Musician and singer Perry Farrell is a versatile artist that we want to tell you a few facts about:
(Photo: The New York Times Style Magazine)
1. He is a Jew named Peretz Bernstein, born in Queens New York on March 29, 1959.
2. When he was only 3 years old his mother committed suicide.
3. This tragic event accompanied him years later. He wrote the songs "Then She Did" and "Twisted Tales" by "Jane's Addiction" about her.
4. The musical influences on him as a teenager were quite varied. "The Beatles", "The Rolling Stones", "Led Zeppelin", "Sly & The Family Stone", David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, and more.
5. After high school, in the early 1980s he moved to California. He lived in a car, surfed, and worked casual jobs like renovations and waitresses, while at the same time trying his luck at music.
6. He managed to mingle with local musicians and underground bands in Los Angeles, including "Red Hot Chili Peppers" members.
7. In 1983 he became the singer of the post-punk band "Psi.Com". The band managed to release a tape called "Worktape 1" in 1984 and an EP called "Psi.Com 12" in 1985, before disbanding.
8. Immediately after the dissolution of "Psi.Com" Farrell met Eric Avery through mutual friends. The two began playing together and these were the first buds of "Jane's Addiction".
9. Farrell chose the name of the band as a tribute to his roommate Jane Bainter.
10. After an exchange of drummers and guitarists, the band was formed with Stephen Perkins, who was a friend of Eric Avery's sister on drums, and Dave Navarro who was Perkins' friend on guitar.
(Photo: Places-concert.com)
11. The band started playing in clubs in Los Angeles and soon became the hot thing in the evolving alternative scene of L.A.
12. It was not long before the band began receiving offers for recording contracts from several record companies. The band finally signed with Warner Bros., in January 1987.
13. The band recorded their first album in a live performance, at the mythical "Roxy Theater", on January 26, 1987. the recordings cost only $ 4,000.
14. In August 1988, Farrell and the band released their second album, which is their first studio album - "Nothing's Shocking". The album has won many accolades and even entered the list of the 500 greatest albums of all time by "Rolling Stone" magazine.
15. Aside from writing the lyrics and participating in the composition of the music, Farrell also designed the iconic album cover and sculpted the girls on it.
16. In August 1990, the band released their third album "Ritual de lo Habitual", which caused a great sensation in the alternative scene and drew rave reviews from the audience and critics.
17. The barking dog in the song "Been Caught Stealing" from the album, was Farrell's dog running around the studio.
18. This album is also on the list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, as well as the list of "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". In this case, too, Farrell designed the album cover beyond his contribution to writing the material.
19. But just then, at the end of 1991 when the band was its pick and in the height of its success and popularity, "Jane Addiction" fell apart, partly due to Farrell's drug problems.
20. Before the band disbanded, Farrell, along with Ted Gardener and Marc Geiger, created the "Lollapalooza" festival, which was intended to include, among other things, the farewell show of the band. Other artists that performed at that first festival included ICE-T and "Nine Inch Nails."
21. Farrell will be responsible for the establishment of two more related festivals. Kidzapalooza - Children's Festival in 2005 and Purimpalooza - Purim Festival in 2006.
22. In 1992, Farrell formed the alternative band "Porno for Pyros" together with drummer Stephen Perkins from "Jane's Addiction".
23. The band released their first album "Porno for Pyros" in 1993 and their second album "Good God's Urge" in 1996, but disbanded immediately afterward due to the band's guitarist's illness.
24. In 1997, "Jane's Addiction" reunited and went on a tour with Flea of the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" as their bassist. This union also spawned the compilation album "Kettle Whistle" which features two new songs by the band.
25. In 1999 Farrell embarked on a solo career with the compilation album "Rev", which also included two new songs.
26. In 2001 Farrell released his first solo album "Song Yet to Be Sung", featuring lyrics influenced by Kabbalah.
27. Farrell is considered to have helped bring back the "Coachella" Festival after its cancellation in 2000. After the festival's commercial failure in 1999 and its cancellation in 2000, Farrell approached his fellow festival organizers with a proposal to reunite "Jane's Addiction" for a performance in honor of the festival.
28. "Jane's Addiction" has indeed reunited in honor of the occasion and since then a tradition of reunions has begun every year that the festival took place.
29. Following the success of the reunion of "Jane's Addiction" in honor of the "Coachella" festival, the band continued to perform in the years 2001-2003.
30. The reunion and tour gave birth to a comeback album - "Strays" which was released in 2003 and was a great commercial success. The album was produced by Bob Ezrin.
31. But internal frictions between the band members led to another disbandment in 2004.
32. That same year Farrell formed the band "The Satellite Party", with his wife Etty Lau Farrell.
33. The band released its first album in 2007 and it has collaborated with many artists such as: John Frusciante, Flea, Jack Irons, Peter Hook, and Fergie.
34. As part of his solo career Farrell released free songs to download from the internet. One of them "Go All the Way (Into the Twilight)" managed to enter the soundtrack of the movie "Twilight", in 2008.
35. That same year, "Jane's Addiction" reunited once more with the four original members, on the occasion of winning an award from NME Magazine.
36. In April 2009, a collection album by "Jane's Addiction" was released. It was called "A Cabinet of Curiosities" containing demos, cover versions, and rare recordings.
37. After Eric Avery left the band in 2009, Farrell and his remaining friends released the studio album "The Great Escape Artist", in 2011.
38. In 2011 Farrell came to perform in Israel with "Jane's Addiction".
39. In 2019, Farrell released the solo album "Kind Heaven".
40. Farrell is known as a lover of Israel. He tried to bring the "Lulhapaluza" Festival here in 2013, but due to financial and logistic problems, it did not materialize.