He is most famous as the drummer of the "Chilies" but he also writes and collaborates with many artists and he also has a "double", a very famous actor who resembles.
Drummer Chad Smith was born on October 25, 1961, so here are some interesting facts about him...
(Photo: Laura Glass)
= He learned to play drums at the age of 7 and was very influenced by bands like: Rush, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Led Zepplin, and more...
= One of the people who influenced his drumming style was Larry Fratangelo, a percussionist who played with him in one of the bands when he was a teenager. He exposed him to the Funk and R&B style. From there he started listening to drummers like: David Garibaldi, Jabo Starks, Clyde Stubblefield, and more...
= In December 1988 after the band "Red Hot Chili Peppers" fired their drummer D.H. Peligro and auditioned to find a new drummer, Chad accepted the role.
= A few months later in 1989, the band released their fourth but first album with Chad, the album "Mother's Milk".
= Two years later the band's breakthrough album "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" was released. The album went straight into third place on the Billboard charts and has sold double-digit numbers of millions of copies to date.
= After a number of guitarist exchanges in 1995, the band released their third album "One Hot Minute" with guitarist Dave Navarro.
= In 1999 the band released their seventh and most successful album to date "Californication" when guitarist John Frusciante returned to the band.
(Photo: Warner Music)
= But after the release of the other two albums "By the Way" which came out in 2002 and "Stadium Arcadium" which came out in 2006 (and became the band's first album to take first place on Billboard) John again left the band. In 2011 the band released their tenth album "I'm With You" with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.
= In 2012, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
= Four years later the band's 11th album "The Getaway" was released.
= In 2019 the band announced John's return to the lineup after 10 years of absence. John's return apparently created an inexplicable electrochemical process that resulted in an unprecedented burst of creativity. The band members together with the producer Rick Rubin, created up to 50 songs with 40 of them planned to be released as one album consisting of more than 7 physical discs. The record company opposed the idea and finally reached an agreement with the band to release 34 songs over two different albums.
= In 2022, the band released two albums (its 12th and 13th) with an interval of only 6 months from each other. The first "Unlimited Love" was released in April and the second "Return of the Dream Canteen" was released in October. Chad said that they always create and record more songs than what is finally released on the album and those songs are shelved or released as B-Sides, but this time they felt that all the songs were very good and that they did not want to shelve any of them.
= In 2007 together with the famous "Deep Purple" bassist Glenn Hughes Chad formed a band called "Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats" which focused on punk and fusion. The band has released two studio albums "Meet the Meatbats" (2009), "More Meat" (2010), and a live performance album "Live Meat And Potatoes" (2012).
= In 2008 Chad joined the crazy supergroup "Chickenfoot" which included Sammy Hagar (Van Helen), Joe Satriani (renowned guitarist), and Michael Anthony (Van Helen). The band released two studio albums "Chickenfoot" in 2009 and "Chickenfoot III" in 2011, as well as a live album "LV" in 2012.
= In 2010 he released a children's album called “Rhythm Train” with singer Dick Van Dyke, an album that was highly acclaimed and successful.
= During 2015-2019 he was part of the studio band "8G Band" in the famous guest show "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
= From May 2018 he started broadcasting a radio show called "Volume West" together with broadcaster Lyndsey Parker on SiriusXM radio
= Chad is considered one of the great and esteemed studio drummers, he has collaborated with a wide variety of artists such as: Johnny Cash, John Fogerty, Dixie Chicks, Jennifer Nettles, Kid Rock, and more...
(Photo: Wagner Meier)
= He recorded with Glenn Hughes four studio albums.
= He recorded with Joe Satriani his 2018 album "What Happens Next".
= He co-wrote and recorded all the drum roles on Ozzy Osbourne's 12th album named "Ordinary Man" which came out in 2020. He recorded and co-wrote the album with Duff McKagan (Guns) and producer Andrew Watt. He again collaborated and recorded the drum role on almost all the songs on Ozzy's 13th album "Patient Number 9" released in 2022.
= In 2021, he performed the role of drums in Miley Cyrus' cover of the song "Nothing Else Matters" as part of the thirtieth anniversary celebrations of Metallica's Black Album.
= Later that year he joined Eddie Vedder's solo live band along with Josh Klinghoffer (who was a guitarist in RHCP), producer Andrew Watt along with Glen Hansard on guitars, and Pino Palladino on bass. The band got its name from the last solo album Eddie released in 2022.
= In 2022, Chad participated in the second tribute show for drummer Taylor Hawkins that took place in Los Angeles.
(Photo: Michael Buckner)
= Chad is very well known for the appearance resemblance he has with actor Will Ferrel, who is six years younger than him. After the noise created by the thing, the two appeared on "The Tonight Show" starring Jimmy Fallon and then held several charity shows together.
(Photo: Douglas Gorenstein)
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