After nearly five decades as one of rock’s most recognizable bassists, Flea is stepping into a very different spotlight. He will release his first full-length solo album, Honora, on March 27, 2026 via Nonesuch Records, marking a long-awaited return to his earliest musical passions: jazz and trumpet. With time finally on his side, the project reflects a personal and creative shift that has been quietly building for years.
In support of the album, Flea and the Honora band will head out on an international tour this May, performing in smaller, intimate venues across select cities.
Named after a cherished family member, Honora was composed and arranged by Flea, who also plays trumpet and bass throughout the record. He is joined by a group of respected modern jazz musicians, including producer and saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Deantoni Parks. The album also features vocals from Flea, along with contributions from Thom Yorke and Nick Cave. Additional collaborators include Mauro Refosco, known for his work with David Byrne and Atoms For Peace, and Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes, among others.
The record consists of six original compositions, including one co-written by Flea, Johnson, and Yorke. It also includes reinterpretations of songs by George Clinton and Eddie Hazel, Jimmy Webb, Frank Ocean and Shea Taylor, and Ann Ronell, giving the album a wide emotional and stylistic range.
Ahead of the release, he has shared today the official visualizer for “Traffic Ligths”.
Reflecting on the creation of Traffic Lights, Flea says: “Deantoni and I played what became “Traffic Lights” the first day. Something about it reminded me of Atoms For Peace, so I sent it to Thom. Just knowing him, I thought it would be a rhythm and a sensibility that he would relate to. And I was right, he did”.
Expanding further, he adds: “With a gorgeous melody and the words, you know, about living in the upside down and how do you make sense of things when we’re getting all this fake shit and real shit? Everyone has their ways of dealing with the world. But he’s just the warmest, free-flowing, jamming motherf*cker”.
Best known as a founding member and bassist of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea was introduced to live jazz at an early age. Family friends would gather to play music in his living room, an experience that left a lasting impression.
“It was the greatest thing I ever saw”, he recalls. “The wildness, warmth and we of it. Straight Bebop. Boom. I knew there were higher things on this earth, way above the pettiness that had left me disheartened. The holy trifecta of my life, music, sports and nature was complete”.
Although he dreamed of following in the footsteps of jazz icons like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Clifford Brown, his life took a different direction when he joined Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Still, the idea of a deeply personal instrumental record lingered. In 1991, during the height of the band’s rise and while acting in Gus Van Sant’s film My Own Private Idaho, Flea confided to a friend: “I want to make an instrumental record with deep hypnotic grooves, trippy melodies layered on top, meditations on a groove”.
The only condition, he knew, was that he would need to truly commit to relearning the trumpet.
As he approached his sixtieth birthday, Flea realized that if he didn’t return to the trumpet then, he might never do it. He committed to practicing daily for two years, even while balancing a stadium tour with Red Hot Chili Peppers and life at home with a wife and newborn. At the end of that period, he promised himself he would make an album, no matter where his abilities stood.
Until Honora, Flea admits he had never been afraid of making music. He worried the accomplished musicians around him might see him as a non-playing motherf*cker, charlatan, rock poseur or fan.
But, he says: “It turns out they were all the most genuinely supportive people, moving me deeply and daily with their generous spirits … Sitting in a room and playing the music with them made me feel like I was on drugs. I was buzzing, tripping and floating around the studio. I love them, they truly gave of themselves. I bow all the way down”.
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