The lawsuit came after Perry’s unpredictable and dangerous behavior became a serious enough problem. Various accounts suggest that he would get sloppy drunk right before shows, and he even threatened to quit before the tour’s kickoff show in Las Vegas because the band would not allow his wife, Etty Lau Farrell, to “dance on stage” during their performance. In Jane’s Addiction’s complaint against Farrell, Navarro claimed to be suffering from long COVID and attacked by Farrell when he was “still weak.” Farrell, at the time, issued an apology, took accountability for his behavior, and claimed to be seeking medical intervention to help with vocal issues that had been nagging him all tour. Navarro, in an interview with Guitar Player after, called the Boston show “my least favorite gig that I have ever played.” Surely hosting Ink Master would have been far less of a headache?
This week, Farrell has seemingly mended fences with the band he co-founded 40 years ago. He posted an apology to Instagram on Wednesday, writing: “To everyone in Boston, and around the world. I’d like to address what happened on stage last year. I’ve reflected on it and know I didn’t handle myself the way I should have. I apologize to our patrons and my bandmates for losing my temper and for disrupting the show. Jane’s Addiction has been at the center of my life for decades. The band, the songs, the patrons and the impact that we’ve had on music and culture mean more to me than any words I could ever possibly write down. My aim has always been to give our audience the best possible show, something real, honest and positive. In Boston, we fell short of that, and I’m truly sorry to everyone who was impacted. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank each and every one of you for your continued love and support.”
Jane’s Addiction also shared a statement, confirming that the band has officially broken up for the fourth time and for good, despite its reconciliation. It reads: “We would like to clarify the events surrounding the cancellation of the tour after the show in Boston in September 2024. After that show, without notice to Perry, we unilaterally determined it would be best to not continue the tour and made inaccurate statements about Perry’s mental health which we regret. Today we are here to announce that we have come together one last time to resolve our differences, so that the legacy of Jane’s Addiction will remain the work the four of us created together. We now look forward to the future as we embark on our separate musical and creative endeavors. Jane’s Addiction will forever live in our hearts. We are proud of the music we created together. You, the fans, are our lifeblood, and we will always appreciate you.”
Jane’s Addiction rose to prominence in the early ‘90s, becoming bastions of what Farrell dubbed “alternative nation” despite breaking up for the first time in 1991, going on a farewell tour that eventually became the yearly Lollapalooza festival. Under the banner of Warner Bros. Records, Nothing’s Shocking (1988) and Ritual de lo Habitual (1990) turned the band into a cult favorite, and they would reunite sporadically over the next 25 years, releasing albums in 2003 (Strays) and 2011 (The Great Escape Artist). Navarro’s struggles with long COVID led to him being replaced on tours by Queens of the Stone Age’s Troy Van Leeuwen and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Josh Klinghoffer, but his return to the stage in 2024 signaled a promising future for one of the most important alt-rock bands to come out of Los Angeles in the 1980s. But one punch (or, in Jane’s Addiction’s case, a few punches) can change everything. In that Guitar Player interview, Navarro ruled out any possibility of Jane’s Addiction ever playing together again. But these guys always seem to orbit right back to each other. I’m sure they’ve got one more reconciliation and a fifth breakup left in the tank.
