Jani Lane, former lead vocalist for the 1980s hair-metal band Warrant, was found dead in Los Angeles-area hotel on Thursday. According to TMZ, Lane’s body was discovered Thursday evening at the Comfort Inn motel in Woodland Hills, California. Although rescue workers reportedly found alcohol and prescription pills at the scene, no cause of death has been released. An autopsy is scheduled for later this afternoon. Lane was 47.
Lane is best-known for Warrant’s 1989 hit, “Cherry Pie.” Penned on the back of a pizza box, the smash hit shot Warrant to the top of the glam rock scene. The track sold over three million copies, and the 1990-release music video joined the regular rotation of MTV hits.
Lane’s personal and professional life suffered in the wake of Warrant’s fame, and the singer left and re-joined the band three times, with his final re-joining—and departure— in 2008.
In 2003, Lane released his solo album, Back Down to One. He tried his hand at acting, making appearances on VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club,” and toured as a fill-in lead vocalist with Great White in 2010.
Lane struggled with alcohol addiction, and was twice convicted of DUIs, once in 2009, and again in 2010.
A number of friends and professional acquaintances have expressed condolences via Twitter, including Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx, Poison singer Brett Michaels, and former Guns ‘N Roses member Steven Adler.
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