Best known as an integral member of one of the '80s-'90s most popular ock bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea (real name Michael Balzary) is widely regarded as one of ock's most talented bassists. By combining funk-style bass (à la Funkadelic) with psychedelic, punk, and hard rock, Flea created an original playing style that has been copied numerous times. In fact, the 'copy cat' syndrome got so out of hand that Flea refused to use his popular 'slap' technique for the Peppers' massive 1991 hit Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

Born on October 16, 1962 in Melbourne, Australia, Balzary and his family relocated to Los Angeles while he was still a youngster. Unlike other teenagers, Michael's first musical love was jazz (instead of the expected hard rock), as he concentrated on mastering the trumpet while attending Fairfax High School. It was around this time that he met two other Fairfax students who would eventually change his life -- guitarist Hillel Slovak and poet Anthony Kiedis. The trio soon became inseparable, as Slovak taught Balzary (who around this time was rechristened 'Flea') how to play bass and eventually turned him on to the wonders of ock music via Jimi Hendrix and punk rock. Flea landed the bass playing slot in the confrontational L.A. punk band Fear by the early '80s, but decided to form a band with Slovak on guitar Kiedis on vocals, and another friend, Jack Irons, on drums. The band eventually became the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and automatically attracted a large following in California, with their explosive, high-energy stage show.