The non-singing members of Jane’s Addiction have sued frontman Perry Farrell over a September 2024 onstage fight in Boston that forced the cancelation of their in-progress tour and new studio album and eventually ended the band. Guitarist Dave Navarro, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins filed the complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court and are asking for more than $10 million in damages and to repay costs.
In it, they accuse Farrell of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. “The Band can no longer function as a result of the Defendant’s conduct, including his sudden, violent outbursts and demonstrated inability to serve as the Band’s frontman and vocalist,” it reads. “The physical, emotional and financial harms Defendant has wrought have deeply impacted the Plaintiffs, their families and their loved ones, and it is time for Defendant to face the consequences of his actions and be held accountable.”
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Among the intimate details aired in the filing are that in order to participate in the tour, Navarro forwent a $25,000-per-month disability insurance policy he received while recovering from long COVID-19 (he was not a part of Jane’s Addiction’s 2022 roadwork, during which he was replaced by Red Hot Chili Peppers/Pearl Jam guitarist Josh Klinghoffer). Navarro even allegedly moved the date of his own wedding in Scotland to make himself available for last year’s shows and lost $50,000 in vendor-related deposits by doing so.
“Had Navarro not terminated the disability payments, and given his condition, Navarro likely would have received the $25,000 payments for several years,” the suit says. “For months, Navarro worked hard to prepare himself physically and mentally for touring, including by seeing doctors, nutritionists and therapists.”
Prior to the Boston incident, Farrell nearly walked off the tour before its first show in Las Vegas when the band members refused to play a video onstage of his wife Etty and others dancing in the desert. At subsequent shows, they say he “regularly appeared onstage in an advanced state of intoxication. He would often drink wine onstage and slur his speech. Perry frequently went on long, rambling discursions between songs for no apparent purpose other than for his own amusement. The problems with Perry’s performance would often worsen as the night wore on and he became more intoxicated.”
After Farrell shoved Navarro onstage in Boston and the show was immediately halted, the singer allegedly punched him in the face again backstage. “Plaintiffs were rightfully afraid and uncomfortable to perform with him again,” the suit says. “It was also abundantly clear that Perry was in no condition to continue the Tour on which he had struggled to perform.”
The debacle not only subsumed the rest of the Jane’s Addiction tour, but it froze work on their first new album since 2011’s The Great Escape Artist. Two songs, “Imminent Redemption” and “True Love,” have emerged from the project, for which the band was paid a sizable advance by Warner Music Group subsidiary ADA.
Band members say they each lost more than $200,000 in income due to the cancellations, and that they owe another $240,00 in commissions and fees. “A successful Tour would have served as a potent marketing vehicle for the new album the Band was working on for ADA, and would have increased the Band’s earnings from record sales due to increased interest,” they purport. “It would have also strengthened the Band’s relationship with [tour promoter] Live Nation, which had previously discussed the prospect of subsequent tours.”
For his part, Farrell eventually apologized to his bandmates as well as Jane’s fans, saying his behavior was “inexcusable.”
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