Jane’s Addiction are suing their own lead singer, Perry Farrell, claiming an onstage brawl in 2024 brought a halt to their tour and a planned new album.
Guitarist Dave Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, seeking at least $10 million in damages.
Variety reported that Navarro is also suing Farrell for assault and battery over the incident, which occurred in Boston during a reunion gig. All subsequent dates on the tour were cancelled.
The Independent has approached the band for comment.
The fight, which was caught on camera by fans, happened during a show at the Leader Bank Pavilion following two outdoor New York shows that received mixed reviews from attendees and critics.
Farrell reportedly shouted at Navarro during the ninth track of the set, “Mountain Song,” with tensions building further as the gig continued.
Then, as the band were performing their 1988 song “Ocean Size,” Perry appeared to bark at Navarro before walking over to him and aggressively shoving him with his shoulder.
As Navarro spoke to him and put his hand on Perry’s chest to try and keep him away, the singer then appeared to take a swing at him with his fist before being tackled by crew members and pushed off the stage.
The stage lights were swiftly turned down and the music stopped, as the audience began to boo and jeer.
In a brief subsequent statement, the band said: “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.”
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There had been 15 dates left on the band’s Imminent Redemption tour.
In a separate statement to The Independent, Farrell 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.”
At the time, Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, claimed that the altercation between him and Navarro occurred after tensions mounted during the tour over issues with sound.
“Perry’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 wrote on Instagram.
Etty Farrell claimed that Farrell “lost it” after the audience in the first row began complaining to him that the band was too loud and they couldn’t hear him, at which point he turned on Navarro.
She claimed that, after Farrell took a swing at Navarro, Avery put her husband in a “headlock and punched him in the stomach three times.”
“Eric, well he either didn’t understand what descalation [sic] meant or took advantage of the situation and got in a few cheap shots on Perry,” she wrote.
“Perry was a crazed beast for the next half an hour… he finally did not calm down, but did breakdown and cried and cried.”
