Rock band Jane’s Addiction announced Monday it would cancel the remainder of its reunion tour in the United States and Canada, days after its lead singer, Perry Farrell, physically confronted his guitarist during a concert in Boston.
A message posted on Instagram said the band had made “the difficult decision to take some time away from home as a group.”
Jane’s Addiction, which rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s, was about halfway through its North American tour when the episode took place on Friday.
The tour was one of several reunions this year by rock bands that gained cult status in previous decades. It was the first tour by the original members of the band in 14 years, according to Rolling Stone.
The episode took place at the Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston. Video captured by onlookers and verified by Storyful shows the band’s lead singer, Farrell, confronting Dave Navarro, a guitarist, while the two were performing.
Farrell hit Navarro with his shoulder, then appeared to punch him before being physically restrained. In the videos, Farrell, who was yelling into a microphone, yelled at Navarro and then doubled over, appearing agitated.
Navarro shared a statement on his Instagram account on Monday saying that “our singer’s mental health struggles” were the reason the band decided they could not continue the tour.
The message, also signed by fellow band members Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins, said: “Our concern for his personal health and safety as well as our own has left us with no other alternative.”
The message ended: “Our hearts are broken.”
Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, said on Instagram after the concert that her husband had been distressed throughout the tour by the band’s loudness drowning out his voice. He suffered from tinnitus and a sore throat, she said.
Tensions boiled over that night. “He was just screaming to be heard,” she said in the post. She praised Navarro for staying calm, but also accused Avery of getting into the fight and punching Farrell, which was not caught on camera.
Jane’s Addiction formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s and are perhaps best known for the MTV hit “Been Caught Stealing” from the band’s 1990 album Ritual de lo Habitual. This was followed by the cult classic “Nothing’s Shocking” (1988) and a live album, “Jane’s Addiction” (1987). The song “Just Because” (2003) spent nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 72.
Farrell, 65, is known as a rock ‘n’ roll leader and also as a “hardcore impresario.” In 1991, Farrell founded the festival that would become synonymous with ’90s alternative rock, Lollapalooza, where Jane’s Addiction was one of the headliners.
Jane’s Addiction has regularly staged reunion tours, most notably in 2001. A review in the New York Times at the time described “Perry Farrell strutting around in flashy suits and feathered hats as he sang, and Dave Navarro, shirtless, striking classic heavy metal guitar poses.”
This year’s tour reunited the band’s original members, a rare treat for early fans.
The Boston stop comes more than halfway through the band’s North American tour. Fifteen scheduled shows, including one last weekend in Bridgeport, Connecticut, have been canceled due to the band’s decision.
Fans reacted to the post announcing the tour’s cancellation with a mixture of disappointment and support for the band for making the choice to prioritize Farrell’s mental health.
Some concertgoers reported that signs of trouble had been noticed before the Boston show. At a concert in New Orleans in late August, Mr. Farrell was yelling into the microphone and making strange comments between songs, according to George Ingmire, a fan of the band and a longtime producer and DJ who attended the show.
“He was making comments about New Orleans being a good place to get heroin. I found that offensive. I left halfway there,” Ingmire said in a telephone interview.
“I saw him in the ’80s,” he added of Farrell. “And it was magical. Maybe he was just as messy then, but I doubt it.”
