Jane’s Addiction has cancelled the remainder of its reunion tour, marking the first time the original lineup has performed together in 14 years.
“To all the fans, the band has made the difficult decision to take a break as a group for a while,” a statement from the band said Monday. “As a result, they are canceling the remainder of the tour.”
The decision follows a physical confrontation onstage between singer Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro during Friday’s show in Boston. Concerns about Farrell’s mental health also contributed to the band’s decision to cancel the tour, according to a separate statement shared on Instagram Monday by Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins.
Farrell apologized via his Instagram Story on Monday afternoon.
“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 at Friday’s show,” he said. “Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full responsibility for how I chose to handle the situation.”
The announcement of the tour cancellation comes shortly after the band canceled its Sunday performance in Bridgeport, Connecticut, due to the feud.
Fans will receive refunds for the canceled shows, the band wrote in its statement. Those who purchased through a third-party resale site like StubHub or SeatGeek were advised to contact the seller directly.
🚨 What happened?
The decision to cancel the tour follows a chaotic performance at Boston’s Leader Bank Pavilion on Friday, where a confrontation broke out between Farrell and Navarro midway through the show.
In clips circulating on social media, Farrell and Navarro are seen confronting each other during the band’s performance of “Ocean Size.” Farrell tensely walks toward Navarro before throwing a punch. Three men intervene to break up the altercation and overpower Farrell. Navarro eventually puts down his guitar before leaving the stage with bassist Avery and drummer Perkins.
On Saturday night, the band apologized to fans and announced that Sunday’s tour in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was canceled.
“We would like to sincerely apologize for the events that occurred last night,” the band wrote in its Instagram Story, Rolling Stone reported. “As a result, we are canceling tomorrow night’s show in Bridgeport.”
On Monday, the band announced that they have canceled the remaining dates of the tour entirely.
🗣️ Farrell’s wife responds
Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, shared her perspective on the Boston incident on Instagram on Saturday, explaining that her husband’s mental health issues were triggered by the band starting to play before he was ready.
“Perry was suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat every night,” she wrote alongside a clip of the altercation. “But when the front-row audience started complaining all the way to Perry, yelling at him that the band was going too loud and they couldn’t hear him, Perry lost it.”
Etty also claimed that Avery escalated the situation by putting Perry “in a headlock and punching him three times in the stomach” before returning to the stage to apologize to the audience for ending the show early.
“Perry was a crazy animal for the next half hour,” she continued. “He didn’t calm down, he just broke down and cried and cried. Eric [Avery]well, he either didn’t understand what [deescalation] meant or took advantage of the situation and threw a few cheap punches at Perry.”
➡️ Concerns about Farrell’s mental health
In a joint statement on social media Monday, Navarro, Avery and Perkins addressed the situation, explaining that the band’s decision to cancel the tour was prompted by Farrell’s ongoing mental health issues.
“Due to an ongoing pattern of behavior and the mental health issues of our vocalist Perry Farrell, we have come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to cancel the current U.S. tour,” the band members wrote.
“We deeply regret that we cannot accommodate all of our fans who have already purchased a ticket. We do not see a solution that would ensure a safe environment on stage or reliably allow us to deliver a great performance every night.”
They also expressed concerns for Farrell’s welfare, adding: “We hope he finds the help he needs.”
🗓 Uncertain future
The tour was a co-headlining project with Love and Rockets and was scheduled to conclude in Los Angeles in mid-October, with performances in Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and more.
It’s unclear whether Jane’s Addiction will move forward with plans to release a new album, which Navarro told Rolling Stone in August was “more than likely going to happen.”
“We have recorded material,” he told the outlet. “I don’t know specifically what the model is, whether it’s going to be one song at a time, or if we’re going to put out a song and then a record, or I don’t really know. I’m kind of holding off on it. The most important thing to me is that this stuff is on vinyl.”
An album would mark the first new recording with all original members in 34 years. A single, “Imminent Redemption,” was released in July.
