On Friday night (September 13), Jane’s Addiction cut short a show in Boston after frontman Perry Farrell attacked guitarist Dave Navarro onstage. The band issued an apology and canceled Sunday night’s show in Bridgeport, Connecticut, as a result of the incident. Jane’s Addiction have now canceled the rest of their North American tour and will take some time off.
In a statement, Dave Navarro, bassist Eric Avery, and drummer Stephen Perkins said they’re canceling the tour due to Farrell’s “continuing pattern of behavior and the mental health difficulties.” They added, “Our concern for his personal health and safety as well as our own has left us no alternative. We hope that he will find the help he needs.”
In an additional statement, all four Jane’s Addictions members said they “have made the difficult decision to take some time away as a group.” Find both statements below.
The morning after the incident, Perry Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, provided some context for the apparent fight between her husband and Dave Navarro. “Clearly there had been a lot of tension and animosity between the members.. the magic that made the band so dynamic,” she wrote. “Well, the dynamite was lit. Perry got up in Dave’s face and body checked him.”
Farrell continued, “Perry’s frustration had been mounting, night after night, he felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud and his voice was being drowned out by the band. Perry had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat every night. But when the audience in the first row, started complaining up to Perry cussing at him that the band was planning too loud and that they couldn’t hear him, Perry lost it.”
She added, “Perry was a crazed beast for the next half an hour – he finally did not calm down, but did breakdown and cried and cried.”
Dave Navarro, Eric Avery, and Stephen Perkins:
Due to a continuing pattern of behavior and the mental health difficulties of our singer Perry Farrell, we have come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to discontinue the current US tour.
Our concern for his personal health and safety as well as our own has left us no alternative. We hope that he will find the help he needs.
We deeply regret that we are not able to come through for all our fans who have already bought tickets. We can see no solution that would either ensure a safe environment on stage or reliably allow us to deliver a great performance on a nightly basis.
Our hearts are broken.
Dave, Eric and Stephen
Jane’s Addiction:
To all the fans,
The band have made the difficult decision to take some time away as a group.
As such, they will be cancelling the remainder of the tour.
Refunds for the cancelled dates will be issued at your point of purchase – or if you purchased from a third-party resale site like StubHub, SeatGeek, etc, please reach out to them direct.
Thank you,
Jane’s Addiction
