Red Hot Chilli Pipers

A Scottish music group, best known for covering various rock standards ... on bagpipes. Despite their name and image, the band is in fact made up of guitars, keyboards, and drums in addition to their trademark bagpipes.

Since their founding in 2002 they've appeared on the BBC program When Will I Be Famous, and made several tours in Europe and Asia and one brief tour in the United States (all as of 2016). They have also performed single concerts in New York, Beijing and their native Scotland; their highest-profile performance was at the 2004 "T in the Park" festival, also in Scotland.

Most American fans initially discovered them via YouTube videos.

The Red Hot Chilli Pipers have released six albums since 2005 to consistently increasing sales, with their earliest records reaching platinum status in Scotland, and their later albums becoming international hits. Their 2010 CD, Music for the Kilted Generation, reached the Number 2 spot on Amazon.com's US chart, and was only prevented from reaching #1 by Adele's 21. They also appeared on the soundtrack for the film How to Train Your Dragon 2.


 * 2005: The Red Hot Chilli Pipers
 * 2007: Bagrock to the Masses
 * 2008: Blast Live
 * 2010: Music for the Kilted Generation
 * 2013: Breathe
 * 2016: Octane


 * Bolero Effect: This is a favorite trope of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers; start with a haunting melody by a lone piper, then the other pipes join in, then the drums and the electric guitar. They even have a piece (track 3 on Blast Live) called "Celtic Bolero".
 * Early Installment Weirdness: Their first (self-titled) album has no rock covers. Later albums are almost nothing but rock covers.
 * Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly: They coined the term "bagrock".
 * Punny Name:
 * The Red Hot Chilli Pipers themselves, playing off of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
 * Music for the Kilted Generation, playing off The Prodigy's album Music for the Jilted Generation.
 * Refrain From Assuming: Played With on Music for the Kilted Generation. Their cover of "Baba O'Riley" is titled "Baba O'Riley"; their cover of "Gonna Make You Sweat" is titled "Everybody Dance Now".