Michael Peter Balzary (born October 16, 1962), better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-born, American musician. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers with whom he was inducted in 2012 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Flea briefly appeared as the bassist for such bands as What Is This?, Fear and Jane's Addiction. More recently he has appeared as a member of the rock supergroups Atoms for Peace, Antemasque, Pigface and Rocket Juice & the Moon. Flea has also collaborated with other artists, including The Mars Volta, Johnny Cash, Alanis Morissette and Young MC.
In 2009, Rolling Stone '​s readers ranked Flea the second-best bassist of all-time, behind only John Entwistle and ahead of Paul McCartney.
Flea has made occasional forays into acting, appearing in films that span many genres, such as Suburbia, Back to the Future Part II and Part III, My Own Private Idaho, The Chase, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thrashin', and The Big Lebowski, in addition to voicing the character Donnie Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys animated television series and films. In 2014, Flea made his long awaited return to acting when he appeared in the film, Low Down.
Flea is the co-founder of Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a non-profit music education organization founded in 2001 for underprivileged children.