After the June 20 episode of AGT aired, LA CAN tweeted thanks to the RHCP “for trusting us with their art.” The L.A.-based rock band is one of the few acts that usually doesn’t allow its work to be used in televised talent shows. In 2014, lead singer Anthony Kiedis said letting “music that is near and dear to our hearts” be used in that format “seems emotionally displaced.”
RHCP’s publicist confirmed that “the band did in fact approve” the Freedom Singers’ performance of “Under the Bridge.” Kiedis wrote the 1991 ode to the City of Angels after hitting rock bottom during struggles with drug addiction and depression. Although the singer has never revealed the location of the titular bridge, reporters surmise that it’s near L.A.’s Skid Row.
