The former lead singer Jani Lane of Warrant was found dead in Woodland Hills, California Comfort Inn Thursday night. He was 47. No cause of death has been revealed.
Here are five things you may not know about the musician with problems.
1. He wrote most famous hit of the band, Cherry Pie, in 1989, which became a Top-10 hit the following year. It featured a guitar solo by CC Deville of Poison and longtime friend of Jani and his bandmate Bret Michaels.
2. Lane (born John Kennedy Oswald) also served as lyricist and main songwriter of the order. He joined the band in 1986, two years after its formation by guitarist Erik Turner. He left about three times in recent years, including most recently in 2008.
3. Lane also wrote several other hits for the group as "Heaven," "Down Boys" and "Sometimes She Cries" from their debut album, Dirty Rotten stinking rich filty, and "I Saw Red" and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" the group's second album, Cherry Pie.
4. The singer had a history of alcohol-related arrests. He was arrested in June 2009 to report hitting a parked car. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor DUI charges and was placed on probation for three years. A year later he was arrested for a similar incident that took him to jail for 120 days.
5. He appeared on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club 2 in 2005 and last year toured with Great White, replacing the singer Jack Russell, who was recovering from surgery.
