The Red Hot Chili Peppers have made it clear that an upcoming documentary about their founder member guitarist Hillel Slovak is not an officially sanctioned film about the band.
The band were interviewed for the Netflix show, which is somewhat confusingly titled The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but have put out a statement saying they "nothing to do with (the documentary) creatively".
That statement reads: "Dear people of the universe, about a year ago, we were asked to be interviewed for a documentary about Hillel Slovak. He was a founding member of the group, a great guitarist, and friend.
"We agreed to be interviewed out of love and respect for Hillel and his memory.
"However, this documentary is now being advertised as a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary, which it is not. We had nothing to do with it creatively. We have yet to make a Red Hot Chili Peppers documentary."
The band added that they hoped “it (the documentary) sparks interest in him and his work."
Slovak was the band’s guitarist during much of their early years, playing on their Freaky Stylee and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan albums (though not their self-titled debut, as he had temporarily left during its recording).
He participated in the infamous promotional shot around this time, which saw the band pose stark naked but for socks covering their male members – the moment many people around the world first became aware of the Chili Peppers - but died of a heroin overdose in June 1988.
Meanwhile, the film’s director Ben Feldman has put out his own statement, saying: "It’s a true honour to partner with Netflix to bring The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to a global audience.”
"At its heart, this is a deeply relatable story - about the friendships that shape our identities and the lasting power of the bonds forged in adolescence.
"What’s less relatable, of course, is that here those friends went on to create one of the greatest rock bands in history. I’m profoundly grateful to the band and to Hillel’s family for their trust and generosity, and to Netflix for helping bring this story to the world stage."
Other than the four current Chili Peppers and the band’s first drummer Jack Irons, the doc also interviews George Clinton and other figures close to the band during their early years. Fans don’t have long to wait to see it either – The Rise Of The Red Hot Chili Peppers drops on Netflix on March 26.
