It turns out we have Taylor Hawkins to thank for the original Jane’s Addiction lineup getting back together.
Perry Farrell, Stephen Perkins, Eric Avery, and temporary guitarist Josh Klinghoffer – David Navarro is sadly out of action due to Long COVID – are heading to Australia as Jane’s Addiction prepare to support The Smashing Pumpkins on The World Is A Vampire tour.
Avery only returned to the lineup last year following a 12-year absence, and the reconciliation was actually spurred on by Hawkins before his death last year.
“The seed was really planted by Taylor as an intermediary between Perry and I,” Avery told Rolling Stone AU/NZ in a wide-ranging interview ahead of the band’s trip Down Under. “He facilitated a conversation that Perry and I had, which was one of the best conversations that (we) had in decades.”
When Farrell reached out to Avery to discuss touring, the latter initially thought his former bandmate wanted to talk about doing something to celebrate the late, great Foo Fighters drummer.
“I didn’t know why Perry was reaching out, and I just assumed that it was about our shared love of Taylor, so I feel like his spirit is just all over this, and the fact that he so desperately wanted us all to play again… and he really wanted Perry and I to connect again; it’s all just his wish for Jane’s Addiction has come to fruition,” Avery explained.
While discussing the stress of travelling all the way to Australia, the band noted that Hawkins still remained firmly at the forefront of their minds.
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“We’re trying to kind of figure out what went wrong with Taylor, in a way,” Farrell said. “What was it that brought him down inevitably in the end? And what can we do learning the lesson? Because Taylor was almost there, but you know, he didn’t quite make it. And what was it exactly? So we’re trying to get there; we’re trying to get to the top of the mountain. But we’re trying to get there in one piece, you know what I mean?”
Hawkins’ push to reunite Jane’s Addiction paid off in the end: Avery, Farrell, and Perkins all told Rolling Stone AU/NZ that the band’s dynamic is stronger than it’s ever been following their recent touring schedule.
“We really got to be friends and really got to know each other as men – we really never had done that before, believe it or not,” Farrell insisted. “And that really bled into the music, and into the performance. We’re tight, man.”
