It was the reunion that rock fans thought they’d never see. All four members of Jane’s Addiction — Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins, and Eric Avery — reunited on the stage for the first time in years to perform at the inaugural NME Awards USA at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles Wednesday.

The band — the first American group honored with the “Godlike Genius Award for Extraordinary Services to Music” — played a set of some of their biggest hits: “Stop,” “Mountain Song,” “Ocean Size” and an acoustic “Jane Says.”

“Here we go again. You up for it?” asked singer Perry Farrell, decked out in a dominatrix-like skintight black outfit complete with a horse’s tail and fairy-like ankle books. “It ain’t nothing without you all,” he said during the performance. “See, I do that in my living room in my underpants and it’s not as much fun.” (more…)

When Rock Daily brought you news that Jane’s Addiction would reunite to receive the NME’s Godlike Genius Award at the magazine’s April 23rd ceremony in Los Angeles, whether or not the group would perform was still up on the air. Tonight, though, comes confirmation that the band will indeed take the stage — with original bassist Eric Avery. “I’ve chosen to reject the prospects of reuniting in the past for personal and philosophical reasons,” Avery says in a statement. “I have always considered reunions to be a way to make a quick buck, and it sells short my own experience of it the first time around. The reason I started to even consider this is because it’s honoring the past instead of trying to recreate it.” It’ll be Avery’s first performance with Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins since 1991. As of now, the gig is being billed as “one night only” so don’t expect to see the original Jane’s at Lollapalooza this summer — yet.

[Photo: Cantor / Redferns/ Retna]

In August 2006 Dave Navarro told Jimmy Kimmel on national TV , ”Here’s the thing about Jane’s Addiction: As much as I love it and it was a huge part of my life, we have reunited three times in our career. When enough’s enough, you kind of pack it up.”

Apparently the guitarist spoke too soon, because the band is getting together once more — to accept a lifetime achievement-like honor — at the NME Awards at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles on April 23 (a performance is possible, but not confirmed). According to NME’s publishing director, Paul Cheal, Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins are all confirmed to appear, though it’s unclear whether original bassist Eric Avery or reunion bassist Chris Chaney will be joining them. The band will be presented with the NME Godlike Genius Award for Extraordinary Services to Music at the ceremony, which is being held in the U.S. for the first time in twenty-five years. (more…)