Red Hot Chili Peppers Release ‘Brendan’s Death Song’ Video
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are getting ready to release a whole bunch of new songs, but they haven't forgotten about their most recent studio album, 2011's 'I'm With You' -- and to prove it, they've just released a video for its fifth single, 'Brendan's Death Song.'
The Marc Klasfield-directed clip exhibits an appropriately funereal vibe, given the song's genesis as a tribute for the band's friend Brendan Mullen, an L.A.-area club promoter who helped give the Chili Peppers one of their earliest big breaks and was working on an oral history of the band when he died suddenly in 2009.
According to Anthony Kiedis, the group received word of Mullen's death during the first day of rehearsals with current guitarist Josh Klinghoffer -- which also happened to mark Mullen's birthday. "We started playing without really talking," said Kiedis, adding, "Probably the second thing that came out of that jam was the basis for 'Brendan's Death Song.'"
According to Kiedis, the song "does have sort of a death march feel to it, but [it's] more of a celebration than a bummer." This is reflected in the video, which depicts the band marching in a New Orleans-style jazz funeral, culminating with a performance at a real-life Louisiana cemetery.
Watch the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'Brendan's Death Song' Video