Fleas, or Siphonaptera, are microscopic, flightless insects that are external parasites of mammals and birds. There are about 2,500 species in this order. Fleas must feed on the blood of their hosts in order to survive.
Fleas reach adulthood at a length of 3 mm (1/8 in.), are typically brown in color, and have bodies that are “flattened” laterally or thin so that they can easily navigate their hosts’ fur or feathers. They can’t fly, but their back legs are perfectly suited for leaping.
Flea Net Worth
Flea, an American rock musician of Australian ancestry, has a $160 million fortune. Michael Peter Balzary (aka Flea) was born on October 16, 1962, in Melbourne, Australia. For the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, he is most known for playing bass. He was given the moniker “Flea” because he was so restless as a teen.
Flea Early life
At age five, he and his family relocated to New York City so that his father, Mick, could further his profession. In 1971, after he and his mother had separated, his father moved back to Australia. Patricia, Flea’s mom, swiftly remarried a jazz musician, and the siblings stayed with her.
When Flea was a kid, he and his family relocated to Los Angeles, where he frequently joined his stepfather and other musicians for jam sessions. However, his stepfather was an alcoholic, and the household was so violent that he sometimes feared for his life. To escape the danger, he turned to marijuana use at the age of 13.
His appreciation for music grew when he discovered jazz greats like Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. He took up trumpet lessons and soon found himself performing with the Los Angeles Junior Philharmonic Orchestra. At Fairfax High School, he met future bandmate Anthony Kiedis, who turned him onto the world of punk rock.
Flea Success
Flea picked up the bass while still in high school, and in 1983 he joined the band that Kiedis had founded with his high school pals Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons as the band’s drummer. Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem was not always the name of the band.
The group rebranded themselves as the Red Hot Chili Peppers after their rowdy live shows earned them widespread acclaim. Their self-titled debut album was met with generally negative reviews upon its 1984 release. When their second album, Freaky Styley, came out, the band started becoming noticed by a broader audience.
The record, which came out a year after the band’s introduction, sold 175,000 copies. The band’s reputation skyrocketed in the early 1990s thanks to a series of hit music videos on MTV and a number of lucrative international tours.
Flea had by this point become the group’s songwriter as well, penning lyrics for several of the tracks on their albums. The band went on indefinite hiatus in 2008, with Flea enrolling in music school at USC. RHCP’s best-selling album, “Californication,” released in 1999, sold 15 million copies. The band has sold over 80 million records globally to date.
Flea has also dabbled in acting, appearing in over 20 films and TV series in small roles. He played Needles in both Back to the Future films, had parts in The Big Lebowski and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and was a breakout star in Baby Driver (2017).
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Flea Musical Style
Flea’s inspirations have changed throughout time. Jazz was and is still a major influence on him, but he also loves funk and punk music. Throughout his career, he has used a broad range of playing styles. The 1991 album “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” marked his departure from the funk-inspired slap bass that had earned him fame up to that point.
He began experimenting with using synths in his bass playing on the albums “Californication” (1999) and “By the Way” (2002). Goth rock acts like the Cure and Joy Division were an influence on these recordings as well.
Over the course of his career, Flea has used several different guitars, including his own signature model, the Fleabass. His trusty Custom Shop Fender Jazz Bass has been his main stage bass for decades.
Flea Accolades
Rolling Stone ranked Flea as the second-greatest bass player of all time in 2009. In April 2011, Contact Music held an online vote to choose the finest bass guitarist in rock, and Flea finished in second place. In 2012, Flea and his bandmates were honored with a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The RHCP have been nominated for 16 Grammys and won 6.
Flea True Estate
Flea now and has owns several buildings in the Los Angeles area. For instance, in 2008 he spent $3.9 million on a property in the Los Feliz area. In 2010, he made $6 million off of Jack Black by selling him this mansion.
Flea purchased another home in Los Feliz in July 2011 for $4.45. In 2014, he made $6,000,000 on the sale of this mansion. He purchased another Los Feliz property that same year for $2.5 million and put it up for sale in the middle of 2018 for little under $3 million.
He bought a two-acre Malibu house for $10 million in 2006. This property was listed for $14,000,000 by Flea in 2013. Fortunately for Flea, he still hadn’t found a buyer. Whence comes this good fortune? This is because he parted with the 2.1-acre estate in 2020 for $20 million.
Flea spent $4.25 million in June 2019 on a historically notable mansion in the municipality of La Crescenta, located in the San Gabriel Mountains to the north of Los Angeles. The roughly six-acre estate is commonly referred to as the Dorothy Serulnic Residence because of its exclusive address.
It was finished in 1952 after being designed by renowned contemporary architect Richard Neutra. Dorothy Serulnic served as Neutra’s secretary for many years. For forty years, she had the house as her own.
The people that acquired the house from Dorothy sold it to Flea. In February of 2022, Flea put the house up for sale on the market for $9.8 million. In December of 2022, the price dropped to $8.8 million.
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