80’s hairband pioneer and rocker Jani Lane was found dead yesterday at the age of 47. Jani (born John Kennedy Oswald) had great success with the band Warrant. Warrant were Mtv favorites with hits like Cherry Pie, Down Boys and Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Warrant fell victim to the emergence of grunge like all hairbands. Lane once said in an interview he knew it was over when he walked into Columbia Records and saw a poster of Alice in Chains Dirt hanging on the wall.
Warrant still continued to forge forward playing venues like Rocklahoma and touring with the support of other 80’s bands like Great White.
Lane was found dead at a Comfort Inn hotel in Woodland Hills, California on August 11, 2011. Jani was reported to have had some battles with substance abuse but the official cause of death has not yet been released.
