Believe it or not, there is a cool freshman at USC. His name is Michael Balzary.

You probably know him as Flea, the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The legendary group has sold over 50 million albums, won six Grammy Awards, and topped the Modern Rock charts a record eleven times.

The
45-year-old is listed as an "undergraduate visitor" in USC’s Thornton School of Music. Balzary probably has a leg up on most of his classmates, considering he founded the Silverlake Conservatory of Music and, oh, yeah … is a rock icon. While he’s on campus
several times per week, don’t expect any dorm sightings — Flea’s a
commuter student.

Besides collaborating with legendary artists
like Jane’s Addiction, Nirvana, and Alanis Morisette, Balzary has
appeared in The Big Lebowski, My Own Private Idaho, and one of the Back
to the Future movies. His latest "appearance" was at USC’s football
practice — he stopped by after class because he heard a commotion. The
Trojans were playing simulated crowd noise to mimic their upcoming
road trip to Oregon State, and the practice field is adjacent to the music school.

You may know that Balzary is a huge sports fan and blogs about his beloved Lakers on NBA.com.

No word if the team will try a flea flicker this season in his honor.

Of
course, Balzary isn’t the only music celebrity starting his undergraduate
studies at USC this year. Percy Miller, better known in his rap career
as Romeo (a.k.a. Lil’ Romeo), is on scholarship to play basketball for
the Trojans.

— Adam Rose
Photo by Kristian Dowling/Getty Images