When it comes to Jane’s Addiction, nothing’s shocking.
They’ve weathered substance abuse, personal feuds, creative tension, and an ugly dispute over money that nearly ended the band before they released their debut album.
So when lead singer Perry Farrell physically attacked lead guitarist Dave Navarro on stage during a September 2024 stop in Boston on the band’s latest reunion tour, it seemed like business as usual. Hell, it wasn’t even the first time Navarro and Farrell fought onstage.
But for whatever reason, this time felt different. Maybe the band was already on its last legs and this latest controversy was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back. Maybe their advanced age and health issues makes (yet another) potential reunion unlikely.
Or maybe the fact that this incident went mega viral and subjected the band to a level of scrutiny it hadn’t experienced in decades (Perry punching Dave was probably the band’s biggest hit in a long time), only compounded whatever feelings of embarrassment, anger and resentment that were already present, thereby making reconciliation extremely unlikely.
And now that lawyers have gotten involved, it means the courts could do something that drugs, egos, fists and money could not — end Jane’s Addiction once and for all.
In retrospect, it’s impressive that Jane’s Addiction lasted as long as it did.
A lot of bands have a reputation for being combustible, but that quality was baked into Jane’s Addiction’s DNA.
Founded in 1985 in Los Angeles at the height of the glam metal era, the band was an odd mix of personalities, looks and musical sensibilities. They blended hard rock with psychedelic, funk, blues and punk, allowing them to stand out and sound unique. Farrell’s lyrics were explicit and provocative — another departure from the typical glam fare, which may have touched on similar themes but was safer for mass consumption. Navarro’s guitar work was dark and mystical — a lot like how he looks, while bassist Eric Avery’s melodic playing stood in stark contrast to most of his counterparts (Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers notwithstanding). Drummer Stephen Perkins brought versatility and an eclectic style — and as the intraband conflict ratcheted up, served as an important mediator and peacekeeper.
“You can hear us fighting against each other in the music,” Navarro said to Billboard. “You can hear different sensibilities clashing at times, and I feel like you can hear the almost disconnectedness becoming connected because of all that tension.”
That tension carried over into their live performances, giving the band a degree of unpredictability and volatility that made them legends on the local club circuit. Their provocative shows were heavy on spectacle and theatricality, allowing them to stand out, as well as generate controversy and buzz.
When Jane’s Addiction first got going, we couldn’t play clubs, and no one would take us. We had to rent out warehouses and put on events in order to have an opportunity to play. … I mean, we would just play wherever we could set up, and there were gonna be a bunch of freaks that might get into it. But that was when we realized that we had the opportunity to try and make our shows a little more theatrical. … Like, “Let’s bring some motorcycles in there and some drag queens and have some kind of weird party.”
Dave Navarro, Interview with Yahoo, 2018
Their performances earned them a devoted cult following and inevitably led to interest from record labels. Jane’s Addiction went with Warner Bros. but had enough juice that they were able to insist that they be able to release a live album on indie label Triple X before going into the studio to record their debut album, Nothing’s Shocking (1988).
They almost didn’t make it to the end of those recording sessions. Farrell, who wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music with the other three, demanded a larger share of the band’s royalties — drawing the ire and resentment of his band mates. Farrell argued that he was doing most of the work, and since he wrote the lyrics and melodies, he would have been well within his rights to take sole songwriting credit. “Well, okay, I’m writing lyrics, melody, and music, but I don’t want to be one of those bands where the other guys get no publishing,” Farrell told Billboard.
The band nearly broke up, but ultimately Warner execs stepped in and worked out a deal where Farrell got 50% of the royalties for writing lyrics and then split the remaining 50 with the other three for writing music, giving him a total of 62.5%. “To be fair, I could see how he wanted more than an equal split, certainly,” Avery said to Billboard. “That was consistent with Perry always going forward to this day. When it comes to money and stuff like that, he’s pretty aggressively self-interested.”
The band became one of the most popular of the nascent alternative rock movement and their singles got some buzz on MTV. Internally, however, they were coming apart at the seams, and substance abuse only exacerbated existing tensions within the band. By the time the band released its second album, 1990’s Ritual de lo Habitual, and embarked on a lengthy tour to support it, things had reached their breaking point. Personal conflicts had festered and a division had emerged in the band, primarily between Avery and Navarro, who were either sober or trying to be, and Perkins and Farrell, who were not. The band decided to break up but not before headlining the first Lollapalooza Tour — the traveling alternative music festival co-created by Farrell.
It took less than one show for tensions to explode.
So first night in Arizona, Jane’s is performing, and toward the end of the set, Dave’s kind of running around, bumping into Perry and just doing his thing. I’m trying to get pictures, and I’m like, “What the fuck is this all about?” I never saw this before. And then Dave trashes his stacks and throws his guitar into the audience. Dave walks off and then Perry walks off and then they start fighting off the side of the stage.
Chris Cuffaro (photographer), Rolling Stone, March 23, 2025
Somehow, Jane’s made it to the end of the tour, upon which they immediately broke up, as promised. Farrell and Perkins formed Porno For Pyros while Avery and Navarro recorded as Deconstruction. Navarro then joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers for one hot minute before burying the hatchet with Farrell and reuniting Jane’s Addiction in 1997 (Avery declined the invite and was replaced by the man who was, in many ways, his perfect fill-in, Flea).
Several more reunions and breakups took place over the years. Farrell, Navarro and Perkins recorded Strays in 2003 with bassist Chris Chaney (that’s the album with the Entourage theme song) before breaking up again. They gave it another go with Avery in 2008-2010, but that didn’t end well. There was also weird period after Avery left in 2010 where Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses joined. The classic lineup decided to give it another go in 2022, but Navarro had to opt out after suffering long COVID. He finally recovered in time to tour in 2024, only for things to come to a violent end in Boston.
Who’s to blame for Boston varies depending on which lawsuit you’re reading. Navarro, Avery and Perkins struck first, filing a $10 million lawsuit for assault, battery, breach of contract and other things on July 16, 2025 in Los Angeles Superior Court. The three claim that Farrell’s intoxication, mental health, erratic performances and overall selfishness derailed what should have been a triumphant and profitable tour (the complaint alleges they had already sold in excess of 100,000 tickets) and a new album (their first with Avery since 1990) into a disaster as the band was forced to cancel all of those plans — potentially putting them on the hook for millions.
According to their complaint, things went well during the tour’s opening leg in Europe, where the band used a minimalist setup with none of its usual spectacle (e.g. no dancers) in order to keep the focus on the music. When they got to America, however, the three claimed that Farrell wanted to bring back some of their trademark visual and performative elements only to be overruled by majority vote. According to the complaint, Farrell had agreed to do things democratically for this tour, but not getting his way made him mad and caused tension as they embarked on the American leg. “Perry threatened to quit the Band and Tour because Plaintiffs did not approve of videos onstage of scantily clad dancers in the desert, including Perry’s wife Etty,” the complaint states. For Avery, Navarro and Perkins, the incident was just another reminder of how “Perry had an egregious habit of overruling decisions of the Band, and selfishly making everything about himself and Etty.”
Things started falling apart during the American leg, with the three stating that Farrell frequently “forgot lyrics, lost his place in songs he had sung since the 1980s, and mumbled rants as he drank from a wine bottle onstage.” Things came to a head in Boston, when he got lost during “The Mountain Song” and tried to sing during Navarro’s guitar solo. During the next song, “Ocean Size,” Farrell angrily lashed out and “ruthlessly assaulted Navarro onstage,” and according to the complaint, offstage as well.
As a result, the three felt they had no choice but to cancel the tour and album (they’ve released a couple of singles from their most recent session and according to the complaint, they’ve laid down instrumental tracks for 8 other songs) and released a statement to Instagram stating that they had come to this difficult decision “due to a continuing pattern of behavior and the mental health difficulties of our singer, Perry Farrell.” The three have stated in their complaint that the band has been irreparably broken and that they won’t work with Farrell again — a sentiment Navarro confirmed in a May 2025 interview.
Monetarily, they claim Farrell’s actions could cost them somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million or so. For instance, the complaint states that Navarro had to give up a $25,000-a-month disability payment plan and postpone his wedding (forfeiting $50,000 in deposits) in order to tour, and points out that the band might have to repay a partial advance to Warner Bros. for what was supposed to be their new album. Most importantly, the band had to cancel 15 tour dates, meaning they might have to compensate Live Nation, which was promoting the tour, as well as pay back a tour advance that was conditioned on the band successfully completing all of its shows. According to their complaint, Navarro found a guitarist to take his place for the rest of the tour before he and the other two decided the tour could not continue (I wonder if it was Josh Klinghoffer, the former Chili Peppers guitarist who stood in during Navarro’s bout with COVID). Or maybe he did that to show that the three made a good faith effort to minimize their monetary losses before bowing to the inevitable.
“Now, however, 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,” their complaint states.
Farrell, obviously, has a much different take on things. An hour after the three filed their suit, Farrell, his wife and the band’s corporate entity filed a countersuit against Navarro, Avery and Perkins alleging defamation, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other things. Farrell claimed the other three had engaged in a pattern of harassment against him for years, including trying to sabotage Farrell on stage so he would look bad. For instance, he claimed Navarro, Avery and Perkins would play their instruments too loud so Farrell could not hear himself during performances and sing the songs correctly, and start songs before Farrell was ready. As a result, Farrell claimed he suffered hearing loss and damaged eardrums.
He also stated that he never actually threw any punches at Navarro, only a “minor body check” to try and get the guitarist to play softer. Instead, he claims it was Avery and Navarro’s guitar tech who escalated things, punching and beating him as they dragged him off stage. Farrell also claims Navarro assaulted him and his wife backstage before telling Farrell “I’m never working with you again!” Farrell then states Navarro continued getting aggressive, forcing him to defend himself and his wife.
Lastly, Farrell states he never agreed to cancel the tour and accused the others of throwing him under the bus. He takes issue with the statement the three released after the incident, accusing them of defaming him by saying he has “mental health difficulties” and “is somehow a danger to himself and to them.”
“Without warning or consultation and using Perry Farrell, as a scapegoat, Navarro and the other band members took it upon themselves to abruptly cancel the remaining tour dates— violating contracts and disregarding all professional obligations– and apparently break up the band for good. Perry Farrell was blindsided by not being allowed either input into this decision or even to be heard, leaving him unable to plead his case to continue the tour for Jane’s Addiction’s fans,” he said in his complaint.
“[T]here would be no benefit to Plaintiffs (or the sound crew) to making the Band’s frontman, Perry, look bad on stage, particularly given their efforts at a revival Tour,” Avery, Navarro and Perkins state in their complaint, adding that if they had messed with the sound levels, it would have affected them all, not just Farrell. Navarro also claims he asked Farrell, repeatedly, how the volume levels were and Farrell said they were fine.
“Indeed, Troy Van Leeuwen, the guitarist who stood in for Navarro on the Band’s tour in 2022 while Navarro was on medical leave, played twice as loud as Navarro, and Perry never tried to punch Van Leeuwen onstage,” the complaint said.
In the meantime, Avery, Navarro and Perkins are working in the studio without Farrell and their complaint was rife with statements saying that Jane’s Addiction was finished. Could the four defy the odds and reunite once the dust settles on their dueling lawsuits?
Maybe. After all, the band’s survived so much already, surely this latest bump is no bigger an obstacle than any they’ve faced before.
But if you read the Avery, Navarro and Perkins complaint, you definitely come away with the impression that they’re sick and tired of Perry and are done with him. There are quite a few personal swipes at him and his wife and the three even bring up stuff from the past, such as accusing Farrell of hogging credit for Lollapalooza and making the band all about him.
Also, there’s a lot of talk in the complaint about how this tour was supposed to be more democratic and equitable compared to previous ones. If they can’t trust Farrell to keep his word on that, then how can they trust him on other things?
As for Farrell, you can see why he felt like he was getting ganged up on. If the other three were on the same page and able to overrule Farrell, it must have been a huge shock to his system since he was probably used to getting his way.
Plus, it can be tough being a singer in an aging band (just ask Vince Neil or David Lee Roth). The instrumentalists still play well and sound great but Farrell’s voice has inevitably gotten weaker thanks to age (and probably years of hard living). That puts a huge target on him, and seeing all those bad reviews online can’t have helped.
That then brings up a larger question about whether a band that was a dictatorship for a long time can become a democracy without imploding. If Farrell was so upset about no longer being able to assert his will, he was never going to stay in the band under those circumstances. Conversely, now that the other three have a taste of freedom, why would they ever want to go back to the way things were?
In other words, it’s exceedingly likely that the only time we’ll see these four together again is if this case makes it to trial. Hopefully Dave and Perry won’t have a rematch in court.
