FLEA’S DEBUT SOLO ALBUM HONORA OUT NOW ON NONESUCH RECORDS
Flea releases the album he has aspired to make for more than 35 years, Honora on Nonesuch Records. After a nearly five-decade (and counting) career as one of his generation’s defining rock bassists, he has returned to his first musical loves, jazz and trumpet. The New York Times says the album’s ten songs “embody a deep pathos.” This first full-length solo record features six original tracks composed and arranged by Flea – including “A Plea” and “Traffic Lights” (feat. Thom Yorke) – as well as interpretations of Frank Ocean and Shea Taylor’s “Thinkin Bout You,” George Clinton and Eddie Hazel’s “Maggot Brain,” Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman,” and Ann Ronell’s “Willow Weep for Me.”
While Flea plays trumpet and bass throughout the album, he is joined by an elite crew of modern jazz visionaries: album producer and saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Deantoni Parks, with special vocal performances from Thom Yorke on “Traffic Lights” and Nick Cave on “Wichita Lineman,” contributions from Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Atoms for Peace), Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) and more.
This May, Flea and the Honora band embark on a sold-out international tour, playing intimate venues in select cities in North America and Europe. Earlier this week, they made their live debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Watch Flea, Josh Johnson, Jeff Parker, Anna Butterss, Deantoni Parks and a ten-piece orchestra perform “Thinkin Bout You,” and see Flea discuss his journey to Honora, an early encounter with Dizzy Gillespie and more in his interview with Fallon: HERE
Until Honora, Flea had never been scared of making music before. He worried that the all-star band he had assembled would think he was “a non-playing motherf*cker, charlatan, rock poseur or fan.” But, he says, “It turns out they were all the most genuinely supportive people, moving me deeply and daily with their generous spirits…Sitting in a room and playing the music with them made me feel like I was on drugs. I was buzzing, tripping and floating around the studio. I love them, they truly gave of themselves. I bow all the way down.”
Honora Tracklist
Golden Wingship
A Plea
Traffic Lights (feat. Thom Yorke)
Frailed
Morning Cry
Maggot Brain
Wichita Lineman (feat. Nick Cave)
Thinkin Bout You
Willow Weep for Me
Free As I Want to Be
The Honora Tour Dates
May 7 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
May 9 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House
May 10 – Montreal, QC – Théâtre Beanfield
May 12 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
May 13 – Washington, DC – Black Cat
May 16 – Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre
May 21 – Berlin, DE – Heimathafen
May 22 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
May 23 – Antwerp, BE – Jazz Middelheim
May 26 – London, UK – Koko
May 28 – Paris, FR – Alhambra
May 29 – Paris, FR – Alhambra
July 11 – Rotterdam, NL – North Sea Jazz Festival 2026
Follow Flea