Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer has said it was a “pretty simple decision” for the band to sack him.
The musician was ousted from the band earlier this year to make way for the return of John Frusciante.
Speaking to Marc Maron on his podcast WTF, Klinghoffer said there’s “no animosity” between him and his former bandmates following the end of his 10 years in the group, although it came as “a complete shock but no surprise” when he found out.
“John and Flea have a musical language. I’ll never be able to contend with the history him and John had,” Klinghoffer said.
Frusciante rejoined the Chili Peppers for the second time last month. He joined the group in 1988 but left four years later and returned in 1998 before leaving again in 2009, at which point Klinghoffer took over.
Klinghoffer says he was informed of the decision in person at the house of bassist Flea. “They just said, ‘We’ll get right to it. We’ve decided to ask John to come back to the band.’ And I just sat there quiet for a second and I said, ‘I’m not surprised.’
“The only thing I could think to say was, ‘I wish I could have done something with you guys, musically or creatively, that would have made this an absolute impossibility.’”
The new comments follow a recent interview in which Klinghoffer confirmed that there were “no hard feelings” over his departure.
Klinghoffer played his last show with the longstanding group in November 2019, and told Maron that he doesn’t think he’ll feature on the band’s next album.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that the Chili Peppers are currently recording a new record with Frusciante.
Drummer Chad Smith told Rolling Stone that the Chilis are “psyched” to have their old guitarist back in the fold, and confirmed that “the festivals are the only shows booked” at present.
