Former Red Hot Chili Peppers and current Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro was recently interviewed by The Hype Magazine. Below is an excerpt.
In between your time with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Deconstruction and Jane’s Addiction, you did have a solo career going, and a lot of your success has been spread out between different projects. Have you ever thought about doing a tour where you play all of your hits from over the years?
Dave Navarro: No, actually. That’s interesting. I feel like any Chili Peppers material wouldn’t be right to play without them, unless it was a cover under unusual circumstances, like playing with friends. But to put together a tour hasn’t really crossed my threshold. We’re still pretty active in Jane’s Addiction and we get a lot out of that. To be honest, I really love my position in Jane’s Addiction. I didn’t necessarily love touring as a lead singer. I liked singing on the record, but I didn’t enjoy that position. I think that I’m fortunate enough to have someone like Perry [Farrell] take that role, and he’s amazing at it. I like being the guitar player. (laughs)
Speaking of Jane’s Addiction, you have the upcoming Rhonda’s Kiss benefit. How did you get involved with that cause?
Dave Navarro: I have been playing with Dave Kushner for about 30 years. He is from Velvet Revolver, of course. He and his wife have been very active with Rhonda’s Kiss and so for the past couple of years, through Dave I was brought into the organization and had an opportunity to contribute for the past two or three years. We would play with different people, like Juliette Lewis and Mark McGrath, Billy Gibbons, just to raise some awareness and money for this cause, which is to help people with cancer…
The financial burden of that disease is so overwhelming, in addition to just having the disease, a lot of people just can make ends meet. Rhonda’s Kiss provides resources because, you think about the trauma of being diagnosed with cancer, or not having the facilities to get screened, and then it’s dumped in your lap and you have no way to pay for your care… That’s what Rhonda’s Kiss tries to do. It has just been a no-brainer for me. It’s the holiday season, it’s time to give back, be grateful for what you have and do something for the bigger picture. I can’t think of something better to do than share the stage with my friends and do what we love to do and bring joy to the people who come to see it, and raise awareness and money for families that are struggling.
