Dave Navarro
Former Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro
had planned to release an album this year by Spread, the new band he
formed recently with Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.
But label troubles have delayed the album's release and Navarro is now
concentrating on writing a book, "Trust No One." The tome -- which he is
writing with New York Times scribe Neil Strauss -- will focus on
a year in Navarro's life in his Los Angeles home, which includes a photo
booth he uses to take snapshots of all his visitors.
David Michael Navarro was born 32 years ago today in Santa Monica,
Calif. His mother and father, an illegal immigrant from Spain, divorced
when he was young. Navarro began playing guitar as a teenager.
When Navarro was 15, he witnessed the murders of his aunt and his mother
by his mother's ex-boyfriend. After the tragedy, Navarro began to take
drugs and focus on his music. When he was 18, Navarro formed the
speed-metal band Disaster with high-school friend Stephen Perkins.
Bassist Eric Avery asked Navarro to join the art punk band he was forming
with singer Perry Farrell and Jane's Addiction was born. Perkins became
the band's drummer and the group issued three LPs, including Nothing's
Shocking (1988) and Ritual de lo Habitual (1990).
Navarro often fought with Farrell, and bandmembers battled drugs. After
Jane's Addiction split, Navarro successfully completed a drug-rehabilitation
program. He and Avery then formed the short-lived Deconstruction with
drummer Mike Murphy.
In 1993 Navarro joined the punk-funk Red Hot Chili Peppers after turning
down a job offer from Guns N' Roses. His first gig with the Chili Peppers
was Woodstock '94. Navarro appeared on only one of the band's LPs, 1995's
One Hot Minute, which featured the cut "Aeroplane"
In 1997 Navarro participated in a tour by the briefly reunited Jane's
Addiction.
Last year Navarro resigned from the Chili Peppers. He said: "I still
love those guys to death and being a Chili Pepper was one of the best
experiences of my life. But in making this record (the still-unreleased
debut by his project Spread), I uncovered different areas of creativity
that I want to explore."
"This is a completely mutual parting based on creative differences,"
Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis said at the time. "We had fun and I
love the guy."
Navarro also sings lead on the Spread album, featuring such titles as
"Mourning Son" and "Cry Myself to Sleep" (which is about his mother's
murder). Smith has left the project to concentrate on the Chili Peppers.
"Spread is more or less like a child that was raised in a one-parent
household, just like I was," Navarro said. "The whole record was initially
about tackling my mother/girlfriend/wife issues, but it's become more
universal as it's gone on."
Navarro also models and appeared in the movie "Floundering" as a drug
addict. He is working on developing bands for his label, Spread
Entertainment, which has plans to reissue Lou Reed's 1975 noise-rock album
Metal Machine Music.
Other birthdays: Tom Jones, 59; The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, 41; and Eric Kretz (Stone Temple Pilots, Talk Show), 33.