In a new Italian interview with RTL, Anthony Kiedis revealed that Red Hot Chili Peppers borrowed chords from an Elton John song for “Sick Love” off of The Getaway, which features a guest appearance by John himself. Alternative Nation transcribed the quote.
“We wrote a song called ‘Sick Love,’ which I like very much, and wanted to keep. The chords in the verse were very inspired by ‘Benny and the Jets.’ The song is very different, but there’s chords in there which I think belong to ‘Benny and the Jets,’ so we wanted to get the permission of Elton John, and we also wanted to give him credit for his chords, they’re his. We called him up and we said, ‘We wrote a song, we’d like to ask your permission to use your chords, and would you also come play on the record?’
He added the John agreed to come play on the song. Listen to the songs below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG5ems_1Glk