Red Hot Chili Peppers mimed Super Bowl song

The Red Hot Chili Peppers decided long ago they were never going to mime a live performance. The band made an exception for the National Football League, it turns out.

The group's bassist, Flea, said in a letter to fans posted on the group's website Tuesday that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members pretended to play along to a pre-taped track of Give It Away during the American football championship Super Bowl halftime show as Anthony Kiedis sang live. The request came from NFL officials who felt it was too difficult to pull off a completely live performance because of potential sound issues.

The admission came after observers noted Flea and his bandmates weren't plugged in while performing Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Flea wrote on the band's website that the opportunity was too big for the lifelong football fans to turn down. After internal debate, dubiously checking with fellow musicians and consulting with headliner Bruno Mars, they decided it was "a surreal-like, once in a life time crazy thing to do and we would just have fun and do it."

The 51-year-old said the group pre-recorded a unique instrumental track for the show. He didn't directly address whether Mars also recorded instrumental tracks for his appearance, though he said Mars was aware they did. A publicist for Mars did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

A record 115 million people tuned into watch Mars and the Peppers, besting audiences of 114 million for Madonna and 110 million for Beyonce.