Glam Rocker, Jani Lane, Gone at Age 47

Jani Lane, former lead singer of the 1980s glam-band Warrant, whose boyish good looks and flowing blonde hair set many a female heart a-twitter back in the day, was found dead on Thursday evening, August 11th, in Woodland Hills, according to the L.A. Times.

Fire Department personnel responded to a call shortly before 5:30 p.m. in a Comfort Inn hotel on Ventura Boulevard where they found Lane unresponsive and pronounced him dead, the LAPD said. The cause of death is not known as yet. According ot LAPD Officer Sara Faden, the case was turned over to the Los Angeles county coroner’s office.

Jani Lane was born as John Kennedy Oswald on February 1, 1964 in Akron, Ohio. Encouraged by his family and tutored by an older brother, he learned to play drums by age four and was playing drums under the name “Mitch Dynomite” in clubs by age 11. As he grew older, he realized he wanted to be a singer and songwriter and, after graduating high school, began to pursue his dream. He joined the band Cyren in 1982, as the drummer. In 1983, he moved to Florida where he played drums for Dorian Gray. Lane then formed Plain Jane in 1985 with future Warrant bandmate Steven (Chamberlin) Sweet. He began to be known by the stage name “Jani Lane” at this point. Lane and Sweet moved to Los Angeles and Plain Jane became a regular feature in the L.A. club circuit when Erik Turner, founder of Warrant, invited Lane and Sweet to join his band.

As Warrant’s lead vocalist, Lane wrote three Top 40 hit singles: “Heaven,” “Down Boys” and “Sometimes She Cries” for Warrant’s debut album “Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich.” He also penned another three Top 40 hit singles: “Cherry Pie,” “I Saw Red,” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” for their sophomore album, “Cherry Pie.”

Lane left Warrant in March 1993, but returned in 1994. He would leave again in 2004 and return for a short while in 2008, finally leaving for good in September of 2008. While Lane continued to work on other projects, his problems with alcohol escalated and he was arrested for DUI the most recent episode in May of 2010. He received a fine, probation and a 120 day jail sentence.

Lane was scheduled to appear on VH1s “That Metal Show” on October 1st, 2011. Hopefully, they will have a tribute at that time. Rest in peace, Jani.