The rockers — frontman Anthony Kiedis, 59, drummer Chad Smith, 60, bassist Flea, 59, and guitarist John Frusciante, 52 —took home the prize Sunday night, making them just the second-ever Global Icon recipients in the U.S.
The group took the stage to perform their recent hit “Black Summer,” as well as their classic “Can’t Stop,” off the 2002 albumBy the Way.
Afterward, Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin presented the rockers with their prize, and Kiedis thanked the stars, calling them “some bad mother…flip-flops.”
Smith then took the mic from Kiedis, and gave a heartfelt speech in which he dedicated the award to lateFoo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died in March at age 50.
For more on the 2022 VMAs, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
“There’s another musical global icon and his name is Taylor Hawkins,” Smith said. “I want to dedicate this to Taylor and his family. I love them and I miss him every day, and fly on, Hawk. Fly on, brother.”
Chad Smith.Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Smith, a longtime close friend of Hawkins',previously paid tribute to the starafter the Chili Peppers stepped in to play the Foo Fighters' closing set at Jazz Fest in New Orleans in May. The musician played with a drum kit that featured Taylor’s name inside a hawk silhouette, and also reportedly led the crowd in a cheer of, “We love you, Taylor!”
Meanwhile, at the VMAs, Flea, thanked his bandmates and family, and proudly declared his love for “cockroaches and dirt and trees and every human being,” while Kiedis said that Frusciante would say all he needed to say “with his smile.”
Check out PEOPLE’s fullVMAscoverage to get the latest news on one of music’s biggest nights.
“That’s what he’s got to say, it’s his smile,” Kiedis said. “And his guitar playing and his just sweet nature. We love him.”
“We went in search of ourselves as the band that we have somehow always been. Just for the fun of it we jammed and learned some old songs. Before long we started the mysterious process of building new songs,” Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote in a statement. “A beautiful bit of chemistry meddling that had befriended us hundreds of times along the way.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers.Clara Balzary
The band continued, “Once we found that slip stream of sound and vision, we just kept mining. With time turned into an elastic waist band of oversized underwear, we had no reason to stop writing and rocking. It felt like a dream.”
“When all was said and done, our moody love for each other and the magic of music had gifted us with more songs than we knew what to do with. Well we figured it out. 2 double albums released back to back,” added the “Californication” musicians. “The second of which is easily as meaningful as the first or should that be reversed.Return of the Dream Canteenis everything we are and ever dreamed of being.”
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, Red Hot Chili Peppers have carved out a niche in the genre-bending world of alternative rock, blending rock, punk, metal and more into their unique sound.
Their self-titled debut album was released in 1984, and they broke through to the mainstream in 1991 withBlood Sugar Sex Magik, which included hits like “Under the Bridge” and “Give It Away.” They’ve had two No. 1 albums:Unlimited LoveandStadium Arcadiumin 2006.
The 2022 VMAs are airing live Sunday night from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
source: people.com
