Jane's Addiction

Jane's Addiction in 2009

Jane's Addiction is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band is currently composed of core members Perry Farrell (vocals), Dave Navarro (guitar), and Stephen Perkins (drums). For the majority of the band's career, its bassist has been Eric Avery. After breaking up for the first time in 1991, Jane's Addiction briefly reunited in 1997 and again in 2001; both times, Avery declined to participate, and the band has used several bassists in his place. In 2009, the band's "classic" lineup, featuring Avery, reunited to tour with NIN for the Wave Goodbye Tour.

Biography

Formation and Jane's Addiction (1985–1987)

Jane's Addiction formed out of the ashes of frontman Perry Farrell's previous band, Psi-com. In mid-1985, Farrell was searching for a new bass player for the faltering Psi-com when he was introduced to Eric Avery. Farrell and Avery bonded over a mutual appreciation for Joy Division and The Velvet Underground and began to practice together, even though Avery never did become a full-fledged member of Farrell's disintegrating group. The new band was dubbed "Jane's Addiction" in honor of Farrell's housemate, Jane Bainter, who was addicted to drugs. In its early incarnation, Jane's Addiction went through three guitarists and featured Matt Chaikin, formerly of Kommunity FK, on drums.

After Chaikin failed to show up for several rehearsals, Farrell began seeking a new drummer. Avery's younger sister Rebecca suggested her boyfriend Stephen Perkins. Avery was uncertain because of their differing tastes in music, but eventually relented.[5] After Perkins was hired, the drummer and Rebecca Avery promised to get their friend Dave Navarro into the group. Based on Perkins' recommendation, the band auditioned Navarro and subsequently hired him.

Jane's Addiction became a sensation on the Los Angeles club scene, primarily headlining at Scream. The band soon gained interest from a variety of record labels. While the group had decided to sign with Warner Bros. Records, Jane's Addiction insisted on releasing its debut on independent record label Triple X Records first. The band's manager negotiated the largest advance up to that point, with Warner Bros. signing the band for between $250,000 to $300,000. In January 1987, the band recorded its debut record Jane's Addiction during a live performance at the Roxy Theatre for a cost of $4,000. Before the album was released, Jane's Addiction supported British band Love and Rockets on a two-month tour in late 1987.

Nothing's Shocking (1988)

In January 1988, Jane's Addiction went into the studio to record its first studio album, Nothing's Shocking. Warner Bros. gave Jane's Addiction a list of producers to choose from, but the group chose Dave Jerden.

Nothing's Shocking was released in 1988. "Mountain Song" was released as a single; MTV refused to air the song's music video due to a scene containing full frontal nudity. Farrell then decided to release the music video commercially with added live footage to create the Soul Kiss home video. Due to lack of airplay on MTV and modern rock radio, the album only sold 200,000 to 250,000 copies in its first year of release.

Ritual de lo Habitual and first breakup (1989–1991)

Jane's Addiction was scheduled to begin recording its next album in mid-1989. Navarro later stated he had almost no recollection of working on the album due to his addiction to heroin. Ritual de lo Habitual was released in 1990. To support the album, the band embarked on a 13-month tour. Farrell recalled, "That thirteen-month tour behind Ritual was half the reason we wound up unable to stand one another. The other half is that I am an intolerable narcissist who can't get along with anyone."

Jane's Addiction in 1990

Part of the tour included headlining the first Lollapalooza Festival, which travelled across North America in mid-1991. The festival, created by Perry Farrell and Marc Geiger, was to become a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction, but at the same time it was a music festival with bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Butthole Surfers, Fishbone, The Rollins Band, The Violent Femmes, Body Count, and Ice T. During this time Jane's Addiction began to get more exposure than they had ever before. "Been Caught Stealing" and "Stop!" became smash hit singles and received solid amounts of air time on MTV. During the very first Lollapalooza show, Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro got into a fight onstage after the two had begun violently bumping each other mid-song. The band walked off stage, but came back to play an encore, but the fight continued and Navarro eventually threw his guitar up into the crowd. The band however, continued the tour and played about 25 more Lollapalooza shows.

In late 1991, Avery told Navarro that he planned on leaving the band. Navarro quickly agreed to doing the same thing. The two told management, who in turn tried to convince them to play in Japan, but Avery and Navarro only wanted to play as much was contractually obligated. Jane's Addiction played its last shows in Australia and Hawaii before disbanding.

Solo projects and 1997 reunion (1992–2001)

The band members pursued other projects in the 1990s. Farrell and Perkins formed another band, Porno for Pyros, and had some success with their two albums, Porno For Pyros (1993) and Good God's Urge (1996); meanwhile, Avery and Navarro formed Deconstruction and put out a self-titled one-off album in 1994. Dave Navarro joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1993 and in the same year Stephen Perkins started a band named Banyan, with core members Nels Cline, Mike Watt, and Willie Waldman (with revolving studio guests). Banyan have released three albums as of 2008, their self titled-debut, Any Time at All and Live At Perkins Place.

Dave Navarro and the Red Hot Chili Peppers's Flea joined Porno for Pyros to record "Hard Charger" in 1997 for Howard Stern's movie, Private Parts soundtrack which led to a brief Jane's Addiction Relapse tour with Flea replacing Avery as bassist, after he declined an invitation to rejoin the band. They produced a compilation album titled Kettle Whistle. This album featured two new songs with Flea contributing the bass parts.

Strays (2001–2004)

The 2001 Jubilee Tour featured all the old Jane's Addiction songs, while showcasing the recent solo release from Navarro, Trust No One. Fans were told to expect a "Sexual Psycho Circus, I am not sure if you will want to quote me on that, but fans will see half-naked, penny rafters, guitar solos, and tribal drums..." This was exactly what the fans got. During renditions of Classic Girl, illuminated, scantily clad stage dancers filled the arenas. For the tour, again Avery declined any involvement. With Flea busy with the Chili Peppers, Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn LeNoble was brought in to fill the gap. Following the success of this tour, the band decided to record a follow-up album to 1990's Ritual De Lo Habitual and tapped Chris Chaney to replace LeNoble on bass. They entered the studio with legendary producer Bob Ezrin in 2001, recording as a band for the first time in over 10 years. The result was the group's final album, Strays. Some of the songs (or parts of songs) dated far back in the band's history, while others were brand new. Criticism was generally favorable, with Rolling Stone reporting that "The band sounds familiar" and "beefier" though without the "glint of madness" of the original line-up. The first single, "Just Because", was the biggest single for the band to date, landing at number one on the Billboard 100 charts, though the sixth song on the record, "Superhero", garnered much more exposure as the featured theme song of HBO's hit series Entourage.

The band spent 2003 on an extensive worldwide tour in support of Strays, including, in a homecoming of sorts, a summer headliner slot in a reincarnated Lollapalooza U.S. tour. Jane's Addiction once again broke up towards the end of their 2003 touring with Marilyn Manson and canceled several dates. Although exact details surrounding the band's demise are sparse, Navarro claimed on his website, in June 2004, that the reasons for the breakup were essentially the same as they were in 1991.

Second breakup (2004–2008)

Jane's Addiction performed at the first-ever NME Awards USA on April 23, 2008, with the reunited core line-up of Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Eric Avery, and Stephen Perkins. This was the first performance with bassist Eric Avery since 1991, taking place after their acceptance speech for the "Godlike Genius Award". To follow this up, the original line up performed their first full set in 17 years in Los Angeles on October 23, 2008 at La Cita Bar, and played two further club gigs at the El Cid in Los Angeles on November 20.[21] and the Echoplex on February 16, 2009. On April 11, 2009 they had a birthday bash for Perry that included members of Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros on the same stage, the bash was nicknamed Perrypalooza.

Around this time, photos of Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Eric Avery, and Stephen Perkins, taken by Trent Reznor, appeared on Nine Inch Nails' official web site, leading to speculation that Reznor could be helping Jane's Addiction record new material. Reznor subsequently posted a blog entry announcing that Jane's Addiction would accompany Nine Inch Nails on their summer 2009 tour, which kicked off on May 8 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Reunion and NIN/JA Tour (2008–2010)

Jane's Addiction performed at the first-ever NME Awards USA on April 23, 2008, with the reunited core line-up of Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Eric Avery, and Stephen Perkins. This was the first performance with bassist Eric Avery since 1991, taking place after their acceptance speech for the "Godlike Genius Award". To follow this up, the original line up performed their first full set in 17 years in Los Angeles on October 23, 2008 at La Cita Bar, and played two further club gigs at the El Cid in Los Angeles on November 20. and the Echoplex on February 16, 2009. On April 11, 2009 they had a birthday bash for Perry that included members of Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros on the same stage, the bash was nicknamed Perrypalooza.

Around this time, photos of Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Eric Avery, and Stephen Perkins, taken by Trent Reznor, appeared on Nine Inch Nails' official web site, leading to speculation that Reznor could be helping Jane's Addiction record new material.[23] Reznor subsequently posted a blog entry announcing that Jane's Addiction would accompany Nine Inch Nails on their summer 2009 tour, which kicked off on May 8 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

To accompany the tour, newly recorded versions of "Chip Away" and "Whores" have been released for free via the official tour website.[25] Regarding the tracks, Perry Farrell states that: "just to get some creative juice flowing, we went into the studio for about two weeks. We had the idea to re-record two tunes, just because they'd never been done officially in the studio. And we had some fun writing some new things. A handful that are close to finished, but not quite done. But there's no rush to put anything out at this point."[26] Discussing the tracks on his blog, guitarist Dave Navarro stated, "The thinking being that we wanted to give our longtime listeners something to celebrate the tour and "Whores" has always been one of the tracks that defined Jane's early on."

A box-set, entitled A Cabinet of Curiosities, was also released to accompany the NIN/JA tour in April 2009.

While Jane's Addiction were booked to play the Splendour in the Grass festival in Australia, medical problems have prevented the band making the trip down under. Music Feeds reports that an arm infection, probably that of drummer Stephen Perkins, is the cause of the cancellation. The entire Australian tour has been cancelled, though Jane's Addiction state that they will return to Australia as soon as possible.

Jane's Addiction performed at the 2009 Voodoo Fest held at City Park in New Orleans, Lousiana over Halloween weekend.

Jane's Addiction returned to Australia in February 2010 for the Soundwave Festival. Eric Avery subsequently left the band following the completion of the festival, stating: "thats it. with equal parts regret and relief, the janes addiction experiment is at an end."

Current Events (2009-2010)

Avery subsequently left the band in early 2010, as the group began work on new material. Following Avery's departure and the completion of the Soundwave Festival, vocalist Perry Farrell stated:

"Everyone is so excited to get home now and start working on a new record and a show. I wrote a song today, "The Great Escape Artist" and I am going to write at least three more on the way back to LA. All I keep thinking is; 'This is the beginning of …something that already feels great; I cannot wait."

Legacy

Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands to emerge from the early 1990s alternative rock movement to gain mainstream media attention and commercial success in the United States. Their initial farewell tour launched the first Lollapalooza festival, an alternative rock showcase. As a result, Jane's Addiction became icons of what Farrell dubbed the "Alternative Nation." The band is ranked 35th on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" list.

Current Lineup

Perry Farrell: Vocals (1985–present)
Duff McKagen: Bass (2010–present)
Dave Navarro: Guitar (1985–present)
Stephen Perkins: Drums (1985–present)

Former Members

Eric Avery: Bass (1985–1991, 2008–2010)
Flea: Bass (1997)
Martyn LeNoble: Bass (2001–2002)
Chris Chaney: Bass (2002–2004)

Body of Work

Studio Albums

Nothing's Shocking (1988)
Ritual de lo Habitual (1990)
Strays (2003)

EPs

NINJA 2009 Summer Tour EP (2009)

Live Albums

Jane's Addiction (1987)

Compilations

Live and Rare (1991)
Kettle Whistle (1997)
Up From The Catacombs: The Best of Jane's Addiction (2006)
A Cabinet Of Curiosities (2009)

Trivia

The song "Had A Dad", from the band's 1988 album Nothing's Shocking, is sampled in "Ringfinger".