Flea Adding Bass to River Phoenix Songs for Late Actor’s 50th Birthday
Late actor River Phoenix would have turned 50 on Aug. 23 of this year and to mark the occasion, his sister Rain Phoenix is putting out additional tracks River recorded with his band Aleka's Attic, with a special cameo involved. Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea will lend his signature style to a double-sided single being released on vinyl on Aug. 23.
Rain Phoenix's podcast and music label Launch Left has been working with FLOOD on the Launched Artist Digital Singles series, issuing digital singles featuring artists that have a connection to River Phoenix. The series will conclude on Aug. 23, marking the 50th birthday of River, who died of a drug overdose outside Los Angeles' Viper Room in 1993.
“I have artists I want to release on LaunchLeft,” Rain told FLOOD. “If I attach their releases with Aleka’s Attic, that could help those artists. And that would make River so stoked. He was that kind of person. He was generous and loved other artists. I checked with my family and it made sense to them as something River would want to do. Everything fell into place. Digital singles, one every two weeks, starting on Mother’s Day, on the same year that Earth Day is 50 years old. He was such an environmentalist, and that ties in with Mother Earth. I’m into symbolism and numbers—everything has to have a concept and a heart to it. The last release will be Aleka’s Attic, on August 23, which would have been River’s 50th birthday.”
River Phoenix enjoyed his breakout with the teen coming of age movie Stand By Me in 1986 and quickly became one of Hollywood's most promising young stars. He starred opposite Harrison Ford in The Mosquito Coast and later portrayed the younger version of Ford in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Other standout roles included Running on Empty, My Own Private Idaho and Sneakers, with his final film role fittingly coming as a struggling musician attempting to make it in Nashville in The Thing Called Love.
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