It’s not uncommon for bands to split or band members to walk away. For Jane’s Addiction it was a similar situation where the band’s co-founder bassist Eric Avery left and returned to the band several times. In hindsight, frontman Perry Farrell revealed that he had regrets about the initial breakup in 1991.
The singer spoke to Classic Rock in 2003 about which career move he would go back to and change. Farrell explained:
“In spite of what I’ve said, I deeply regret that the band broke up the first time. The problems we had were really all about treating each other with decency and with respect, and we didn’t have that. That always stuck in my side – why couldn’t I accomplish that? And if I could have it would’ve been a great thing from a career point of view and also from a personal point of view.”
The ongoing disputes during that time with Avery caused the bassist to leave. Perry shared that he wished he was able to look beyond their disagreements by adding:
“The act of forgiveness is huge. It’s the hardest thing and the greatest thing, and we didn’t quite accomplish that. We lost the bass player (Eric Avery) although we tried and tried.”
Even though it was a rough patch for Jane’s Addiction, Perry expressed that he was also happy to rock with their new bassist. He said:
“It was hard, but we were blessed too, because (new bassist) Chris Cheney came in, and I’m in love with Chris Cheney. He’s talented, sexy and dedicated and a great human being. So we got something great in him.”
Eric didn’t reunite with the band in 1997 nor 2001 but came back in 2008. However this reunion also didn’t last long as Avery left the second time in 2010. Finally, after a twelve year hiatus from Jane’s Addiction the bassist rejoined the band last summer.
You can read Perry Farrell’s 2003 interview with Classic Rock here.
