Josh Klinghoffer Opens Up About His Relationship With John Frusciante

Josh Klinghoffer and John Frusciante became instant friends in 2000 when Klinghoffer's then band the Bicycle Thief opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers during their Californication tour. The guitarists went on to work together on a number of projects, including four of Frusciante’s solo albums and a collaborative album, 2005’s A Sphere in the Heart of Silence. In 2007, Klinghoffer became a touring member of RHCP and two years later he replaced Frusciante in the lineup. That's when everything changed.

During a visit on the Tuna on Toast With Stryker podcast, Klinghoffer opened up about his relationship with Frusciante is now “pretty non-existent,” noting that “it’s been that way for 10 years.”

Frusciante did know about the band's decision beforehand, but that didn't make the pill easier to swallow. “There was talk about it before I joined. Because Flea had asked me, there was lots of discussion about it in the summer of that year [2009], but because of people traveling and just being on sort of summer holiday, we didn’t actually make sounds together until October,” Klinghoffer recalled. “So, from July to October, I was in contact with John and he was in contact with them. And he was having a hard time with that fact that they could even consider going on without him.”

Klinghoffer spent the next decade playing with RHCP, and even got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with them, before the band dismissed him to reunite with Frusciante. And that decision was a surprise.

“There was a bit of… It’s not like it was a monogamous relationship,” Klinghoffer explained. "Flea and John had been kinda hanging out and playing and stuff. They were fostering that relationship again. And I didn’t know that. It was sort of secret.”

Despite it all, Klinghoffer harbors no bad blood for his former bandmates. “I couldn’t be more grateful to them for all the experiences I’ve had with them,” he said. “My only regret is not making more music with them.”

Listen to the full podcast episode below.

Since his departure from RHCP, Klinghoffer has kept himself busy with his solo project Pluralone and is currently a touring member of Pearl Jam. As for RHCP, they kicked off their first tour with Frusciante in 15 years over the weekend. See highlights from the opener here.