10 Hard Rock Musicians Who Outshined The Lead Singer

Bass players often tend to get sidestepped in the world of hard rock music. For a guy that just fills out the low end, you typically have to go the extra mile to be noticed amid the lead singers and the guitar solos around you. It's not an easy role, but Flea has been one of the few bassists who could genuinely be considered a rock star.

Forming the Red Hot Chili Peppers with singer Anthony Kiedis in the mid 80's, Flea's basslines are some of the funkiest pieces of music that the rock world has ever seen. Anyone who has ever tried to play the four-string knows that the man is all over the place, going up and down the neck with the syncopation you'd typically find on a record by Parliament Funkadelic. On the other hand, Flea also knows how to integrate rock, like on the intro to "Around the World," where his tone almost verges on metal territory.

Along with being an amazing bassist, Flea is also one of the most captivating presences onstage, where he jumps around like a madman to this day. With a near encyclopedic knowledge of music to boot, Flea has to be one of the most accomplished bass players in all of rock history.