Eric Avery

Eric Adam Avery (born April 25, 1965) is an American musician. He is best known as the founding bass guitarist and co-songwriter of the alternative rock band Jane’s Addiction, with whom he has recorded two studio albums. He is currently the touring and recording bassist for Garbage, which he joined in 2005 as a sideman, and with whom he has recorded three studio albums.

A core member of Jane’s Addiction during its initial lifespan, Avery co-founded the band in 1985 with frontman Perry Farrell, and recorded two studio albums, Nothing’s Shocking (1988) and Ritual de lo Habitual (1990), before the band’s acrimonious break-up in 1991. Following Jane’s Addiction’s dissolution, Avery and guitarist Dave Navarro formed Deconstruction with drummer Michael Murphy, releasing one studio album in 1994. The following year, Avery began a solo project named Polar Bear, which he focused on between 1995 and 2000. Declining to take part in Jane’s Addiction’s 1997 and 2001 reunions, Avery eventually rejoined the band in 2008. The original core line-up of the band embarked on a co-headlining tour with Nine Inch Nails, with Avery departing in 2010 due to ongoing tensions with Farrell.

Alongside his work with Jane’s Addiction, Avery is a former member of Alanis Morissette’s backing band, and has been a touring and session musician for Garbage since 2005, contributing to the albums, Not Your Kind of People (2012), Strange Little Birds (2016) and No Gods No Masters (2021). Avery unofficially joined The Smashing Pumpkins in 2006 for a short spell, and was briefly a member of the rock supergroup Giraffe Tongue Orchestra. In 2013, Avery joined Nine Inch Nails in preparation for their extensive Twenty Thirteen Tour, before parting ways with the project ahead of the tour’s commencement.

In 2022, Avery rejoined Jane’s Addiction after a twelve-year absence, in advance of a co-headlining tour with the Smashing Pumpkins.

To date, Avery has released two solo studio albums under his own name, Help Wanted (2008) and LIFE.TIME. (2013).