Jane’s Addiction Concert Ends After Frontman Perry Farrell Punches Guitarist Dave Navarro Onstage, Band Cancels Tour

On Friday, a Jane’s Addiction concert ended suddenly in Boston after frontman Perry Farrell punched guitarist Dave Navarro in an onstage outburst. 

In video footage of the Boston show that fans had captured, Farrell was in the middle of performing “Ocean Size” when he started grunting and yelling at the crowd, “F—- you.”

The singer approached Navarro, shoving him. Farrell momentarily backs up but then tried to confront the guitarist again while Navarro calmly attempted to create space between the two with his arm. 

In turn, Farrell punched Navarro’s chest, prompting several crew members to separate the bandmates. They escorted the singer offstage as the lights are lowered on stage. 

The remaining band members—Navarro, Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins —stepped forward to bid the crowd farewell. 

On Saturday, Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, posted about the incident on Instagram. 

“Clearly, there had been a lot of tension and animosity between the members,” she wrote. “The magic that made the band so dynamic. Well, the dynamite was lit. Perry got up in Dave’s face and body-checked him.”

According to Etty, Perry’s frustration with sound levels on stage had been increasing night after night. “He felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud, and his voice was being drowned out by the band,” she had written. “Perry had been suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat every night. But when the audience in the first row started complaining up to Perry, cussing at him that the band was planning [sic] too loud and that they couldn’t hear him, Perry lost it.”

Photographer Brian MacKenzie, who shot the show for the venue, posted on X that the audience thought the incident between the band members was just a bit. 

Following the incident between Farrell and Navarro, the singer issued an apology. “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,” he said in a statement. “Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”

As a result of Friday’s chaotic scene, Navarro, Perkins and Avery issued a joint statement on Instagram on Monday morning expressing their regret to fans and for the cancellation of the rest of the reunited band’s U.S. tour.

“Due to a continuing pattern of behavior and the mental health difficulties of our singer Perry Farrell, we have come to the conclusion that we have no choice but to discontinue the current U.S. tour,” the members wrote. “Our concern for his personal health and safety, as well as our own, has left us no alternative. We hope that he will find the help he needs.”