Jane's Addiction cancels remaining tour dates after onstage brawl

Jane’s Addiction have canceled all remaining dates on their North American tour after an onstage confrontation last week between singer Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro led to a fight involving all four band members and abruptly ended their Boston performance.

On Monday, Jane’s Addiction released a statement regarding the tour cancellation. Following Friday’s onstage scuffle, the alternative rock band, which was reuniting for a tour for the first time in 14 years, canceled a concert scheduled for Sunday night in Connecticut.

More information on The Hollywood Reporter

“To all fans, the band has made the difficult decision to take a break as a group. As a result, they will be canceling the remainder of the tour,” read the statement posted on social media.

Jane’s Addiction, consisting of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery, were pioneers of the alternative rock scene in the 1990s. The band formed in 1985 in Los Angeles and reunited with the missing and replaced members since their 1991 breakup on a tour that doubled as the inaugural Lollapalooza tour. Their 2024 tour was the band’s first with all four original members, but has now ended after 22 shows.

The fight in Boston began when an apparently agitated Farrell approached Navarro as he was playing a solo on their 1988 song “Ocean Size.” Nothing is shocking. In videos posted by fans in the audience, Farrell is seen growling and punching Navarro, who raises his hand to keep the singer at bay. Farrell can be seen punching the guitarist; at this point, three men come on stage to restrain Farrell. The attention escalated with Avery putting Farrell in a headlock and punching him repeatedly.

Navarro also released a statement after the incident on behalf of himself, Avery and Perkins, writing on Instagram: “Due to the persistent behavior and mental health issues of our lead singer Perry Farrell, we have come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to halt the current U.S. tour. Our concern for his personal health and safety as well as ours has left us with no other option. We hope he finds the help he needs.”

“We deeply regret that we cannot meet the expectations of all our fans who have already purchased tickets,” the guitarist continued. “We see no way forward that would allow us to ensure a safe environment on stage or reliably deliver a great performance every night. We are heartbroken.”

Farrell’s wife also weighed in, posting a lengthy explanation and judgment of the situation that praised Navarro and chastised Avery on her Instagram account Saturday morning. Etty Lau Farrell wrote that her husband has been going through severe mental health episodes, with the singer “losing his footing. The most devastating health crisis for him since 1997.” She added that his frustration on stage was due to his voice being drowned out.

“Perry’s frustration grew night by night; he felt as though the stage volume was extremely loud and his voice was 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 began complaining to Perry, insulting him that the band had planned to play too loud and they couldn’t hear him, Perry lost his mind.”

An email sent to the band’s publicist by The Hollywood Reporter Requests for comment on Etty Lau Farrell’s online statements were not immediately answered Monday. The band’s statement said refunds for canceled tour dates would be “issued at the point of purchase – or if you purchased from a third-party resale site like StubHub, SeatGeek, etc., please contact them directly.”

The Best of The Hollywood Reporter