1989 Cover of ‘70s No. 1 Hit Became Band's First Mainstream Radio Smash
In 1989, the Red Hot Chili Peppers found chart success with the song "Higher Ground." The cover of Stevie Wonder's No. 1 R&B hit was the lead single from the California rock band's fourth album, Mother's Milk. It hit No. 11 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and No. 26 on the mainstream Rock chart in April 1989. The song also received heavy rotation airplay on MTV, giving the Chili Peppers long-overdue mainstream success.
The hard-rocking "Higher Ground" cover kicks off with a distinctive bassline by Flea, and its spoken word outro pays homage to Wonder's 1973 classic.
"And Stevie knows that nobody's gonna bring me down, 'Cause me and Stevie, see, we're gonna be sailing on the funky, funky sound," singer Anthony Kiedis declares.
In a 1980s interview posted by Sunset Vinyl, Kiedis claimed the idea for the Wonder cover came from the band's management. "It was really the record company's idea. They gave us two choices. Either cover 'Hang Tough' by New Kids on the Block or 'Higher Ground' by Stevie," he joked. "We deliberated anxiously for hours, and what it finally came down to is flipping a coin. We flipped the coin, and Stevie came up."
"No spirit, no soul, no conviction, no wonder really," he cracked of the cover of the classic song.
During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, band member John Frusciante shared the true story behind the cover. "Flea was saying what a good idea it would be to do a heavy metal version of ‘Higher Ground,'" the guitar player recalled. "You know, because it was in the '80s when there was so much bad heavy metal, and Flea was like, ‘Heavy metal can be so rockin.'' We definitely weren't thinking ‘Let's do a really ambitious, courageous thing', you know? For us, it was just like ‘Sounds like a cool idea, let's try it'."
During the same interview, drummer Chad Smith recalled that Wonder was asked if he liked the Chili Peppers version of his song, and the music legend replied, "I like the publishing checks."
Fueled by the popularity of "Higher Ground," the Red Hot Chili Peppers were poised for mainstream success with their follow-up album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The 1991 album featured the hit singles "Under the Bridge," "Give It Away," "Breaking the Girl," and more.
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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 1:32 PM.