Anthony Kiedis, the well-known lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, had an unexpected rivalry with Mike Patton, the vocalist of Faith No More, back in the 1990s.
During this time, Kiedis openly expressed his dislike for Patton both privately and publicly.
In the early ’90s, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were not the successful festival headliners they are today.
Their first four albums didn’t achieve much popularity. Meanwhile, Faith No More, with Patton as their frontman, released their album ‘The Real Thing,’ which propelled them to great success.
This success frustrated Kiedis immensely.
Anthony Kiedis believed that Patton was imitating his vocal style, and this led him to make some harsh comments. In a 1990 interview with Kerrang (via Far Out), Kiedis angrily said:
“My drummer says he wants to kidnap Patton, shave off his hair, and cut off one of his feet, just so he’s forced to find his own style. Especially in the UK, where FNM is much more well-known than us. In America, it’s a different story, as people are aware of the significant influence we had on them.”
Patton was perplexed by Kiedis’ comments and couldn’t understand why he made such strong statements.
During subsequent interviews, Patton was repeatedly asked about his views on the criticism and initially responded diplomatically, saying:
“It’s interesting. I don’t think I did that. We don’t feel threatened by each other because our music is very different. The similarities are superficial, but in reality, there’s a big difference between us. We’re on different sides of the spectrum: we’re in the rock genre, and they’re more traditional funk.”
However, Patton later admitted,
“To be honest, I found it quite amusing. If you’re going to talk about me in interviews, that’s fine, it’s free publicity! It’s just out of place. It either feels inadequate or outdated.”
In 1999, when Patton reunited with his former band Mr. Bungle, the Red Hot Chili Peppers reportedly requested that Warner delay the release of their album, ‘California,’ due to its title being similar to ‘Californication.’ Apparently, this request came directly from Anthony Kiedis.
For over a decade, it remained a mystery as to why Kiedis made such scathing comments about Patton.
Then, in 2004, he finally revealed his true feelings, saying, “I watched his music video for ‘Epic,’ and I saw him jumping around, rapping, and it looked like he was mimicking me in a mirror.”
In 2010, Patton tried to bury the hatchet and said, “It’s not worth discussing. I had no idea what it was about then, and I still don’t know now. But I bet if we saw each other, we would give each other a warm hug.”
