The Red Hot Chili Peppers joined Bruno Mars on stage during the halftime show of Super Bowl XLVIII performing their hit single “Give It Away.” While we’ve seen live singers at televised events “lip sync” it is generally believed that musicians are actually playing their instruments. RHCP bass player Michael “Flea” Balzary was “playing bass” during the show even though his guitar wasn’t even plugged in. The other guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer, didn’t appear to have his instrument plugged in either.
ICYMI: Flea was playing air bass the whole time. I feel so lied to. #pic #SB48 #HalfTime #RHCP pic.twitter.com/q445jla4vF
— 1310 Ticket Radio (Unofficial) (@TicketRadio) February 3, 2014
Flea... I mean we all know, but for god's sake at least try to humor the children. #unpluggedlive pic.twitter.com/ferJuOQpkP
— Joe Bonamassa (Official) (@JBONAMASSA) February 3, 2014
For those questioning whether it was a built in wireless transmitter, here is Flea playing the same guitar less than a month ago. Flea was playing the National Anthem at a UCLA Bruins basketball game and as you can see, the guitar is plugged in.
Below you can see guitarist Klinghoffer’s guitar. This is the best angle our database has, but here is a close up.
[UPDATE:] An article from Firago Music pointed out this interaction between a fan and Flea:
@flea333 Please tell me there is no cable bc you wanted us to know the music was tracked! You're not really faking if everyone is in on it.
— na (@cjhelmreich) February 4, 2014