selling drugs will go to jail and have his life ruined but you, you evil lying scumbags will get away with a paltry fine that means nothing to you. You could have had a shut off valve but you saved cash there too. You are the worst kind of human beings, I am infuriated you disgust me."


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea has been outspoken towards guns and gun violence, sometimes speaking about it during Chili Peppers shows. He often expresses his anger on Twitter. In 2013, he said, "why anyone would ever want to own an automatic weapon I will never ever understand. it's a pathetic useless concept for sick people. Automatic, semi automatic, I don't care. I'm against em... Melt em all down turn em into sculptures there is no need for them on earth. In many countries, the cops have no guns and they do perfectly fine. No civilians should be allowed to have guns. none. and I don't think the cops should have guns either. change the constitution". Following the racially motivated Charleston church shooting in June 2015, Flea again voiced his anger towards gun violence, saying: "You are kidding me. This is too much. Humans are an over rated species. Sick. God help us." and "The USA land where any sick madman can easily get a gun. disgusting, deplorable, unbelievable."


title: Flea (musician)

text: In August 2015, Flea added an apiary in his backyard which includes three beehives with approximately 60,000 bees each—over 200,000 bees total—in his backyard in efforts to restore the honeybee population. Flea commented on his new obsession with beekeeping by saying: "Deep to the hive super organism. I love my bees. Flea's bees."


title: Flea (musician)

text: On September 18, 2015, Flea and his Chili Peppers bandmates were among over 120 entertainers and celebrities to announce that they would be voting for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 election for President of the United States.


title: Flea (musician)

text: The Chili Peppers performed at a fundraiser on behalf the non-profit organisation San Diego Foundation on September 27, 2015. All money was donated to ARTS — A Reason To Survive, Heartbeat Music Academy, San Diego Young Artists Music Academy, and Flea's Silverlake Conservatory of Music. Flea and bandmate Anthony Kiedis host an annual benefit for the Silverlake Conservatory of Music. In October 2015, the event was limited to 300 tickets at $2,500 each. The Chili Peppers performed an acoustic set, and John Legend headlined.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea performed in the Pathway to Paris concert in December 2015. The all-star event aimed to raise awareness about the urgency of climate action and coincided with the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In February 2016, the Chili Peppers performed at a "Feel the Bern" fundraiser in support of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Flea said, "Bernie Sanders is the only remotely reasonable candidate for President of the United States."


title: Flea (musician)

text: In August 2016, Flea paid a visit to see Koko the gorilla and to also raise awareness for The Gorilla Foundation. The foundation said of Flea's visit "One of Koko's favorite musicians, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers came to visit. Koko was thrilled by the mellow sounds and a jamming session followed with Koko strumming on Flea's bass!"


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea has been vocal about climate change. He stated in January 2019, "the destructive effects of climate change are ongoing and will be difficult for us human beings to deal with." Days later the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed at a benefit concert for victims of recent deadly Woolsey Fire in California which killed four people and destroyed over 1,500 homes. The fires even halted the recording for the Chili Peppers' twelfth album.


title: Flea (musician)

text: On April 26, 2020, Flea performed during The Pathway to Paris Earth Day 50: A Virtual Festival, a livestream event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The festival streamed on an Instagram page.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea joined Brad Pitt during the COVID-19 pandemic to help contribute to a community food giveaway for the people of Watts, Los Angeles on July 31, 2020. "The community gives back to me. I like being a part of it, I like building bridges, I like making friends. When corona hit and I was sitting around and going to the beach and stuff, I did a lot of thinking about people who really might be struggling because they’re not getting enough to eat and not making money during COVID times,” Flea said.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In April 2014, Flea began writing his own book, his memoirs. The original scope of the book was to chronicle Flea's unconventional childhood (including his move from a "normal" life in the New York suburbs to a "bohemian" lifestyle in Los Angeles with his jazz-playing stepfather), his adventures in the L.A. streets, his "sometimes complex friendship and collaboration" with Chili Peppers co-founder Anthony Kiedis and the overall "tumultuous creative journey" of the band, which formed in 1983.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In February 2018, it was announced that Flea's long-awaited memoir, "Acid for the Children", would be released on September 25, 2018; however, a few months later the release date was pushed back to November 27, 2018. On September 27, 2018, Flea announced on Twitter that his book has been postponed until 2019 saying "Dear everybody, Due to some scheduling conflicts, the release of my memoir has been delayed until next year. Will have a date as soon as possible. Sorry about any inconveniences.sincerely, flea.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea also confirmed that unlike previously mentioned four years earlier, the book would focus exclusively on his life before the Red Hot Chili Peppers. "It's my great hope that it could be a book that could live beyond being a celebrity book or a rock star book and just stand on its own as a piece of literature," Flea says of "Acid for the Children", which he describes not as a memoir, but as an origin story: "It ends where the Red Hot Chili Peppers begins."


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea has employed a wide variety of basses over his career with some varying exclusivity, such as Music Man, Modulus, his own brand Fleabass, and Fender Jazz and Precisions.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Currently, his main stage bass is a Custom Shop Fender Jazz Bass, modified with a Modulus Lane Poor pickup and Aguilar OBP-1 preamp, identical to his Modulus basses he previously used. Fender has released this bass for sale as the Flea Signature Active Jazz Bass (no longer in production as of 2020), in addition to a signature instrument modelled after his 1961 Fender Jazz Bass (which has been his primary studio bass since 2006); Flea treasures his 1961 Jazz Bass for its "old wood sound".


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea toured the "Californication", "By The Way", "Stadium Arcadium", and "I'm With You" records with his signature Modulus Flea basses (Later renamed Modulus Funk Unlimited after the endorsement). He was seen with several designs over this time.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In 2009, Flea founded the Fleabass company with the goal to create quality budget basses for beginners. Whilst Flea did not perform with his own Fleabass production model he did however use a custom model created by UK artist Damien Hirst.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Damien actually made me a bass, a butterfly bass, it's a beautiful thing. It's not just a piece of art to hang on a wall. The whole new album I play on it. This bass is kind of heavy for live—I don't play Fenders that much live—but it's beautiful.


title: Flea (musician)

text: The custom Fleabass was built with Lane Poor active pickups, Graphite neck and 18-volt Aguliar OBP-1 preamp. It can be seen in the music videos for "The Getaway" album.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Fifty of these basses were created. They were auctioned for Flea's Silverlake Conservatory of Music, with a list price £50,000.


title: Flea (musician)

text: From "The Getaway" world tour beginning June 2016, Flea was back on the road with three Custom Shop Fender Jazz basses.


title: Flea (musician)

text: These basses have a Jazz Bass style body, Lane Poor Legacy pickup, 18-volt Aguilar OBP-1 preamp and a 22-fret graphite reinforced neck created by Fender Custom Shop master builder Jason Smith. The Silver Jazz is Fleas' current main tour bass, replacing his Modulus basses in the process.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea has displayed a wide variety of techniques throughout the years, ranging from his initial use of slapping and popping to the more traditional methods he has employed since "Blood Sugar Sex Magik". Greg Prato of Allmusic wrote that "by combining funk-style bass with psychedelic, punk, and hard rock, Flea created an original playing style that has been copied numerous times". Flea stated in an interview, that he was influenced greatly by Louis Armstrong. Flea has been considered one of the greatest bassists of all time, with Greg Tate of "Rolling Stone" saying "if there were a Most Valuable Bass Player award given out in rock, Flea could have laid claim to that bitch ten years running". Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan recalls, that when he first saw the Chili Peppers in 1984, "Flea was playing so aggressively that he had worn a hole in his thumb and he was literally screaming in pain in-between songs because it hurt so bad. Someone kept coming out and pouring crazy glue into the hole." Flea's sound is also determined by what type of instrument he plays. Before "Californication", he did not believe the actual bass held much significance: "what mattered was how you hit them [basses] and your emotional intent, and I still think that's the bottom line."


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea's bass playing has changed considerably throughout the years. When he joined Fear, his technique centered largely on punk rock bass lines; however, he was to change this style when the Red Hot Chili Peppers formed. He began to incorporate a "slap" bass style that drew influence largely from Bootsy Collins. However, this technique caused Flea to receive attention from the music world and was often copied, and he, therefore, felt it necessary to almost completely remove slap-bass styles from his repertoire following "Mother's Milk" (1989). Consequently, "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" (1991) saw a notable shift in style as it featured less of his signature technique and more styles that focused on traditional and melodic roots. His intellectual beliefs on how to play the instrument were also altered: "I was trying to play simply on "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" because I had been playing too much prior to that, so I thought, 'I've really got to chill out and play half as many notes'. When you play less, it's more exciting—there's more room for everything. If I do play something busy, it stands out, instead of the bass being a constant onslaught of notes. Space is good."


title: Flea (musician)

text: During the writing and recording of "One Hot Minute" (1995), Flea integrated some use of slap-bass progressions, but continued to apply the philosophy of "less is more" to his technique rather than courting complexity: "I can't even think of anything I played that was complex [on the record]; even the slapping stuff is simple. It's original-sounding, and I'm proud of that—but what I played was more a matter of aesthetic choice." This led Flea to alter the way he wrote music by playing alone, instead of the jam sessions that would dictate how the band conceived songs: "["One Hot Minute"] is the least jam-oriented record we've made. I mean, we definitely jammed on the ideas, but there's only one groove on the whole album that came from a jam, 'Deep Kick'. The rest of it came from my sitting down with a guitar or bass."


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea became interested in electronica during the "Californication" (1999) era and he attempted to emulate the same atmosphere given off by synthesizers into his bass playing: "I feel the most exciting music happening is electronica, without a doubt." He ultimately decided against this, acknowledging that, aside from Frusciante, the band was not moving in the same direction.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In "By the Way" (2002), many of the bass-lines were entirely stripped of funk. Flea felt the chords Frusciante had written were not supportive of his typical technique; furthermore, he does not feel the musical direction of the record was specifically melodic, but instead "... a result of each one of us being who we are. The way we [the band] compose music is a very communal thing."


title: Flea (musician)

text: Flea's stepfather was in a bebop jazz band that frequently jammed in his presence, so he soon became fascinated with the trumpet. Flea credits his continued interest in music to jazz performers like Jaco Pastorius, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, and Dizzy Gillespie. After Kiedis introduced him to punk and rock, Flea became infatuated with artists such as Black Flag, David Bowie, and Defunkt. Flea's early influences before "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" were mainly funk artists. They would become a notable aspect of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' sound up to "Mother's Milk". Originally, Flea was given the impression by punk bands, that one should play as hard and fast as they possibly could, but ultimately rejected this philosophy during "Blood Sugar Sex Magik": "I was so into being raw [...] it was all bullshit." On "Californication" and "By the Way", Flea drew influence from electronica, gothic rock bands like the Cure, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees and new wave music rather than funk. Flea has also spoken highly of Neil Young; he wrote an article for "Rolling Stone" praising Young for the consistent authenticity in his artistry, among other things.


title: Flea (musician)

text: Regarded as one of the best rock bass players of all time, in 2009, "Rolling Stone"s readers ranked Flea the second-best bassist in their top-ten poll, ranked behind only John Entwistle of the Who and ahead of Paul McCartney of the Beatles. In a 2010 poll conducted on the BBC Two series "I'm in a Rock 'n' Roll Band!", Flea was named the bassist in the ultimate fantasy band alongside Freddie Mercury on vocals, Jimi Hendrix on guitar and John Bonham on drums.


title: Flea (musician)

text: In April 2011, Flea finished second in an online poll conducted by Contact Music to name the best bass guitarist in rock music. He came second to the late John Entwistle. Rounding out the top five were Paul McCartney, Geddy Lee of Rush and Les Claypool of Primus.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 1939 to 1975 as a dictator, assuming the title "Caudillo". This period in Spanish history, from the Nationalist victory to Franco's death, is commonly known as Francoist Spain or as the Francoist dictatorship.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Born in Ferrol, Galicia, into an upper-class military family, Franco served in the Spanish Army as a cadet in the Toledo Infantry Academy from 1907 to 1910. While serving in Morocco, he rose through the ranks to become a brigadier general in 1926 at age 33, which made him the youngest general in all of Europe. Two years later, Franco became the director of the General Military Academy in Zaragoza. As a conservative and monarchist, Franco regretted the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Second Republic in 1931, and was devastated by the closing of his academy; nevertheless, he continued his service in the Republican Army. His career was boosted after the right-wing CEDA and PRR won the 1933 election, empowering him to lead the suppression of the 1934 uprising in Asturias. Franco was briefly elevated to Chief of Army Staff before the 1936 election moved the leftist Popular Front into power, relegating him to the Canary Islands. Initially reluctant, he joined the July 1936 military coup, which, after failing to take Spain, sparked the Spanish Civil War.


title: Francisco Franco

text: During the war, he commanded Spain's African colonial army and later, following the deaths of much of the rebel leadership, became his faction's only leader, being appointed Generalissimo and head of state in 1936. He consolidated all nationalist parties into the FET y de las JONS (creating a one-party state). Three years later the Nationalists declared victory, which extended Franco's dictatorship over Spain through a period of repression of political opponents. His dictatorship's use of forced labor, concentration camps and executions led to between 30,000 and 50,000 deaths. Combined with wartime killings, this brings the death toll of the White Terror to between 100,000 and 200,000.


title: Francisco Franco

text: In post-civil war Spain, Franco developed a cult of personality around his rule by founding the "Movimiento Nacional". During World War II he maintained Spanish neutrality, but supported the Axis—whose members Italy and Germany had supported him during the Civil War—damaging the country's international reputation in various ways. During the start of the Cold War, Franco lifted Spain out of its mid-20th century economic depression through technocratic and economically liberal policies, presiding over a period of accelerated growth known as the "Spanish miracle". At the same time, his regime transitioned from a totalitarian state to an authoritarian one with limited pluralism. He became a leader in the anti-Communist movement, garnering support from the West, particularly the United States. As the dictatorship relaxed its hard-line policies, Luis Carrero Blanco became Franco's "éminence grise", whose role expanded after Franco began struggling with Parkinson's disease in the 1960s. In 1973, Franco resigned as prime minister—separated from the office of head of state since 1967—due to his advanced age and illness. Nevertheless, he remained in power as the head of state and as commander-in-chief. Franco died in 1975, aged 82, and was entombed in the Valle de los Caídos. He restored the monarchy in his final years, being succeeded by Juan Carlos, King of Spain, who led the Spanish transition to democracy.


title: Francisco Franco

text: The legacy of Franco in Spanish history remains controversial, as the nature of his dictatorship changed over time. His reign was marked by both brutal repression, with tens of thousands killed, and economic prosperity, which greatly improved the quality of life in Spain. His dictatorial style proved adaptable enough to allow social and economic reform, but still centred on highly centralised government, authoritarianism, nationalism, national Catholicism, anti-freemasonry and anti-Communism.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Francisco Franco Bahamonde was born on 4 December 1892 in the Calle Frutos Saavedra in El Ferrol, Galicia, into a seafaring family. He was baptised thirteen days later at the military church of San Francisco, with the baptismal name Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo.


title: Francisco Franco

text: After relocating to Galicia, the Franco family was involved in the Spanish Navy, and over the span of two centuries produced naval officers for six uninterrupted generations (including several admirals), down to Franco's father (22 November 1855 – 22 February 1942).


title: Francisco Franco

text: His mother, María del Pilar Bahamonde y Pardo de Andrade (15 October 1865 – 28 February 1934), was from an upper-middle-class Roman Catholic family. Her father, Ladislao Bahamonde Ortega, was the commissar of naval equipment at the Port of El Ferrol. Franco's parents married in 1890 in the Church of San Francisco in El Ferrol. The young Franco spent much of his childhood with his two brothers, Nicolás and Ramón, and his two sisters, María del Pilar and María de la Paz. His brother Nicolás was a naval officer and diplomat who married María Isabel Pascual del Pobil. Ramón was an internationally known aviator and a Freemason, originally with leftist political leanings. He was also the second sibling to die, killed in an air accident on a military mission in 1938.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Franco's father was a naval officer who reached the rank of vice admiral ("intendente general"). When Franco was fourteen, his father moved to Madrid following a reassignment and ultimately abandoned his family, marrying another woman. While Franco did not suffer any great abuse by his father's hand, he would never overcome his antipathy for his father and largely ignored him for the rest of his life. Years after becoming dictator, under the pseudonym Jaime de Andrade, Franco wrote a brief novel called "Raza", whose protagonist is believed by Stanley Payne to represent the idealised man Franco wished his father had been. Conversely, Franco strongly identified with his mother (who always wore widow's black once she realised her husband had abandoned her) and learned from her moderation, austerity, self-control, family solidarity and respect for Catholicism, though he would also inherit his father's harshness, coldness and implacability.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Francisco followed his father into the Navy, but as a result of the Spanish–American War the country lost much of its navy as well as most of its colonies. Not needing any more officers, the Naval Academy admitted no new entrants from 1906 to 1913. To his father's chagrin, Francisco decided to try the Spanish Army. In 1907, he entered the Infantry Academy in Toledo. At the age of fourteen, Franco was one of the youngest members of his class, with most boys being between sixteen and eighteen. He was short and was bullied for his small size. His grades were average; though his good memory meant he seldom struggled academically, his small stature was a hindrance in physical tests. He graduated in July 1910 as a second lieutenant, standing 251st out of 312 cadets in his class, though this might have had less to do with his grades than with his small size and young age. Stanley Payne observes that by the time civil war began, Franco had already become a major general and would soon be a generalissimo, while none of his higher-ranking fellow cadets had managed to get beyond the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Franco was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in June 1912 at age 19. Two years later, he obtained a commission to Morocco. Spanish efforts to occupy the new African protectorate provoked the Second Melillan campaign in 1909 against native Moroccans, the first of several Riffian rebellions. Their tactics resulted in heavy losses among Spanish military officers, and also provided an opportunity to earn promotion through merit on the battlefield. It was said that officers would receive either "la caja o la faja" (a coffin or a general's sash). Franco quickly gained a reputation as an effective officer. In 1913, Franco transferred into the newly formed regulares: Moroccan colonial troops with Spanish officers, who acted as elite shock troops. In 1916, aged 23 with the rank of captain, Franco was shot in the abdomen by guerilla gunfire during an assault on Moroccan positions at "El Biutz", in the hills near Ceuta; this was the only time he was wounded in ten years of fighting. The wound was serious, and he was not expected to live. His recovery was seen by his Moroccan troops as a spiritual event – they believed Franco to be blessed with "baraka," or protected by God. He was recommended for promotion to major and to receive Spain's highest honour for gallantry, the coveted "Cruz Laureada de San Fernando". Both proposals were denied, with the 23-year-old Franco's young age being given as the reason for denial. Franco appealed the decision to the king, who reversed it. Franco also received the "Cross of Maria Cristina, First Class".


title: Francisco Franco

text: With that he was promoted to major at the end of February 1917 at age 24. This made him the youngest major in the Spanish army. From 1917 to 1920, he served in Spain. In 1920, Lieutenant Colonel José Millán Astray, a histrionic but charismatic officer, founded the Spanish Foreign Legion, along similar lines as the French Foreign Legion. Franco became the Legion's second-in-command and returned to Africa. In the Rif War, the poorly commanded and overextended Spanish Army was defeated by the Republic of the Rif under the leadership of the Abd el-Krim brothers, who crushed a Spanish offensive on 24 July 1921, at Annual. The Legion and supporting units relieved the Spanish city of Melilla after a three-day forced march led by Franco. In 1923, now a lieutenant colonel, he was made commander of the Legion.


title: Francisco Franco

text: On 22 October 1923, Franco married María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdès (11 June 1900 – 6 February 1988). Following his honeymoon Franco was summoned to Madrid to be presented to King Alfonso XIII. This and other occasions of royal attention would mark him during the Republic as a monarchical officer.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Disappointed with the plans for a strategic retreat from the interior to the African coastline by Primo de Rivera, Franco wrote in the April 1924 issue of "Revista de Tropas Coloniales" ("Colonial Troops Magazine") that he would disobey orders of retreat given by a superior. He also held a tense meeting with Primo de Rivera in July 1924. According to fellow "africanista", Gonzalo Queipo de Llano, Franco visited him on 21 September 1924 to propose that he lead a coup d'état against Primo. In the end, Franco complied with Primo's orders, taking part in the in late 1924, and thus earning a promotion to colonel.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Franco led the first wave of troops ashore at Al Hoceima (Spanish: "Alhucemas") in 1925. This landing in the heartland of Abd el-Krim's tribe, combined with the French invasion from the south, spelled the beginning of the end for the short-lived Republic of the Rif. Franco was eventually recognised for his leadership, and he was promoted to brigadier general on 3 February 1926, making him the youngest general in Europe at age 33, according to Payne and Palacios. On 14 September 1926, Franco and Polo had a daughter, María del Carmen. Franco would have a close relationship with his daughter and was a proud parent, though his traditionalist attitudes and increasing responsibilities meant he left much of the child-rearing to his wife. In 1928 Franco was appointed director of the newly created General Military Academy of Zaragoza, a new college for all Spanish army cadets, replacing the former separate institutions for young men seeking to become officers in infantry, cavalry, artillery, and other branches of the army. Franco was removed as Director of the Zaragoza Military Academy in 1931; when the Civil War began, the colonels, majors, and captains of the Spanish Army who had attended the academy when he was its director displayed unconditional loyalty to him as Caudillo.


title: Francisco Franco

text: The municipal elections of 12 April 1931 were largely seen as a plebiscite on the monarchy. The Republican-Socialist alliance failed to win the majority of the municipalities in Spain, but had a landslide victory in all the large cities and in almost all the provincial capitals. The monarchists and the army deserted Alfonso XIII and consequently the king decided to leave the country and go into exile, giving way to the Second Spanish Republic. Although Franco believed that the majority of the Spanish people still supported the crown, and although he regretted the end of the monarchy, he did not object, nor did he challenge the legitimacy of the republic. The closing of the academy in June by the provisional War Minister Manuel Azaña however was a major setback for Franco and provoked his first clash with the Spanish Republic. Azaña found Franco's farewell speech to the cadets insulting. In his speech Franco stressed the Republic's need for discipline and respect. Azaña entered an official reprimand into Franco's personnel file and for six months Franco was without a post and under surveillance.


title: Francisco Franco

text: In December 1931, a new reformist, liberal, and democratic constitution was declared. It included strong provisions enforcing a broad secularisation of the Catholic country, which included the abolishing of Catholic schools and charities, which many moderate committed Catholics opposed. At this point, once the constituent assembly had fulfilled its mandate of approving a new constitution, it should have arranged for regular parliamentary elections and adjourned, according to historian Carlton J. H. Hayes. Fearing the increasing popular opposition, the Radical and Socialist majority postponed the regular elections, thereby prolonging their stay in power for two more years. This way the republican government of Manuel Azaña initiated numerous reforms to what in their view would "modernize" the country.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Franco was a subscriber to the journal of Acción Española, a monarchist organisation, and a firm believer in a supposed Jewish-Masonic-Bolshevik conspiracy, or "contubernio" (conspiracy). The conspiracy suggested that Jews, Freemasons, Communists, and other leftists alike sought the destruction of Christian Europe, with Spain being the principal target.


title: Francisco Franco

text: On 5 February 1932, Franco was given a command in A Coruña. Franco avoided involvement in José Sanjurjo's attempted coup that year, and even wrote a hostile letter to Sanjurjo expressing his anger over the attempt. As a result of Azaña's military reform, in January 1933 Franco was relegated from first to 24th in the list of brigadiers. The same year, on 17 February he was given the military command of the Balearic Islands. The post was above his rank, but Franco was still unhappy that he was stuck in a position he disliked. The prime minister wrote in his diary that it was probably more prudent to have Franco away from Madrid.


title: Francisco Franco

text: In 1932, the Jesuits, who were in charge of many schools throughout the country, were banned and had all their property confiscated. The army was further reduced and landowners were expropriated. Home rule was granted to Catalonia, with a local parliament and a president of its own. In June 1933 Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Dilectissima Nobis (Our Dearly Beloved), "On Oppression of the Church of Spain", in which he criticised the anti-clericalism of the Republican government.


title: Francisco Franco

text: The elections held in October 1933 resulted in a centre-right majority. The political party with the most votes was the Confederación Español de Derechas Autónomas ("CEDA"), but president Alcalá-Zamora declined to invite the leader of the CEDA, Gil Robles, to form a government. Instead he invited the Radical Republican Party's Alejandro Lerroux to do so. Despite receiving the most votes, CEDA was denied cabinet positions for nearly a year. After a year of intense pressure, CEDA, the largest party in the congress, was finally successful in forcing the acceptance of three ministries. The entrance of CEDA in the government, despite being normal in a parliamentary democracy, was not well accepted by the left. The Socialists triggered an insurrection that they had been preparing for nine months. The leftist Republican parties did not directly join the insurrection, but their leadership issued statements that they were "breaking all relations" with the Republican government. The Catalan "Bloc Obrer i Camperol" (BOC) advocated the need to form a broad workers' front, and took the lead in forming a new and more encompassing "Alianza Obrera", which included the Catalan UGT and the Catalan sector of the PSOE, with the goal of defeating fascism and advancing the socialist revolution. The "Alianza Obrera" declared a general strike "against fascism" in Catalonia in 1934. A Catalan state was proclaimed by Catalan nationalist leader Lluis Companys, but it lasted just ten hours. Despite an attempt at a general stoppage in Madrid, other strikes did not endure. This left the striking Asturian miners to fight alone.


title: Francisco Franco

text: In several mining towns in Asturias, local unions gathered small arms and were determined to see the strike through. It began on the evening of 4 October, with the miners occupying several towns, attacking and seizing local Civil and Assault Guard barracks. Thirty four priests, six young seminarists with ages between 18 and 21, and several businessmen and civil guards were summarily executed by the revolutionaries in Mieres and Sama, 58 religious buildings including churches, convents and part of the university at Oviedo were burned and destroyed, and over 100 priests were killed in the diocese. Franco, already General of Division and aide to the war minister, Diego Hidalgo, was put in command of the operations directed to suppress the violent insurgency. Troops of the Spanish Army of Africa carried this out, with General Eduardo López Ochoa as commander in the field. After two weeks of heavy fighting (and a death toll estimated between 1,200 and 2,000), the rebellion was suppressed.


title: Francisco Franco

text: The insurgency in Asturias in October 1934 sparked a new era of violent anti-Christian persecutions with the massacre of 34 priests, initiating the practice of atrocities against the clergy, and sharpened the antagonism between Left and Right. Franco and López Ochoa (who, prior to the campaign in Asturias, had been seen as a left-leaning officer) emerged as officers prepared to use "troops against Spanish civilians as if they were a foreign enemy". Franco described the rebellion to a journalist in Oviedo as, "a frontier war and its fronts are socialism, communism and whatever attacks civilisation to replace it with barbarism." Though the colonial units sent to the north by the government at Franco's recommendation consisted of the Spanish Foreign Legion and the Moroccan Regulares Indigenas, the right-wing press portrayed the Asturian rebels as lackeys of a foreign Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy.


title: Francisco Franco

text: With this rebellion against legitimate established political authority, the socialists also repudiated the representative institutional system as the anarchists had done. The Spanish historian Salvador de Madariaga, an Azaña supporter, and an exiled vocal opponent of Francisco Franco is the author of a sharp critical reflection against the participation of the left in the revolt: "The uprising of 1934 is unforgivable. The argument that Mr Gil Robles tried to destroy the Constitution to establish fascism was, at once, hypocritical and false. With the rebellion of 1934, the Spanish left lost even the shadow of moral authority to condemn the rebellion of 1936."


title: Francisco Franco

text: At the start of the Civil War, López Ochoa was assassinated; his head was severed and paraded around the streets on a pole, with a card reading, 'This is the butcher of Asturias'. Some time after these events, Franco was briefly commander-in-chief of the Army of Africa (from 15 February onwards), and from 19 May 1935, on, Chief of the General Staff.


title: Francisco Franco

text: At the end of 1935, President Alcalá-Zamora manipulated a petty-corruption issue into a major scandal in parliament, and eliminated Alejandro Lerroux, the head of the Radical Republican Party, from the premiership. Subsequently, Alcalá-Zamora vetoed the logical replacement, a majority center-right coalition, led by the CEDA, which would reflect the composition of the parliament. He then arbitrarily appointed an interim prime minister and after a short period announced the dissolution of parliament and new elections.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Two wide coalitions formed: the Popular Front on the left, ranging from Republican Union to Communists, and the Frente Nacional on the right, ranging from the centre radicals to the conservative Carlists. On 16 February 1936 the elections ended in a virtual draw, but in the evening leftist mobs started to interfere in the balloting and in the registration of votes, distorting the results. Stanley G. Payne claims that the process was blatant electoral fraud, with widespread violation of the laws and the constitution. In line with Payne's point of view, in 2017 two Spanish scholars, Manuel Álvarez Tardío and Roberto Villa García published the result of a major research work in which they concluded that the 1936 elections were rigged, a view disputed by Paul Preston, and other scholars such as Iker Itoiz Ciáurriz, who denounces their conclusions as revisionist "classic Francoist anti-republican tropes".


title: Francisco Franco

text: On 19 February, the cabinet presided over by Portela Valladares resigned, with a new cabinet being quickly set up, composed chiefly of members of the Republican Left and the Republican Union and presided over by Manuel Azaña.


title: Francisco Franco

text: José Calvo Sotelo, who made anti-communism the focus of his parliamentary speeches, began spreading violent propaganda—advocating for a military coup d'état; formulating a catastrophist discourse of a dichotomous choice between "communism" or a markedly totalitarian "National" State, and setting the mood of the masses for a military rebellion. The diffusion of the myth about an alleged Communist coup d'état as well a pretended state of "social chaos" became pretexts for a coup. Franco himself along with General Emilio Mola had stirred an anti-Communist campaign in Morocco.


title: Francisco Franco

text: At the same time PSOE's left-wing socialists became more radical. Julio Álvarez del Vayo talked about "Spain's being converted into a socialist Republic in association with the Soviet Union". Francisco Largo Caballero declared that "the organized proletariat will carry everything before it and destroy everything until we reach our goal". The country rapidly descended into anarchy. Even the staunch socialist Indalecio Prieto, at a party rally in Cuenca in May 1936, complained: "We Spaniards have never seen so tragic a panorama or so great a collapse as in Spain at this moment. Abroad, Spain is classified as insolvent. This is not the road to socialism or communism but to desperate anarchism without even the advantage of liberty."


title: Francisco Franco

text: On 23 February, Franco was sent to the Canary Islands to serve as the islands' military commander, an appointment perceived by him as a "destierro" (banishment). Meanwhile, a conspiracy led by General Mola was taking shape.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Interested in the parliamentary immunity granted by a seat at the Cortes, Franco intended to stand as candidate of the Right Bloc alongside José Antonio Primo de Rivera for the by-election in the province of Cuenca programmed for 3 May 1936, after the results of the February 1936 election were annulled in the constituency. But Primo de Rivera refused to run alongside a military officer (Franco in particular) and Franco himself ultimately desisted on 26 April, one day before the decision of the election authority. By that time, PSOE politician Indalecio Prieto had already deemed Franco as a "possible caudillo for a military uprising".


title: Francisco Franco

text: Disenchantment with Azaña's rule continued to grow and was dramatically voiced by Miguel de Unamuno, a republican and one of Spain's most respected intellectuals, who in June 1936 told a reporter who published his statement in El Adelanto that President Manuel Azaña should "...debiera suicidarse como acto patriótico" ("commit suicide as a patriotic act").


title: Francisco Franco

text: In June 1936, Franco was contacted and a secret meeting was held within La Esperanza forest on Tenerife to discuss starting a military coup. An obelisk (which has subsequently been removed) commemorating this historic meeting was erected at the site in a clearing at Las Raíces in Tenerife.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Outwardly, Franco maintained an ambiguous attitude until nearly July. On 23 June 1936, he wrote to the head of the government, Casares Quiroga, offering to quell the discontent in the Spanish Republican Army, but received no reply. The other rebels were determined to go ahead "con Paquito o sin Paquito" (with "Paquito" or without "Paquito"; "Paquito" being a diminutive of "Paco", which in turn is short for "Francisco"), as it was put by José Sanjurjo, the honorary leader of the military uprising. After various postponements, 18 July was fixed as the date of the uprising. The situation reached a point of no return and, as presented to Franco by Mola, the coup was unavoidable and he had to choose a side. He decided to join the rebels and was given the task of commanding the Army of Africa. A privately owned DH 89 De Havilland Dragon Rapide, flown by two British pilots, Cecil Bebb and Hugh Pollard, was chartered in England on 11 July to take Franco to Africa.


title: Francisco Franco

text: The coup underway was precipitated by the assassination of the right-wing opposition leader Calvo Sotelo in retaliation for the murder of assault guard José Castillo, which had been committed by a group headed by a civil guard and composed of assault guards and members of the socialist militias. On 17 July, one day earlier than planned, the Army of Africa rebelled, detaining their commanders. On 18 July, Franco published a manifesto and left for Africa, where he arrived the next day to take command.


title: Francisco Franco

text: A week later the rebels, who soon called themselves the "Nationalists", controlled a third of Spain; most naval units remained under control of the Republican loyalist forces, which left Franco isolated. The coup had failed in the attempt to bring a swift victory, but the Spanish Civil War had begun.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Franco rose to power during the Spanish Civil War, which began in July 1936 and officially ended with the victory of his Nationalist forces in April 1939. Although it is impossible to calculate precise statistics concerning the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, Payne writes that if civilian fatalities above the norm are added to the total number of deaths for victims of violence, the number of deaths attributable to the civil war would reach approximately 344,000. During the war, rape, torture and summary executions committed by soldiers under Franco's command were used as a means of retaliation and to repress political dissent.


title: Francisco Franco

text: The war was marked by foreign intervention on behalf of both sides. Franco's Nationalists were supported by Fascist Italy, which sent the "Corpo Truppe Volontarie" and by Nazi Germany, which sent the Condor Legion. Italian aircraft stationed on Majorca bombed Barcelona 13 times, dropping 44 tons of bombs aimed at civilians. These attacks were requested by General Franco as retribution against the Catalan population. Similarly, both Italian and German planes bombed the Basque town of Guernica at Franco's request. The Republican opposition was supported by communists, socialists, and anarchists within Spain as well as the Soviet Union and volunteers who fought in the International Brigades.


title: Francisco Franco

text: Following the "pronunciamiento" of 18 July 1936, Franco assumed the leadership of the 30,000 soldiers of the Spanish Army of Africa. The first days of the insurgency were marked by an imperative need to secure control over the Spanish Moroccan Protectorate. On one side, Franco had to win the support of the native Moroccan population and their (nominal) authorities, and, on the other, he had to ensure his control over the army. His method was the summary execution of some 200 senior officers loyal to the Republic (one of them his own cousin). His loyal bodyguard was shot by Manuel Blanco. Franco's first problem was how to move his troops to the Iberian Peninsula, since most units of the Navy had remained in control of the Republic and were blocking the Strait of Gibraltar. He requested help from Benito Mussolini, who responded with an offer of arms and planes. In Germany Wilhelm Canaris, the head of the "Abwehr" military intelligence service, persuaded Hitler to support the Nationalists; Hitler sent twenty Ju 52 transport aircraft and six Heinkel biplane fighters, on the condition that they were not to be used in hostilities unless the Republicans attacked first. Mussolini sent 12 Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 transport/bombers, and a few fighter aircraft. From 20 July onward Franco was able, with this small squadron of aircraft, to initiate an air bridge that carried 1,500 soldiers of the Army of Africa to Seville, where these troops helped to ensure rebel control of the city. Through representatives, he started to negotiate with the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy for more military support, and above all for more aircraft. Negotiations were successful with the Germany and Italy on 25 July and aircraft began to arrive in Tetouan on 2 August. On 5 August Franco was able to break the blockade with the newly arrived air support, successfully deploying a convoy of fishing boats and merchant ships carrying some 3,000 soldiers; between 29 July and 15 August about 15,000 more men were moved.