In the new issue of Classic Rock magazine, Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell reveals that he had his voice box removed during a recent operation on his vertebrae.
The 61-year-old vocalist underwent successful surgery for “crushed discs in his neck”, a condition caused “mostly from partying and leaning back my head to rip out notes, and surfing and dancing around,” he says.
“They had to remove my voice box and put it on a table,” Farrell tells Classic Rock. “That was daunting. They literally exposed my skeleton, took the discs out and put in artificial discs. So now I am a quarter inch taller and twice as attractive to my wife!”
This rather invasive bout of surgery doesn’t appear to have put a dent in Farrell’s stride, for the singer is currently working on new music for various projects. One new song, featuring an unlikely group of collaborators including Bon Jovi keyboard player David Bryan, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and guitarist Elliot Easton from The Cars, is titled Mend, with Farrell stating, “My anticipation is that after the [US] election we’re gonna need healing music, music to mend.”
Asked if there might be another album from Jane’s Addiction in his future plans, the singer says, “I wouldn’t think albums, I‘d think songs.”
“We’ve got so much Jane’s material in the can,” says Farrell. “We’ll be releasing a couple of tracks, maybe writing some new ones. Not this year, cos we’re getting late in the year. But I can tell you in the next month or so I’m gonna be finishing up a couple of Jane’s Addiction tracks.”
The new issue of Classic Rock, featuring AC/DC, Eddie Van Halen, Black Stone Cherry, Tom Morello, Blue Oyster Cult, Tyler Bryant and more, is out now.
