Jane's Addiction have canceled all remaining dates of their North American tour after an onstage altercation between frontman Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro last week led to a brawl involving all four band members and abruptly ending their performance in Boston.
Jane's Addiction released a statement Monday regarding the cancellation of their tour. Following Friday's onstage brawl, the alternative rock band, which reunited for a tour together for the first time in 14 years, canceled a show scheduled for Sunday night in Connecticut.
“To all the fans, the band has [sic] have made the difficult decision to take some time off as a group. As a result, they will be canceling the remainder of their tour,” the statement posted on social media read.
Jane's Addiction — singer Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins, and bassist Eric Avery — were early pioneers of the alternative rock scene in the 1990s. The band formed in 1985 in Los Angeles and reunited with departed and replaced members after their 1991 breakup for a tour that also served as the inaugural Lollapalooza tour. Their 2024 tour was the band's first with all four original members, but has now concluded after 22 performances.
The brawl in Boston began when Farrell, apparently agitated, approached Navarro as he was playing a solo on their 1988 song “Ocean Size.” Nothing is shocking. Grunting, Farrell is seen in videos posted by fans in the audience slamming his body into Navarro, who raises a hand to keep the frontman at bay. Farrell is seen throwing a punch at the guitarist; at that point, three men rushed the stage to restrain Farrell. The heat escalated with Avery putting Farrell in a headlock and punching him multiple times.
Navarro also released a post-incident statement on behalf of himself, Avery and Perkins, writing on Instagram: “Due to an ongoing pattern of behavior and mental health challenges from our lead singer Perry Farrell, we have come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to discontinue our current U.S. tour. Our concern for his personal health and safety, as well as our own, has left us no choice. We hope he finds the help he needs.
“We are deeply sorry that we will not be able to accommodate all of our fans who have already purchased tickets,” the guitarist continues. “We see no solution that will ensure a safe stage environment or allow us to reliably deliver a great performance every night. We are heartbroken.”
Farrell's wife also weighed in on the spat, posting a lengthy explanation and assessment of the situation praising Navarro and berating Avery on her Instagram account Saturday morning. Etty Lau Farrell wrote that her husband has been having severe mental health episodes, where the singer is “in the throes of delirium. Most devastating health for him since '97.” She added that his onstage frustration was due to his voice being stifled.
“Perry's frustration was mounting night after night; he felt the stage was too loud and his voice was being drowned out by the band,” wrote Etty Lau Farrell. “Perry suffered from tinnitus and a sore throat every night. But when the front row audience started complaining to Perry, cursing him because the band was playing too loud and they couldn't hear him, Perry lost it.”
An email sent to the band's publicity manager by The Hollywood Reporter A request for comment on Etty Lau Farrell’s statements online was not immediately answered Monday. The band’s statement said refunds for the canceled tour dates will be “issued at the point of purchase, or if you purchased from a third-party resale site such as StubHub, SeatGeek, etc., please contact them directly.”