Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea Records A New Song With John Frusciante, ‘Not Great Men’

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea shared a post on his official Instagram page announcing a brand new track named ‘Not Great Men’ in collaboration with his bandmate, guitarist John Frusciante and late guitarist Andy Gill as a tribute act to the late musician and his band Gang of Four.

As many of you might know, Andy Gill was the lead guitarist for the rock band Gang of Four, which he co-founded in 1976 as well as being a record producer who produced or co-produced all of the band’s albums in addition to producing albums for other artists such as The Jesus Lizard, the Stranglers, the Futureheads, Michael Hutchence, the Young Knives, and many more.

Unfortunately, the successful musician and producer Andy Gill passed away on February 1, 2020, at the age of five, as it was announced by the Gang of Four. According to a band’s spokesman’s interview with The New York Times, the cause of Gill’s death was listed as multiple organ failure and pneumonia without further explanation. However, his wife Catherina Mayer suggested that he may have been an early victim of the coronavirus outbreak a month later his passing, as he just returned from a music tour to China in November 2019, a few months before his death.

Due to the fact that Andy Gill also produced Red Hot Chili Peppers prior to his passing, he and Flea had a close relationship and apparently even recorded a track before his passing which is now released as Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist announced with a recent post on his official Instagram page. Apparently, the track named ‘Not Great Men’ was recorded with the children’s choir from the Silverlake Conservatory Of Music as well as Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist John Frusciante as a tribute act to Andy Gill as the song was recorded shortly before he suddenly passed away.

Here is what Flea said:

“John Frusciante and I, along with the children’s choir from the Silverlake Conservatory Of Music recorded the song Not Great Men by the Gang Of Four for this album. It was a beautiful opportunity for me to connect with my friend, the innovative guitarist Andy Gill before he shockingly passed away shortly after the recording was made.

This was an act of love for him. Me, John, and the kids, (directed by SJ Hasman) went and knocked it out in a couple of days raw style. John and I hadn’t recorded together in about twelve years. It was fun as fuk. Long live the Gang of Four, long live Andy Gill.”

You can see the Instagram post and listen to ‘Not Great Men’ below.