Jane's Addiction

Led by flamboyant front man Perry Farrell, Jane's Addiction set alight a growing Los Angeles rock scene in the mid-1980s that included Red Hot Chili, Guns N' Roses and Thelonious Monster. Pumped up on psyched-out, hard-edged, alternative rock, a record industry bidding war soon erupted, but the band insisted on releasing debut album Nothing's Shocking (1988) on independent label Triple X Records, before signing to Warner Bros. It received acclaimed reviews and won them support slots with Iggy Pop and The Ramones, but MTV banned the video to single Mountain Song because of nudity, and sales slumped. A darker, more emotional side appeared on second album Ritual de lo Habitual (1990) as Farrell chronicled his mother's suicide and the heroin overdose of a close friend. Commercial success followed as the album broke into the US Top 20 and produced the hit singles Stop! and Been Caught Stealing. The following draining 13-month tour included the first Lollapalooza festival - which Farrell helped set up - but the band split soon after bust-ups on stage and Farrell went on to form Porno For Pyros whilst Dave Navarro join the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The band reformed in 2001 for the Jubilee tour and released the US Number 4 album Strays (2003). They again split in 2004, but reformed in 2008 when they won the Godlike Genius Awards at that year's NME USA Awards and went on to support Nine Inch Nails and make a number of festival appearances.

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