Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith is gifting a need-based music scholarship to the University of Michigan.

The 64-year-old grew up in Detroit's suburbs.

Smith made the official announcement during a campus appearance Sunday,

performing the Chili Peppers hit “Can’t Stop,” alongside the Michigan Marching Band at Hill Auditorium.

The Curtis & Joan Smith Scholarship is named in honor of Smith’s parents. It will be awarded to an incoming University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance student, beginning in 2026.

“We just want to find the person that's the best fit that we know will love it and really get something out of it, but obviously needs help financially,” Smith told The Associated Press in an interview. “And we are there to support them until they graduate.”

Smith has been with the Red Hot Chili Peppers since the late 1980s. During that time, the quartet, which also includes singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea, have been one of the biggest-selling music acts, mixing layers of funk, punk, rap and traditional pop over a foundation of rock.

The backward-baseball-cap-wearing Smith has held down the beat on such hits as “Give It Away,” “Under the Bridge” and “Dani California.” The Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock Hall in 2012.

“I'm fortunate to be in a band people like and I play the drums and maybe some drummers or musicians will get inspired just from my story,” Smith said. “So, yeah, it's just an opportunity to give back to what I've been so lucky to have and for next generations of musicians to be able to pursue what they love.”