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RHCP Cancel Weenie Roast Set After Singer Anthony Kiedis Hospitalized
Red Hot Chili Peppers members Flea, Josh Klinghoffer, and Chad Smith address the crowd at the KROQ Weenie Roast (as KROQ's Ted Stryker and Kevin Ryder listen on), explaining their set had been canceled. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for CBS Radio Inc.)
Los Angeles rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers were forced to cancel their headlining set at the annual Weenie Roast after lead singer Anthony Kiedis was hospitalized on Saturday.For this year's edition of the Weenie Roast, KROQ went very 90s and had Weezer and RHCP serve as the headliners. After Empire of the Sun wrapped up their set at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater, the Chili Peppers minus Kiedis took to the stage to address the crowd and explain they were "devastated" to not be performing that night:
"We live to rock, we live to fucking dig deep into the depths of our hearts and rock, but unfortunately there's a medical thing that happened and we needed to deal with it, so we're unable to play tonight," bassist Flea told the crowd. "We will be playing for you very soon, we will play for you like the feral animals full of love that we are, and we're so sorry."
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A representative for KROQ told Billboard that Kiedis was "suffering from extreme stomach pain."
Weezer's performance went on as scheduled—though a little earlier than anticipated—to close out the Weenie Roast.
RHCP drummer Chad Smith later tweeted that night to express the band's disappointment:
NO one's more disappointed than us that we couldn't perform tonight. Sending love and a speedy recovery to my brother Anthony.
— Chad Smith (@RHCPchad) May 15, 2016
Fans were unsurprisingly let down but understood. "I'm disappointed but I mostly hope he's OK," Jade Voigt told The Orange County Register.
The band's next show is scheduled for Tuesday night at the iHeartRadio Theater in Burbank. No word on whether or not that show will be postponed or canceled.
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