Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery has quit the band — and the alt-rock mainstays have already announced the hired gun set to fill his shoes: former Guns N’ Roses low-ender Duff McKagan.
Avery, who co-founded Jane’s in 1985 and rejoined the band in 2008 for their first reunion since splitting in 1991, announced his departure via Twitter early Monday morning after the quartet wrapped their world tour in Australia.
“That’s it,” he wrote. “With equal parts regret and relief, the Jane’s Addiction experiment is at an end.”
According to the Guardian, McKagan will join the band to work on their first studio album since 2003’s Strays, released during the first Jane’s “reunion,” which featured Alanis Morissette’s bassist Chris Chaney.
In response to Avery’s retirement, singer Perry Farrell offered this vague message on Twitter. “Slipping out of that shell of a past. Gripping; wow we’re onto something faster now. And so worth the wait. It’s the Art Of Great Escape.”
Avery’s departure doesn’t come as a complete surprise. The 44-year-old, who had been counting down the dates of the band’s tour on Twitter, has been absent from publicity photos and the group’s new recording efforts. In late January, Farrell Tweeted that he, guitarist Dave Navarro, and drummer Stephen Perkins were working “with [a] new writing partner. Felt like old days, except no cassette recorder. Crafting w/Protools,” he wrote. Subsequently, Avery replied to fans’ queries, Tweeting, “to answer the question directly, I am not writing with Jane’s Addiction.”
McKagan’s entrance comes after the original Jane’s quarter tried and failed at recording a new album. “Things got kind of ugly,” Farrell told The Pulse of Radio of the band’s studio sessions. “The headbutting really came out when we tried to write.” [Via Blabbermouth]
So, SPIN readers, what do you think of Avery’s departure and McKagan’s entrance? Tell us in the comment section below.
