First Red Hot Chili Peppers, then Pearl Jam, now Josh Klinghoffer is playing with Jane’s Addiction

Jane’s Addiction’s Spirits On Fire tour hit Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday (November 12) and Josh Klinghoffer dropped in to treat fans to a three-song guest spot with the group. 

Klinghoffer joined Perry Farrell and co “fresh from Los Angeles” for a run that included Ocean Size, Three Days and, later in the set, Mountain Song. Naturally, fan footage soon followed and you can watch Klinghoffer’s first performance with the group – on Ocean Size, from 1988’s Nothing Shocking – below.

Klinghoffer appears to have been playing with the band since mid-October, first guesting during Three Days at the group’s Boston show on October 16, and gradually adding to his repertoire in the dates since.

It’s not as if the band is calling out for heavyweight guitar talent, either. Troy Van Leeuwen is currently touring with Jane’s Addiction, filling in for the still absent Dave Navarro, who continues to struggle with long Covid. 

Meanwhile, fans may have been forgiven for considering Josh Klinghoffer hard done by, following his friend John Frusciante’s return to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

However, it seems the guitarist has skipped from one dream jam to another ever since. There was that all-star jam with Farrell, Eddie Vedder, Chad Smith, Andrew Watt, Robert Trujillo, Charlie Puth et al from 2021, then he backed Eddie Vedder’s solo work and now he’s kept busy as Pearl Jam’s touring guitarist. It’s hard to think of another player with such an unrivalled resume of ’90s rock icons…