JANE'S ADDICTION guitarist Dave Navarro is staging a benefit concert to raise awareness for mental health struggles and suicide prevention he’s calling "Above Ground". The event will benefit the Recording Academy's MusiCares foundation, and is set to feature an all-star lineup covering classic records from THE VELVET UNDERGROUND and ADAM AND THE ANTS.
Referring to SOUNDGARDEN's Chris Cornell and LINKIN PARK's Chester Bennington, who died of suicide last year, Navarro says: “We have lost a lot of friends this year, due to mental health issues. I don't have any insight as to what their mental health issues were or weren't, so I don't want to lump them in that category. … I'm not a doctor. I can't sit here and say what they did and didn't have, and what caused them to do what they did. I couldn't help but be brought back to the times when I had felt that lonely, that desperate, that suicidal, and I just want to change the playing field and let people know that there are options out there. It's okay to reach out for help."
Navarro went on to discuss the widely known fact that childhood trauma affects development and is a strong predictor of depression and suicide.
“In some cases, drug addiction was a massive factor, but you've got to look at the underlying thing. And usually, drug addiction comes from some early trauma. That is something that lends itself to a mental health issue. Trauma sufferers tend to reach for drugs. I can tell you for sure, suffering a massive trauma as a child, drugs were the natural option."
When Above Ground happens Monday night in Los Angeles, Navarro and Morrison will be joined by his Janes Addiction bandmate Chris Chaney, along with drummer Josh Freese , Billy Idol, Courtney Love, and Corey Taylor from SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR, and many other special guests.