Reunited Jane's Addiction Still Face Rocky Road, Says Farrell

Fans who bought tickets for the Jane's Addiction/Nine Inch Nails co-headlining tour this summer might want to hold on to their receipts: reports surfaced this weekend that the old wounds that originally tore apart the Perry Farrell-led Los Angeles band have been reopened. According to Reuters, Farrell says despite the hiccups, he is determined to make sure the group makes it through its touring obligations and beyond.

"I'm not going to tell you it's been all smooches and hugs. But it shouldn't be because that would be a bore," Farrell told Reuters at this weekend's Coachella festival. "If my band didn't have issues, if they didn't throw tantrums, I would think I was with a bunch of suckers. As long as they can handle it, I can handle it. After all we're just delivering music that people love, so how bad can it be? It could be worse." Farrell expressed similar sentiments when he last spoke with Rolling Stone at SXSW, too: "It's very awkward," he said, describing Trent Reznor's role during recording sessions as "referee."

While Jane's have had semi-reunions in the past with Farrell realigning with guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Steven Perkins, bringing bassist Eric Avery back into the band for the first time since their 1991 breakup seems to have exacerbated the band's already-rocky relationship. "I just talked to Eric man-to-man," he told Reuters. "We're different people, that's okay. ... I don't care that we butt heads as long as when we hit the stage we blast on people."

Before self-destructing, the reformed Jane's hope to release some music, probably opting for Reznor's approach of distributing songs for free over the Internet — Farrell told RS he is more interested in releasing singles than a full album ("The older cats, people love the songs, you don't have time for nine new songs"). The band previously rerecorded "Whores" and "Chip Away" and offered the tracks as a free download, a method they'll likely repeat for a new song called "Embrace the Darkness." "I see 100,000 people in the United Kingdom singing along to this song," Farrell said of the potential anthem. Barring an absolute blow-up, Jane's and NIN will kick off their tour together May 8th in Florida.

Related Stories:

• Perry Farrell Gets Shocked: Jane's Addiction Frontman on SXSW Gig, Reznor Sessions, Lollapalooza
• Jane's Addiction Rip Through Early Catalog at SXSW
• Photos: A Brief History of Jane's Addiction

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

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