David Michael Navarro (born June 7, 1967) is an American guitarist who plays in the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction and cover band Camp Freddy. He has also played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Panic Channel.

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Personal life

Early life

Navarro was born in Santa Monica, California, to James Raul Navarro and Constance Colleen Hopkins. Navarro's paternal grandfather was a Mexican immigrant. ^[1] His mother Constance worked as a model, appearing on the television show Let's Make a Deal . Navarro was the only person in his paternal family not to speak Spanish, as James and Constance divorced when he was 7 and he spent the majority of his time with his mother. As a child, he would occasionally travel to Texas to visit with extended family, most notably his cousin, Michael Navarro of Dickinson. He attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, CA. He later transferred to University High School in Los Angeles, CA.

Connie Navarro was murdered by her boyfriend eight years after the divorce. Her killer was arrested in 1991, ^[2] thanks to a viewer tip after Navarro appeared on the television series, America's Most Wanted . After his mother's death, he moved in with his father.

Relationships

Navarro has been married and divorced three times. He married his first wife, make-up artist Tania Goddard, in a pagan ceremony ^[3] in 1990 and his second wife, Rhian Gittins, in a civil ceremony on October 15, 1994. Navarro married model and actress Carmen Electra, on November 22, 2003. On July 17, 2006, Navarro and Electra announced their split to Star Magazine. Navarro posted a message on his blog the following morning saying "I just want to say thanks for all of your love and support. I'm sure that you can understand that I wish to keep all personal matters private." Electra filed for divorce on August 8, 2006.

Professional career

Early career

On his Instructional Guitar DVD Navarro tells how he started playing guitar at the age 7 after hearing a Jimi Hendrix song at a skate park.

1986-1993

Navarro joined the band Jane's Addiction in 1986 as the lead guitarist after he was recommended to vocalist Perry Farrell by drummer Perkins. The band also featured Navarro's childhood friend Eric Avery on bass. The band became successful and was popular in the alternative-rock music scene. Personal tensions, however, led to their breakup in 1991. The Lollapalooza festival was created by Farrell as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction.

In 1993, Navarro formed Deconstruction with Avery on vocals and bass and Michael Murphy on drums, and the band put out one self-titled album in 1994. Rick Rubin was involved in the production and Gibby Haynes makes a guest appearance. They did not tour due to Avery's exhaustion after Jane's Addiction.

1993-Present

Navarro joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in September 1993. There he played on his only album with the band One Hot Minute in 1995. After touring for two years in support of the album, he left in April 1998 due to his furthering drug addiction while the other members were trying to get clean. Since then he was involved in numerous projects, including TV, and has rejoined Jane's Addiction and made a solo album called Trust No One in 2001. In 2007 Navarro teamed with Teravision to direct his first adult movie Broken starring Sasha Grey in the first of a planned series of celebrity-directed adult movies ^[4] This effort won "Best High End All-Sex Release" at the 2008 AVN Awards. ^[5] Navarro has also made appearances in Season 1 and Season 2 of ZRock ^[6] with Brooklyn-based band ZO2 on IFC ^[7].

Equipment of choice

During the first few years of Jane's Addiction, Dave played a black Gibson Les Paul. Around the time of the band's major label debut Nothing's Shocking in 1988, he played Ibanez RG series guitars, including one custom painted with the album cover art. He is seen in the film "Gift" and the "Stop" video playing a blue Ibanez RG, which suggests it was used in the recording of the album Ritual de lo Habitual . During the 1990 Ritual tour, he primarily played a custom-shaped single cutaway gold Ibanez.

Dave began using PRS Guitars on the Lollapalooza tour in 1991. His signature model white PRS is now his number one stage guitar. He has several models in his regular stage and studio rig.

He used a Parker Fly Deluxe for the Chili Peppers days during the live versions of "My Friends". He used it for its super clean tones and its piezoelectric pickup that sounds similar to an acoustic guitar. Dave also openly admits that "It's one of the ugliest guitars I've ever seen", as quoted from the Dave Navarro instructional DVD.

During this era, Dave went with a more treble based guitar in the Fender Stratocaster. He had several in his possession. All of them were a 3 single coil pattern but he also had a Modulus Stratocaster like guitar made.

Dave has also been seen playing Gibson Les Pauls, Kramer (Van Halen Signature) Guitars, Fender Telecasters, Takamine Acoustic 12 strings, and even a Squier Hello Kitty Stratocaster given to him by Carmen.

Since late 2008, Dave's been seen using a couple custom white Ibanez RGs (one as a spare), with a humbucker/single/single pickup layout, golden hardware, and a PRS tremolo.

Dave previously used a vintage Marshall JCM800, but now plays through 2 Marshall JCM900 amplifiers which are dubbed Tanjerine and Peach. For large gigs he will also use a Marshall Mode 4 for clean tones. In the studio he is also commonly known to use a Vox AC30 for cleans and a Bogner Uberschall for dirty tones.

With effects, Dave prefers BOSS. He uses a BOSS Octave Pedal, 2 BOSS DD3 Digital Delays, a BOSS Turbo distortion for extra volume during soloing, a Dunlop Cry baby Wah Pedal and several others.

Discography

;With Jane's Addiction

• 1987 Jane's Addiction
• 1988 Nothing's Shocking
• 1990 Ritual de lo Habitual
• 1997 Kettle Whistle
• 2003 Strays
• 2006 Up From the Catacombs - The Best of (Greatest hits album)
• 2009 A Cabinet of Curiosities (Box set)

;With Deconstruction

• 1994 Deconstruction

;With Red Hot Chili Peppers

• 1995 One Hot Minute

;With Nine Inch Nails

• 1995 Further Down The Spiral - guitar on Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)

;Solo

• 1995 Rhimorse
• 2001 Trust No One

Rexall: U.S. Modern Rock Tracks #12, U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks #9 Hungry: U.S. Modern Rock Tracks #24, U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks #38

;With Glenn Hughes

• 2005 Soul Mover

;With The Panic Channel

• 2006 (ONe)

;With Guns N' Roses

• 1999 "End of Days OST"

;With Gene Simmons

• 2004 Guitar on Firestarter (The Prodigy cover) on "Asshole"

Footnotes

1. Dave Navarro bio
2. John Riccardi profile America's Most Wanted profile on John Riccardi. URL last accessed May 14, 2007
3. Wedding Belle
4. Dave Navarro Directs for Teravision
5. 2008 AVN Awards Winners Announced
6. ZRock on IFC
7. Independent Film Channel
8. and