Album
By the Way
By the Way is the eighth studio album by Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on 9 July 2002 on Warner Bros. Records. It followed Californication and marked a clear change of direction. John Frusciante shaped most of the melodies, backing vocal arrangements, bass lines and guitar progressions, and the band's trademark funk-rock fusion largely gives way to warm, understated guitar and doo-wop-style harmonies.
Anthony Kiedis matches the shift with more candid, reflective lyrics than on earlier records. The singles were "By the Way", "The Zephyr Song", "Can't Stop" and "Universally Speaking", with "Dosed" issued as a promotional single in the US and Canada. The album reached number two on the Billboard 200 and went on to sell more than eight million copies worldwide. Frusciante has described the writing period as one of the happiest times of his life, and many now count it among the band's finest work.
By the Way: tracklist, credits and charts
16 tracks · 1:09:17Tracklist
- 1By the WayFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith3:40
- 2Universally SpeakingFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith4:21
- 3This Is the PlaceFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith4:20
- 4DosedFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith4:40
- 5Don’t Forget MeFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith5:14
- 6The Zephyr SongFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith3:55
- 7Can’t StopFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith4:31
- 8I Could Die for YouFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith3:16
- 9MidnightFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith4:58
- 10Throw Away Your TelevisionFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith3:47
- 11CabronFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith3:40
- 12TearFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith5:19
- 13On MercuryFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith3:30
- 14Minor ThingFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith3:40
- 15Warm TapeFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith4:19
- 16Venice QueenFlea, Frusciante, Kiedis, Smith6:07
- Produced by
- Rick Rubin
- Recorded at
- Cello and Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles, California
- Recorded
- November 2001 – May 2002
- Mixed by
- Jim Scott
- Engineered by
- Jim Scott
- Labels
- Warner Bros. Records, Warner Bros.
- Length
- 1:09:17
Singles
- “By the Way” · 24 June 2002
- “The Zephyr Song” · 17 August 2002
- “Can't Stop” · 3 February 2003
- “Universally Speaking” · 17 June 2003
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 | 2 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 1 |
| Austrian Albums | 1 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) | 1 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) | 1 |
| Danish Albums | 1 |
| Dutch Albums | 1 |
| European Albums (Billboard) | 1 |
| Finnish Albums | 1 |
All 29 charts
| German Albums | 1 |
| Greek Albums (IFPI) | 1 |
| Irish Albums | 1 |
| Italian Albums | 1 |
| New Zealand Albums | 1 |
| Norwegian Albums | 1 |
| Polish Albums | 1 |
| Scottish Albums | 1 |
| Swedish Albums | 1 |
| Swiss Albums | 1 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums | 1 |
| Argentine Albums (CAPIF) | 2 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) | 2 |
| French Albums | 2 |
| Hungarian Albums | 2 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP) | 2 |
| Spanish Albums (AFYVE) | 2 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 4 |
| Portuguese Streaming Albums (AFP) · 2026 | 172 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Argentina · 2002 | Platinum |
| Australia · 2005 | 5× Platinum |
| Austria | Platinum |
| Belgium · 2002 | Gold |
| Brazil · 2003 | 2× Platinum |
| Canada · 2002 | 2× Platinum |
| Croatia (HDU) | Gold |
| Denmark · 2025 | 3× Platinum |
| Finland | Platinum |
| France · 2003 | Platinum |
| Germany · 2004 | 3× Gold |
| Greece | Platinum |
| Hungary · 2001 | Gold |
| Italy · 2025 | Platinum |
| Japan · 2002 | 2× Platinum |
| Netherlands · 2002 | Platinum |
| New Zealand | 2× Platinum |
| Poland · 2002 | Gold |
| Spain · 2002 | Platinum |
| Sweden · 2003 | Platinum |
| Switzerland | 2× Platinum |
| United Kingdom · 2019 | 7× Platinum |
| United States | 2× Platinum |
| Europe · 2003 | 3× Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
97.7
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
19k
ListenBrainz listeners
208k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
210k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 9 July
Every year →
More from Red Hot Chili Peppers
Full discography →
The Red Hot Chili Peppers
1984
Freaky Styley
1985
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
1987
The Abbey Road E.P.
1988
Mother’s Milk
1989
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
1991
Give It Away EP
1992
What Hits!? Best of Red Hot Chili Peppers
1992
Red Hot Chili Peppers The Best of Red Hot Chili Peppers 1994
The Best of Red Hot Chili Peppers
1994
Live Rare Remix Box
1994
The Plasma Shaft
1994
Out in L.A.
1994
One Hot Minute
1995
Under the Covers: Essential Red Hot Chili Peppers
1998
Californication
1999
Greatest Hits
2003
Live in Hyde Park
2004
Stadium Arcadium
2006
Road Trippin’ Through Time
2011
I’m With You
2011
I’m With You Europe
2012
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Covers
2012
I’m Beside You
2013
I’m With You World Tour 2012-2013
2014
2004-06-23: Live in Cardiff, Wales, UK
2015
The Getaway
2016
Live in Paris
2016
Unlimited Love
2022
Return of the Dream Canteen
2022
The best of 2002
All of 2002 →
Songs for the Deaf
Queens of the Stone Age · 2002
Steal This Album!
System of a Down · 2002
Reanimation
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One by One
Foo Fighters · 2002
Audioslave
Audioslave · 2002
I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
My Chemical Romance · 2002
Away From the Sun
3 Doors Down · 2002
Heathen Chemistry
Oasis · 2002
Does This Look Infected?
Sum 41 · 2002
Sea Change
Beck · 2002
Untouchables
Korn · 2002
Rock in Rio
Iron Maiden · 2002
More on Warner Bros. Records
The label →
Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park · 2000
Meteora
Linkin Park · 2003
Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers · 1999
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Red Hot Chili Peppers · 1991
Minutes to Midnight
Linkin Park · 2007
One More Light
Linkin Park · 2017
Stadium Arcadium
Red Hot Chili Peppers · 2006
Rumours
Fleetwood Mac · 1977
A Thousand Suns
Linkin Park · 2010
The Hunting Party
Linkin Park · 2014
One Hot Minute
Red Hot Chili Peppers · 1995
Out of Time
R.E.M. · 1991
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 9 July 2002 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 9 July 2002 | |
| Wikidata | 9 July 2002 | |
| US release | 9 July 2002 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 9 July 2002 | earliest UK or European date |
15 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | XE | Warner Bros. Records | 093624814047 | other |
| 2002 | US | Warner Bros. Records | other | |
| 2002 | AU | Warner Bros. Records | 9325583015823 | other |
| 2002 | DE | Warner Bros. Records | 093624814016 | other |
| 9 July 2002 | XE | Warner Bros. Records | 093624814023 | original |
| 9 July 2002 | US | Warner Bros. Records | 093624814023 | original |
| 9 July 2002 | ZA | Warner Bros. Records | 6001208022430 | original |
| 9 July 2002 | CA | Warner Bros. Records | 093624814023 | original |
| 10 July 2002 | JP | Warner Bros. Records | 4943674063406 | other |
| 10 July 2002 | JP | Warner Bros. Records | 4943674033157 | other |
| 26 October 2004 | — | Warner Bros. Records | 093624814061 | other |
| 21 March 2006 | — | Warner Bros. Records | 093624424468 | deluxe |
| 10 May 2006 | JP | Warner Bros. Records | 4943674063406 | other |
| 2014 | XW | Warner Bros. Records | 093624931966 | deluxe |
| 2 June 2015 | — | Warner Bros. Records | 093624932178 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · cropped: cropped from 3179x3176 to 3000x3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 3179×3176 | cropped: cropped from 3179x3176 to 3000x3000 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |