Busker goes viral as he covers Red Hot Chili Peppers while having no idea just who's watching him play

A Red Hot Chili Peppers fan who just wanted to entertain the public in California with his drum skills had no idea what an incredible audience he'd managed to attract.

It's always exciting to spot a celebrity out in the wild - aka, mixing with the general public.

Some people decide to play it cool by staring at them from afar while others can't resist getting a photo, but us 'normal folk' usually have one thing in common in these situations: we don't want to embarrass ourselves.

With that in mind, I can imagine it would be particularly tough to try and perform in front of a celebrity, especially if it was one you admired. That's why it's probably a good thing that this particular busker didn't realize exactly who he was performing for.

The scene went down on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, where busker Armand Davis had set up a drum kit and was playing along to the Red Hot Chili Peppers song 'Otherside'.

A now-viral TikTok video of the scene shows him happily playing along, while one man sits just a few feet away, nodding and tapping his feet along to the music.

However, the caption - which read 'Who wants to tell him?' - made clear this wasn't just some random guy.

In actual fact, the audience member the drummer had attracted was none other than Chad Smith, the actual drummer of the actual band Davis was playing along to.

Joey McCarthy, who managed to capture the scene on camera, added on TikTok: "Imagine shooting hoops in front [of] Michael Jordan and not even realizing it?"

The video quickly went viral, and soon made its way back to Davis himself.

The busker shared the video on TikTok and confirmed he had no idea he was performing for Smith at the time because he was 'in the zone'.

He wrote: "Yesterday, I played Otherside by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and halfway through, I noticed someone really vibing which isn’t unusual.

"But when I finished, a few people told me I’d just played for Chad Smith, the drummer of RHCP."

Davis went on to say that Smith had told him he 'sounded good', adding it was 'completely surreal' to hear Smith say that about a track he himself is known for.

"I can’t wait to see where this journey takes me next!," Davis added.

The busker has been widely praised by viewers after the video went viral, with one person writing: "The fact that Chad smith is just sitting there vibing is just about the biggest compliment you could ask for bro good job."