Red Hot Chili Peppers Play "Give It Away" for Rick Rubin at the Rock Hall
Rick Rubin received the 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Musical Excellence Award, and Red Hot Chili Peppers marked the honour with a performance of their song "Give It Away" at the induction ceremony in Los Angeles, as Rolling Stone reported on 15 November 2026.
The Musical Excellence Award is one of the Hall's honours for people whose work shaped rock music. This year it also went to Linda Creed, Arif Mardin and Jimmy Miller. Rubin's name is attached to some of the best-known records of the past few decades, and his role is often out of the spotlight. A producer guides how a record is made, from the arrangements to the final sound.
"Give It Away" comes from the 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. It was the first album Rubin produced for the band. He went on to produce every Red Hot Chili Peppers album except 2016's The Getaway, which was produced by Danger Mouse.
The tribute had a playful look. All four band members wore large, bushy white beards and wigs, and several wore orange-tinted sunglasses. Chad Smith's drum kit carried a portrait of Rubin on the bass drum.
The performance hit a snag. The band started the song again after technical difficulties with Flea's bass, and the restart kept the moment light rather than stopping the show for long.
Rubin's acceptance speech was short. He told the room, "Can't kill rock & roll."
For anyone who has heard the band's 1990s records, the tribute offered a reminder of how much a producer can shape a sound. For anyone new to the story, it is a clear example of how the people behind the studio get recognised, sometimes years after the songs first reached listeners.
