 " Under the Bridge " allowed the Red Hot Chili Peppers to enter the mainstream . David Fricke of Rolling Stone said the song " unexpectedly drop @-@ kicked the band into the Top 10 " , while Philip Booth of The Tampa Tribune commented that it was a " pretty , undulating , [ and ] by @-@ now omnipresent single . " Its success led in part to the departure of guitarist John Frusciante , who preferred the band to remain underground . The song has become an inspiration to other artists , and remains a seminal component of the alternative rock movement of the early and mid @-@ 1990s . 
