Founded in 1985, the Californian band Jane's Addiction initially made a name for themselves in the underground scene, but quickly became a reference and influence for more mainstream groups. The founder, Perry Farrell , is the creator of the Lollapalooza festival, an event where the band always performs.
The story behind the band's name is peculiar. Jane's Addiction took inspiration from Perry Farrell's former roommate, Jane Bainter , in the summer of 1985. They say that when things went wrong at the house where the vocalist lived, the chaos was often attributed to "Jane's addiction" to heroin.
When Farrell needed a name for his band, the phrase was already in his mind. Bainter recalls: “They jumped into my room one day and said, ‘Let’s call it Jane’s Addiction!’ I thought it was kind of a lame name. I didn’t consider it a tribute at all.” Besides the name, they also used Jane’s handwriting as the band’s logo.
According to Farrell, Jane's life initially inspired the lyrics of the song "Jane Says." In addition to her addiction, she had an abusive boyfriend named Sergio, who lived with Farrell and nearly a dozen other people in a house in Los Angeles, California.
For Blender magazine in 2006, Perry commented: “Around 1984, I rented a large house on Wilton, near Hancock Park, right in the heart of all the good things in Hollywood, but the whole neighborhood seemed run-down. I tricked the landlord into thinking I was a gay interior decorator instead of a punk rocker, and one of my roommates was Jane, a strangely beautiful and prosperous girl who got involved in the drug scene and fell in love with a drug dealer named Sergio.”
Jane was an intellectual and knew how to act aristocratically, even with a needle and a spoon on the table [for drug use]. I'm not sure if the song mythologized the neighborhood – St. Andrew's Place isn't anything special to look at – but I think it glamorized her life in a way. It was a great moment, though. When the landlord found out I wasn't a gay interior decorator, he came after me with a gun.”
Bainter claims she never received monetization from the band for the use of her image, name, or handwriting as a logo. She said: “I was never compensated for the use of my image, signature, or anything else by Warner Bros. or the band directly. It was never said that the reward would come later (at that time there was no money). But when the money flowed in, none of it came to me.” The current whereabouts of Jane, the inspiration behind Jane's Addiction, are unknown.
Check out Jane's handwriting as the band's logo.
Jane's Addiction is coming to Brazil on March 23rd and 25th to play a solo show and another at Lollapalooza . The group will feature Klinghoffer replacing Dave Navarro, who is not participating in the tour due to long-term COVID-19 complications .
Jane's Addiction's special performance at Audio is another production by Move Concerts, and tickets are already on sale at the Livepass website , with prices ranging from R$180.00 (half-price general admission) to R$500.00 (full-price VIP box).
READ ALSO: Jane's Addiction in Brazil: 3 reasons to go to the show
