Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith is gifting a need-based music scholarship to the University of Michigan. The 64-year-old grew up in Detroit’s suburbs.<\/b>
\nThe Red Hot Chili Peppers may be strongly associated with southern California, but drummer Chad Smith\u2019s heart never left the Midwest.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who grew up in suburban Detroit, is gifting a need-based music scholarship to the University of Michigan.
\u201cA lot of people (say), \u2018The Chili Peppers, West Coast band, California this and California that.\u2019 I get it. I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota,\u201d Smith told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday, just hours before he made the official announcement during a surprise appearance at the Ann Arbor school\u2019s annual Band-O-Rama event. \u201cThe Minnesota connection is strong. The Michigan connection is strong.
\u201cAnd that\u2019s why we\u2019re here. It\u2019s a natural, authentic fit for us.\u201d
Smith, 64, performed the RHCP hit \u201cCan\u2019t Stop,\u201d alongside the Michigan Marching Band at Hill Auditorium.
The Curtis & Joan Smith Scholarship, which is named in honor of Smith\u2019s parents, will be awarded to an incoming University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance student, beginning in 2026.
The scholarship is a partnership between the School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the Chad Smith Foundation and comes on the heels of one with the same name launched two months ago at the University of Minnesota. Smith\u2019s parents are Minnesota alums.
Michigan\u2019s version of the Curtis & Joan Smith Scholarship will support incoming freshmen to the School of Music, Theatre & Dance undergraduate program who demonstrate financial need and a strong commitment to pursuing a music career. The scholarship reinforces CSF\u2019s mission to expand access to high-quality music education and career pathways for aspiring musicians across the country.
Smith attended Lahser High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and began his career playing in clubs and bars across the Detroit area. He credits his parents with nurturing his love of music and supporting his dream to pursue it professionally.
\u201cMy mother is 98 years young. Still going. She\u2019s here today \u2014 amazing,\u201d Smith said. \u201cSo, to be able to honor her (and) my father unfortunately passed away, but they were so integral in helping me with my musical path.\u201d
Smith has been with the Red Hot Chili Peppers since the late 1980s. During that time, the quartet, which also includes singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea, have been one of the biggest-selling music acts, mixing layers of funk, punk, rap and traditional pop over a foundation of rock.
The backward-baseball-cap-wearing Smith has held down the beat on such hits as \u201cGive It Away,\u201d \u201cUnder the Bridge\u201d and \u201cDani California.\u201d The Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
\u201cI\u2019m fortunate to be in a band people like and I play the drums and maybe some drummers or musicians will get inspired just from my story,\u201d Smith said. \u201cSo, yeah, it\u2019s just an opportunity to give back to what I\u2019ve been so lucky to have and for next generations of musicians to be able to pursue what they love.\u201d<\/p>\n