Anyone remember Warrant? - hair metal band from the early 90's. They had big hits with Heaven, Uncle Tom's Cabin and Cherry Pie. The band was roundly criticized because their music was part of the glam-rock genre - and in the early 90's grunge was taking over.
Warrant's lead singer - Jani Lane - was fantastically talented. He had a gift for fluent verse...
"Got a picture of your house
And you're standing by the door
It's black and white and faded
And it's looking pretty worn
See the factory that I worked
Silhouetted in the back
The memories are gray, but man, they're really coming back
I don't need to be the king of the world
As long as I'm the hero of this little girl"
... and was an accomplished composer. Unfortunately too - Jani had a troubled upbringing and was an alcoholic. His drinking was so bad that the band fired him; he subsequently rejoined Warrant in '93 - and I saw Warrant live in a small Texas venue in '94.
So if that counts - I met the famous Jani Lane.
He was within touching distance of me, walking through the crowd while singing.
We briefly made eye contact - to me it seemed that he was really pissed off and was looking for any excuse to pick a fight.
In 2011, Jani was found dead at the age of 47 in his room at a Comfort Inn hotel in Woodland Hills, California. Such a waste of talent.
===
Fun fact: Jani ended up marrying the gorgeous model Bobbie Brown who appeared in the music video for "Cherry Pie."
RIP Jani
===
