Dave Navarro (ex-Jane’s Addiction and Billy Morrison (Billy Idol) have announced the initial guest performers booked for their upcoming Above Ground benefit show. This fourth edition of the annual fundraising show will take place January 25th at The Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, CA.
Navarro and Morrison will be leading a stacked roster of guest musicians through performances of the self-titled debut albums from New York Dolls and The Cars during that show. They’ve also enlisted the following guests to join them throughout the night:
Billy Howerdel (A Perfect Circle)
Billy Idol
Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses)
Elliot Easton (The Cars)
Jerry Cantrell (Alice In Chains)
Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads/Modern Lovers)
Josh Freese (Foo Fighters)
Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray)
Steve Stevens (Billy idol)
Tommy Henriksen (Alice Cooper/Hollywood Vampires)
Further guests for the event are pending. Morrison commented of covering the aforementioned two albums:
“Dave and I love albums that sit closer to the ‘art’ side of things, and that are a bit of a challenge to recreate. We just do our best to honor the records, to get the parts and the tones correct, to not just hack through bad cover versions of these important songs. So, we don’t really try to put a ‘spin’ on them but rather present these albums as they were meant to be heard, every song in order, sounding as close as we can get to the original.”
Navarro stated of the charitable intentions and return of the benefit show:
“‘Above Ground‘ 3 was a great success, but I got really sick with COVID after that show. And it’s been over two years until I was well enough to get back on stage. And as I continue to heal, we thought this is the time! We have work to do and we need to remind people, especially through the holidays, that it’s ok to ask for help! I really look forward to getting on stage with my friends and recreating this seminal music while at the same time having some fun and raising money for MusiCares.”
Morrison added:
“The need to shine a light on mental health doesn’t go away. And I think that Dave and I work so well together on these ‘Above Ground‘ events that it just felt right to come back with the fourth show. We both have our own mental health battles on different levels and if we can help raise some funds and awareness, then we are doing a good thing.”
As stated by Navarro above, proceeds from the show are expected to go towards MusiCares.
