Perry Farrell's wife says he's seeking help after Dave Navarro fight

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Perry Farrell is seeking medical treatment after he tried to start a fight with his Jane’s Addiction bandmate Dave Navarro at a show in Boston earlier this month.

Farrell’s wife Etty Lau Farrell thanked fans for their “love, kindness, compassion and support” and promised that her husband “will persevere.”

“He will recover. He will be happy again. He will once again be able to share his music, vision and artistry – unbridled,” Etty wrote in an Instagram message that accompanied a photo that read, “Love. Kindness. Compassion. Grace.”

“We are taking a bit of time to ourselves, to reflect and to heal,” she shared. “Perry already has appointments with a otolaryngologist and a neurologist. If you know and love Perry well, you know there’s no need for me to address the other false narratives. Our souls know.”

Etty called Farrell the “gentlest of souls” and said they were both “astonished at Perry’s physical outburst as you are.”

“But you must know that Perry must had been pushed to his absolute limit,” she explained. “To that end we apologize.” 

As the regrouped ’90s rock act was nearing the end of its set earlier this month in Boston, Farrell, 65, was seen in videos posted to social media screaming into his mic before he lunged and took a swing at Navarro, bumping the guitarist with his shoulder and then trying to punch him. Farrell had to be restrained by crew members and bassist Eric Avery before he was ushered off stage.

Farrell’s wife said that the altercation came after mounting “tension and animosity” during the group’s latest tour, which the quartet scrapped entirely last week.

“Perry’s frustration had been mounting, night after night, he felt that the stage volume had been extremely loud and his voice was being drowned out by the band,” Etty Lau wrote in an Instagram message following the attack.

In an emailed statement to Postmedia, Farrell apologized to Navarro and the band’s fans for his “actions during Friday’s show.”

“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,” Farrell wrote. “Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behaviour, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”

Navarro addressed the onstage fracas that came as the group was performing their 1988 track Ocean Size in a message posted to his Instagram, in which he said the band were cancelling their tour “due to a continuing pattern of behaviour and the mental health difficulties of our singer Perry Farrell.”

“Our concern for his personal health and safety as well as our own has left us no alternative. We hope that he will find the help he needs,” Navarro’s message continued. “We deeply regret that we are not able to come through for all our fans who have already bought tickets. We can see no solution that would either ensure a safe environment on stage or reliably allow us to deliver a great performance on a nightly basis. Our hearts are broken.”

In a lengthy explanation posted to her Instagram following the fight, Etty shared “why” she thought her husband, who she said was suffering from “tinnitus and a sore throat every night,” lashed out at Navarro.

Etty said that Farrell “lost it” when audience members in the front started “cussing at him that the band was (playing) too loud and that they couldn’t hear him.”

After her partner’s outburst, Etty praised Navarro for looking “handsome and cool in the middle of a fight” and said that Farrell “was a crazed beast for the next half-an-hour.”

mdaniell@postmedia.com