Jane’s Addiction Loses Another Bassist

McKagan, who was a former member of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver, was added to Jane’s Addiction’s lineup to replace original member Eric Avery.

After Avery left the band in March, McKagan made his live debut in April by jamming along with a few members of Jane’s at frontman Perry Farrell’s birthday party.

During the past few months McKagan played several gigs with Jane’s Addiction and helped work on its upcoming album.

Jane’s Addiction released a statement explaining that the band and McKagan were going their separate ways because of (what else?) musical differences.

“Hey we wanted to thank Duff for helping us write songs for our new record,” the band told Reuters via email. “We love the songs we worked on with him – and the gigs were a blast – but musically we were all headed in different directions. From here Duff is off to work on his own stuff so we wish him all the best.”

Although Jane’s Addiction’s official website hasn’t been updated, Farrell tweeted the following message on Sunday:

“Jane’s wishes Duff much luck with his band Loaded. What a fun time we all had working together. Look out for his record and tour this fall.”

Reuters notes that Jane’s Addiction has had five bass players since forming in 1985.

Avery played with the band from its formation in 1985 to its first break up in 1991. He then joined forces with Jane’s once again in 2008, marking the band’s first shows in five years and first gigs with the original lineup in 17 years. The bassist was replaced with a number of different players during previous reunion tours in 1997, 2001 and 2003.

Jane’s Addiction currently features Farrell on lead vocals, Dave Navarro on lead guitar and Stephen Perkins on drums. The band is working on a follow-up to its third studio album, 2003’s Strays.

Click here for the official Jane’s Addiction website. 

Click here for Perry Farrell’s Twitter page.

Click here for the Reuters article.