What Happens When You Mix Anthony Kiedis with The Smiths? Could the Answer Blow Our Minds?

When I first heard that Chris Cornell, the former lead singer of Soundgarden, was teaming up with former members of Rage Against the Machine, my brain couldn’t process it. Was Cornell going to rap like Zack de la Rocha? Please, no. Or maybe Tom Morello and company would explore more experimental territories like Soundgarden? The answer leaned more in that direction.

It was all about finding that common ground and using it to ignite creativity. In the end, Audioslave managed to hit that perfect space between R&B and alternative rock that catapulted them to success. Brilliant.

But let’s talk about something even crazier: what happened when the legendary Lou Reed decided to join forces with Metallica? For me, it was absolutely fascinating to see Metallica fully submit themselves to Reed’s vision. Lulu ended up being one of the best albums in Lou's career, blending elements of his iconic works like Berlin, Metal Machine Music, and The Blue Mask.

Metallica fans still hate Lulu intensely to this day, probably because they don’t understand something fundamental: it’s a Lou Reed album, not a Metallica one. The band’s role was simple yet crucial—bring noise, brutality, intensity, and cacophony to Reed’s compositions. For me, Lulu remains one of my favorite hidden gems. I won’t even get into Post Pop Depression, where Iggy Pop teamed up with Queens of the Stone Age—because that collaboration made perfect sense. No one was surprised. In fact, Josh Homme even sounds like Bowie.

But let’s imagine this: The Smiths with Red Hot Chili Peppers. More specifically, Anthony Kiedis with the rest of The Smiths, but without Morrissey. Sounds like complete madness, right? But if we mentally revisit By the Way, with RHCP neck-deep in John Frusciante’s melodic vision, the musical distance narrows considerably.

By the Way is as nostalgic as it is melodic, with Kiedis—always the anti-singer—completely surrendering to Frusciante’s creative ideas. That album proved that the Peppers had finally achieved impressive musical maturity. So much so that even Kiedis, who had always been reluctant to sing for real, stepped up and delivered an extraordinary performance despite his vocal limitations.

Now, I won’t claim Morrissey is a great singer, technically speaking. Of course not. But he has an absolutely unmistakable voice. Once, one of my daughters asked me why the singer we were listening to sounded exactly like the guy from The Smiths. The answer was simple: it was him—we were listening to Years of Refusal.

Morrissey’s voice is simply unique. Despite his technical limitations, his style makes him a truly powerful vocalist. Add to that his spectacular lyrics and his wicked black humor. Trying to replace Morrissey would be a titanic task that not even Kiedis could pull off.

But the goal isn’t to replace Morrissey in The Smiths—it’s to create something new. Both artists could find common ground in their post-punk pasts as a springboard into an unexplored creative universe. After all, guitarist Jesse Tobias was not only part of Red Hot Chili Peppers, he’s also the main co-writer of many of Morrissey’s recent songs—same with Josh Klinghoffer.

I can totally picture Kiedis singing some tracks from The Queen Is Dead, like “Vicar in a Tutu” or “Bigmouth Strikes Again.” But I definitely can’t see him doing justice to others like “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others,” which seem to have been created specifically for Morrissey’s voice.

The project will be called simply California and will include Johnny Marr, Mike Joyce, and Craig Gannon. The million-dollar question: how will Morrissey react when he finds out that his former Smiths bandmates are making music again—without him?

Recent years have been quite frustrating for Morrissey. After creating what he called his “best album,” titled Bonfire of Teenagers, he hasn’t found a label willing to release it (even though Chad Smith and Flea from RHCP are on it). Morrissey has spoken out, saying neither labels nor radio support him anymore—but that he’ll push forward regardless.

Meanwhile, the unreleased Bonfire of Teenagers is becoming something of a legendary artifact, especially with Iggy Pop’s involvement. Recently, English singer Nick Cave declined to collaborate with Morrissey, stating he didn’t agree with his political views.

But who needs Cave when Morrissey has Iggy Pop on his side? And come to think of it, how about a duet with the equally controversial Glenn Danzig? Now that would be something worth hearing—and seeing.