BOSTON – The alternative rock band Jane’s Addiction has scuttled its latest tour following an onstage scuffle between lead singer Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro. Farrell later apologized for “inexcusable behavior.”
“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,” the band said in a brief statement Monday.
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Videos captured Farrell lunging at Navarro at a Friday concert in Boston, 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 by others on stage. The show ended shortly after and the band apologized.
The band is known for edgy, punk-inspired hits “Jane Says,” “Been Caught Stealing” and “Just Because” in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the alternative rock and grunge music movements were growing. It has three top five hits on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart.
Farrell, in a statement given to Variety and The New York Times, said, “This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show. Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”
Perry's wife, Etty Lau Farrell, wrote on Instagram the day after the scuffle that her husband'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.”
She said her husband had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat and “by the end of the song, he wasn’t singing, he was screaming just to be heard.” She said her husband later broke down “and cried and cried.”
The band’s “Imminent Redemption” tour — with opening act English rock band Love and Rockets — started in early August and was to end on Oct. 16 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.
The North American shows marked the first time since 2010 that the original Jane’s Addiction lineup — Farrell, Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery — played an extended run of shows together.
Navarro, Perkins and Avery said in a statement posted Monday on Navarro's Instagram of Farrell: “We hope that he will find the help he needs.”