Rock band Jane's Addiction.
Credit: Insta/@janesaddiction
Rock band Jane's Addiction announced Monday that it would cancel the remainder of its reunion tour in the United States and Canada days after its singer, Perry Farrell, physically confronted its guitarist at a concert in Boston.
A message posted to Instagram said the band had made "the difficult decision to take some time away as a group."
Jane's Addiction, which rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s, was about halfway through its North America tour when the episode took place Friday.
The tour was one of several reunions convened this year by rock bands that gained cult followings in earlier decades. It was the first tour by the original band members in 14 years, according to Rolling Stone.
The episode took place at the Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston. Video captured by concertgoers and verified by Storyful showed Farrell confronting Dave Navarro, a guitarist, as the two performed.
Farrell slammed his shoulder into Navarro, then appeared to throw a punch at him before being physically restrained. In the videos, Farrell, who had been yelling vocals into a microphone, shouted at Navarro and then doubled over, appearing agitated.
Navarro shared a statement on his Instagram account Monday saying that "the mental health difficulties of our singer" were the reason the band had decided it could not go forward with the tour.
The message, which was also signed by the group's other members, Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins, said, "Our concern for his personal health and safety as well as our own has left us no alternative."
The message ended: "Our hearts are broken."
On Monday, a representative for Farrell shared a statement from the singer.
"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. "Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation."
Farrell's wife, Etty Lau Farrell, said on Instagram after the concert that her husband had been upset throughout the tour about the band's sound levels drowning out his vocals. He was suffering from tinnitus and a sore throat, she said.
The tension spilled over that night. "He was screaming just to be heard," she said in the message. She praised Navarro for keeping calm but also accused Avery of entering the fight and punching Farrell, something which was not caught on video.
Jane's Addiction formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s and is perhaps best known for the MTV hit "Been Caught Stealing" from the band's 1990 album "Ritual de lo Habitual" (1990). It followed the cult favorite "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 No. 72.
Farrell, 65, is known as a rock 'n' roll frontman and also as an "inveterate impresario." In 1991, Farrell created the festival that would become synonymous with '90s alternative rock, Lollapalooza, where Jane's Addiction was a headlining act.
Jane's Addiction has periodically held reunion tours, including in 2001. A review in The New York Times at the time described "Perry Farrell strutting in flashy suits and feathered hats as he sang, and the bare-chested Dave Navarro striking classic heavy-metal guitar poses."
This year's tour brought together original band members, a rare treat for early fans.
The stop in Boston came more than halfway through the band's North America tour. Fifteen scheduled shows, including one this past weekend in Bridgeport, Connecticut, were called off as a result of the band's decision.
Fans reacted to the message announcing the tour's cancellation with a mix of disappointment and support for the band for having made the choice to prioritize Farrell's mental health.
Some concertgoers said there were signs of a problem before Boston's show. At a concert in New Orleans in late August, Farrell was screeching into the microphone and making strange comments between songs, according to George Ingmire, a fan of the group and a longtime radio producer and DJ who attended the show.
"He was making comments about New Orleans being a good place to score heroin. I found that offensive. I left halfway through," Ingmire said in a telephone interview.
"I saw him back in the 1980s," he added of Farrell. "And it was magical. Maybe he was as much of a mess then, but I doubt it."