Betty White’s death, only 17 days before her 100th birthday, concluded 2021 on a bitter note for sitcom icon fans. Josh Klinghoffer, a former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, may not seem like the most obvious option to communicate our collective grief in the wake of the death, but he pulled it well with a mournful cover of Andrew Gold’s “Thank You For Being a Friend,” the Golden Girls theme song, on Instagram.
From 2009 to 2019, Klinghoffer was the lead guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. When John Frusciante returned to the band after a long break, he was asked to leave. He got the news just hours before they announced it to the rest of the world in a group statement.
Eddie Vedder invited Klinghoffer to not only open for Pearl Jam on their Gigaton world tour, but also to accompany them onstage to assist with percussion, guitar, and backup vocals not long following his departure from the band. Because of the pandemic, the gigs were eventually postponed, but he’s also a part of Vedder’s new solo band, “the Earthlings.” They made their debut at the Ohana Festival in Dana Point, California, last year, and are set to tour the United States next month.
