Flea Reveals Who He Thinks Is 'The Greatest Rock Bass Player' Of All Time

Flea is a legendary bass player, but who does he think is the best rock bass player of all time? The Red Hot Chili Peppers member divulged his answer during a visit to Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson's Where Everybody Know Your Name podcast.

“I think Paul [McCartney]’s the greatest rock bass player,” Flea said. “There are so many guys that are great in different ways, but Paul’s bass playing is so lyrical and melodic, and it’s just so beautiful. One of the things I’ve heard is that he puts the bass on after.”

“A band like mine, a lot of songs start with basslines… or the music comes first. Whereas I think Paul and John and George, they wrote songs and [then] Paul would do the bass," he added. "So then he’s doing, like a counter melody, so the bass is like a melody as opposed to just rhythm, and that’s amazing.”

After declaring McCartney the greatest rock bass player, Flea also took to X (formerly Twitter) to proclaim that The Pretenders' "Chrissie Hynde is the greatest female rock singer of all time." Aside from praising the icons, Flea also loves championing new talent and recently shared an Instagram post about a young artist who "gives me so much hope for the young people making music today!"

Listen to the full episode of Where Everybody Knows Your Name below.