Jane’s Addiction bandmates sue each other over onstage fight that ended tour


The members of alternative rock band Jane’s Addiction filed dueling lawsuits Wednesday over singer Perry Farrell’s onstage scuffle with guitarist Dave Navarro at a Boston concert last year, prompting the cancellation of the rest of their reunion tour and a planned album.

Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery sued Farrell in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking at least $10 million, alleging that Farrell’s behaviour on the tour had ranged from erratic to out-of-control, culminating in the assault, where Perry punched Navarro both on stage and backstage.

“With a series of swift blows, he single-handedly destroyed the name, reputation, trademark, and viability of the Band and those who built it,” their lawsuit says.

READ MORE: Caitlyn Jenner’s manager’s cause of death revealed after tragic accident

Dave Navarro (left) and Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction performing in Dublin in June.
A fight between Dave Navarro and Perry Farrell has embroiled the band in a legal battle. (Kieran Frost/Redferns/Getty Images via CNN)

Farrell and his wife, Etty Lau Farrell, sued the three bandmates in the same court Wednesday, blaming them for the conflict and the violence.

“Navarro, Avery and Perkins apparently decided,” the lawsuit says, “that Jane’s Addiction’s decades of success should be jettisoned in pursuit of a years-long bullying campaign against Farrell involving harassing him onstage during performances, including, among other tactics, trying to undermine him by playing their instruments at a high volume so that he could not hear himself sing.”

The Farrells said that Navarro and Avery actually assaulted them.

Perry Farrell said he was “blindsided” when the other members cancelled the remaining 15 shows of the tour and broke up the band without consulting him, costing all of them a great deal of money.

And he said his bandmates defamed him by publicly saying after the fight that he had mental health problems.

Jane’s Addiction was an essential part of the Los Angeles music scene in the late 1980s with their combination of elements of punk, goth and psychedelic sounds and culture.

They became a national phenomenon with hits including Jane Says and Been Caught Stealing, and through their founding of the Lollapalooza tour, whose first incarnations they headlined in 1991.

For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.

singer Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins, and bassist Chris Chaney of Jane's addiction
The group first found success back in the late ’80s. (Getty)

The group broke up soon after but returned several times in various incarnations.

The 2024 tour was the first time the original members had played together since 2010.

Farrell missed all seven of the group’s rehearsals in the run-up to the tour, his bandmate’s lawsuit alleges, and his behaviour during the early shows ranged from erratic to out-of-control.

“He struggled night to night amid public concern for his well-being and apparent intoxication,” their lawsuit says.

Inside the biggest band feuds of all time

“Perry forgot lyrics, lost his place in songs he had sung since the 1980s, and mumbled rants as he drank from a wine bottle onstage.”

The lawsuit says Farrell was given many solutions to the volume problem, none of which he followed.

Then on September 13 at Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston in front of about 4000 fans, videos partially captured Farrell lunging at Navarro and bumping Navarro with his shoulder before taking a swing at the guitarist with his right arm.

Navarro is seen holding his right arm out to keep Farrell away before Farrell is dragged away.

READ MORE: Pete Davidson expecting first child with model girlfriend

Jane's Addiction bandmates Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro have an altercation on stage
Videos of the altercation surfaced online. (X/ historyrock_ )

But Farrell’s lawsuit says the “video evidence is clear that the first altercation onstage during the Boston show was hardly one-sided.”

It says Navarro was deliberately playing loud to drown out the singer, and “what followed was an inappropriate violent escalation by Navarro and Avery that was disproportionate to Farrell’s minor body check of Navarro.”

Farrell alleges that when he was being restrained by a crew member, Avery punched him in the kidneys, and that both Avery and Navarro assaulted him and his wife backstage.

Shortly after the fight, Farrell in a statement apologised to his bandmates, especially Navarro, for “inexcusable behavior.”

Jane's Addiction apologises and cancels show after on stage altercation
The band took to Instagram to issue an apology to fans. (Instagram/ Jane’s Addiction)

Both lawsuits allege assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract, among other claims.

“Now,” Navarro, Perkins and Avery’s lawsuit says, “the Band will never have their revival Tour, to celebrate a new album and 40+ years of deep, complex, chart-topping recordings.

“Instead, history will remember the Band as suffering a swift and painful death at the hands of Farrell’s unprovoked anger and complete lack of self-control.”

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *