Flea’s Busted Up Arm Delayed New Red Hot Chili Peppers Album

Some people get a real adrenaline kick when snowboarding. Some love to go fast, while some just love the freedom that such an activity can provide. Others, like Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, probably loves all of the above but also experienced something else on a recent trip down a mountain: a busted up arm that delayed the making of what would become his band’s new album, The Getaway.

As Flea explained to Rolling Stone, the injury occurred during a trip to Montana with RHCP vocalist Anthony Kiedis.

“We were jetting down the mountain, going, like, 50 miles an hour, when I just wiped out,” recalled Flea. “It was like, bam. My arm started swelling up right away. I broke my arm in five places. Big pieces of bone were shorn off.

After undergoing major surgery to repair nerve damage – and going through a six month rehab stint – it took the world renowned bassist some time (and pain!) to get back in proper playing shape.

“I went to play one note and a bunch of pain shot up my arm,” Flea recalls. “I tried to play the simplest things and my hand just wouldn’t do it. It felt like I let everyone down, because we couldn’t work on the record.”

Fortunately, Flea found his way back and so did the Chilis!