Michael Peter Balzary or simply Flea, is the bassist and one of the co-founders of Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has been rated by many artists as one of the most talented bass players of the past decades and influenced a whole generation of musicians.
In an interview with Team Coco (Transcribed by Ultimate Guitar), Flea said that, in his opinion, Paul McCartney is the greatest Rock bass player of all time.
Flea says Paul McCartney is the greatest Rock bass player
“I think Paul’s the greatest rock bass player. He’s just great. I mean, there are so many guys that are great in different ways. But Paul’s bass playing is so lyrical and melodic, and it’s just so beautiful. One of the things I’ve heard is that he put the bass on after. A band like mine, the bass sometimes the song starts with bass lines. So coming first, or the music comes first.”
“Whereas I think Paul and John and George, when they wrote songs and Paul would do the bass. After multi-tracking came in, at the beginning of them, they just went and played live and would do it after. Like ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’, the melody is already there. So then he’s doing, like a counter melody, so the bass is like a melody as opposed to just rhythm, and that’s amazing. He’s amazing,” Flea said.
Flea already had the chance to meet Paul McCartney. They were photographed when both of them went to see a Chris Rock stand-up comedy show in Los Angeles in 2022.
Flea and the vocalist Anthony Kiedis are the only original members of Red Hot Chili Peppers. They are the only ones who were part of all the releases of the band. The drummer Chad Smith only joined the band in 1988 and the guitarist John Frusciante was part of the band from 1988 to 1992, 1998 to 2009 and returned in 2019.