Anthony Kiedis and his bad joke at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards

For many decades, rock stars have been accused of: rebellious behavior, bad influence on young people, peculiar lifestyles and... a connection to Satan - without it. Back in the 50s, when the king Elvis Presley appeared on the scene, this genre was dubbed "devilish". And various incidents and riots, when fans destroyed equipment and fought in fist fights, only strengthened this theory. And, of course, it was not without urban legends, if you believe them - most of the classic rock icons sold their souls to Lucifer in exchange for the notoriety…

Some celebrities, such as. Jimmy Pagehave attracted much attention for their interest in various occult teachings and mysticism... Or as a Black Sabbathwho played dark, growling rock, dressed all in black and wore huge crosses around their necks! But the person least likely to ever be associated with the evil one was Red Hot Chili Peppers! But that was the case until a certain point, namely 1992. Just one bad joke Anthony Kiedis angered not only the religious community, but also his own grandmother, to whom the "Hot Peppers" singer had to apologize for a long time. And the case was as follows...

How to turn a great night out into a scandal - a masterclass from Anthony Kiedis

So: this strange and unambiguously funny story happened to the band in 1992, at an awards ceremony MTV Video Music Awards. The event is now remembered by the public as not only entertaining, but also extremely tense - partly because of the confrontation Nirvana and Guns N' Roses.who, to put it mildly, did not like each other. That night their dislike reached its peak, and backstage the groups exchanged "pleasantries", thus "raising" each other's mood and laying the foundation for the evening... But the main "cherry" of the ceremony was still Kiedis and his misunderstood sense of humor.

This evening promised to be a momentous one for Red Hot Chili Pepperswho were on the rise thanks to the success of their fifth album, produced by Rick Rubin. "The Hot Peppers were actually the most nominated artists of the night, receiving six nominations for their gorgeous music video for "Hot Pepper. "Give It Away"shot by French director Stéphane Sednaoui. In addition, there were three more nominations for a more restrained video for "Under The Bridge.". The band was also scheduled to perform that night alongside industry icons such as U2, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, Michael Jackson, Pearl Jam and Nirvana.

So: when the band won the award for Best Art Direction for "Under The Bridge," Kiedis took the microphone in hand to perform thanking. And then the show took a surreal turn... Specifically, the vocalist said:

"First of all, I would like to thank Satan..."

Grandma almost gave up on Anthony.

So: are the Red Hot Chili Peppers really "paying homage to Satan"? Only Anthony Kiedis knows for sure. However, according to the vocalist, it was just a joke - in this way he played the theme that rockers sell their souls to the Devil and wanted to name such idols as Louis Armstrong and The Rolling Stones, who were "Satan incarnate in the rock industry.". However, the joke was not the most successful... According to Kiedis' own recollection, one viewer who was clearly not impressed by his one-off joke was his devout Christian grandmother, who informed the family that she wanted to disown him.

"The next day I wrote my grandmother a card explaining that I wasn't really a Satanist and it was just such a rock 'n' roll sense of humor!", Kiedis recalled.

However, the matter did not end there. Two Christian groupsone of whom runs their own website and another who curates a YouTube channel, seized on the joke as proof that the Hot Peppers were in league with Satan... Thus, the following message soon appeared on the community channel, which was subsequently quoted by many media outlets:

"Unfortunately, like many artists who lead the masses away from God and into hell, the Red Hot Chili Peppers pay homage to Satan, and take advantage of the forces of darkness..."

The same community announced John Frusante "occultist," and the song "Give It Away," "a tool of the Devil.". In the same video, continuing to develop the theme of RHCP's connection to Satan, the community states:

"Satanism and demonic possession are prevalent in the entertainment world, as Satan seeks to use entertainers as puppets to negatively influence the blind masses into doing things like destructive riots..."

Conclusion

Yes, the imagination of some people is extremely rich and violent... It is fair to say that if Kiedis was enrolled in the "Satanists", at least in hell he will not experience the lack of company - it's gonna be a glamorous party, so to speak! At various times and for various reasons, celebrities such as Jimmy Page, Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Dylan and even... Megan Fox have been accused of Satan worship!

As for Kidis, after that incident, he seems to have learned to "filter" his jokes - or else the second time grandmother may not forgive his grandson such sophisticated humor ...