Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro and Billy Morrison have confirmed the first acts for the fourth ‘Above Ground’ benefit show early next year.
They will be joined by the likes of Billy Idol, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Guns N’ Roses‘ Duff McKagan, performing the classic debut albums by New York Dolls and The Cars in full.
Also set to perform are Billy Howerdel (A Perfect Circle), Elliot Easton (The Cars), Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads/Modern Lovers), Josh Freese (Foo Fighters), Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), and Tommy Henriksen & Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper, Hollywood Vampires). More will be added in the coming weeks.
The gig will take place on January 25 at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, California. Proceeds will be donated to MusiCares via Above Ground, a “registered 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to raising funds for and awareness to the issues of mental health and suicide prevention.”
“Dave and I love albums that sit closer to the ‘art’ side of things, and that are a bit of a challenge to recreate,” said Morrison. “We just do our best to honor the records, to get the parts and the tones correct, to not just hack through bad cover versions of these important songs. So, we don’t really try to put a ‘spin’ on them but rather present these albums as they were meant to be heard, every song in order, sounding as close as we can get to the original.”
Billy Idol, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Guns N’ Roses Duff McKagan Dave Navarro, Billy Morrison, and more will perform classic albums by New York Dolls and The Cars at the “Above Ground 4” benefit concert → https://t.co/BPdH9jvWdQ pic.twitter.com/YPDpKgpSrP
— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) December 12, 2024
The last edition of Above Ground took place in 2021 and is only just returning now due to Navarro’s battle with long Covid.
“Above Ground 3 [2021] was a great success, but I got really sick with COVID after that show,” he said. “And it’s been over two years until I was well enough to get back on stage. And as I continue to heal, we thought this is the time!
“We have work to do and we need to remind people, especially through the holidays, that it’s OK to ask for help! I really look forward to getting on stage with my friends and recreating this seminal music while at the same time having some fun and raising money for MusiCares.”
“The need to shine a light on mental health doesn’t go away,” added Morrison. “And I think that Dave and I work so well together on these AG events that it just felt right to come back with the fourth show. We both have our own mental health battles on different levels and if we can help raise some funds and awareness, then we are doing a good thing.”
Navarro returned to the stage with Jane’s Addiction earlier this year but the reunion was short lived after an incident on stage in Boston, where frontman Perry Farrell shoved Navarro mid-performance and the set ended abruptly. Jane’s Addiction subsequently cancelled their remaining dates and confirmed a hiatus, citing the frontman’s “mental health difficulties”. The band’s guitar tech later said Farrell punched Navarro backstage.
