Perry Farrell | |
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Perry Farrell performing with Jane's Addiction at BFD 2012
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Background information | |
Birth name | Peretz Bernstein |
Also known as | DJ Peretz |
Born |
Queens, New York City, New York, U.S. |
March 29, 1959
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Instruments | |
Years active | 1981–present |
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Perry Farrell (born Peretz Bernstein; March 29, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the frontman for the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction. Farrell created the touring festival Lollapalooza as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction in 1991; it has since evolved into an annual destination festival. Farrell continues to produce Lollapalooza with partners William Morris Agency and C3. Farrell has also led the alternative rock groups Porno for Pyros and Satellite Party. He is the only person who has performed at all twelve Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festivals to date, having appeared under five different names (Perry Farrell, Jane's Addiction, DJ Peretz, Satellite Party, and with Hybrid).
Born as Peretz Bernstein in Queens, New York City, New York, he spent his grade-school years in Woodmere, Long Island, and moved to Miami, Florida with his Jewish family during his teens. His father was a jeweler and his mother was an artist who committed suicide when Farrell was three, an event later noted in the Jane's Addiction songs "Then She Did" and "Twisted Tales." According to a Howard Stern interview on June 3, 1997, Farrell believes aliens visit him and he accepts the knowledge and spirituality they bring.
His early musical influences included The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Sly & The Family Stone and James Brown. Soon after, he discovered David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. Following graduation from high school, Farrell moved to California in the early 1980s to live as a surfer. There, he lived in his car and made money working construction and waiting tables. Farrell has been sighted at premier surfing destinations throughout the world, most notably Bali, in 2001.