jani lane dead

RIP: Jani Lane, ex-lead singer of Warrant

Jani Lane -- former lead singer of the rock band Warrant -- was found dead at a hotel in L.A. Thursday evening ... TMZ has learned.

Jani Lane’s ‘That Metal Show’ Episode Broadcast Date Moved Forward

When former Warrant singer Jani Lane recently taped an episode of ‘That Metal Show,’ nobody would have guessed that it would be his last major interview. Sadly, the singer was found dead at a hotel in California on Thursday (Aug. 11). As a result, the episode featuring Lane has now been bumped up to air on Aug. 27.

The show, originally scheduled to air on Oct. 1, targets the glam days of Hollywood and also features Michael Sweet from Stryper and Taime Downe from Faster Pussycat. In the early ’90s, Warrant opened for Stryper and now, about twenty years later, ‘That Metal Show’ brought the two vocalists together again. Allegedly, Warrant were never paid for that opening performance, and both Lane and Sweet have a laugh about this during the episode.

‘That Metal Show’ co-hosts Don Jamieson and Jim Florentine both made comments regarding their visit with Lane recently. Florentine remembers that Lane was “in great sprits” during the taping, while Jamieson says “I found him bright, interesting and extremely likeable. An easy guy to root for. He seemed like he had turned the corner on his personal problems, so I’m really bummed to hear of his passing.”

Jani Lane Had Been Kicked Out Of Hotel Before His Death

We don't like the loss of anyone, even those who are just misguided or troubled. Which is why we were sad to hear that Jani Lane had died on Thursday.

It seems like he was a little more troubled than we thought though, having been kicked out of the Hilton Woodland Hills for destroying the room.

"Jani was "not rude" about the situation — and understood why he had to leave.

Lane, we're told, had recently earned a reputation in the area for trashing his hotel rooms — one source tells us he had been kicked out of multiple places within the last few weeks of his life."

Jani Lane Fought Alcoholism and Lost, Says His Sister

Vicky Oswald-Ley, the older sister of late Warrant singer Jani Lane, has spoken out about her brother’s passing. Lane was found dead in Woodland Hills, Calif. on Thursday (Aug. 11), with pills and vodka in his hotel room.

Oswald-Ley told RadarOnline that her little brother had been fighting alcoholism for more than 10 years and that in the end, the bottle won. Sadly, Lane died the day before Oswald-Ley’s 56th birthday. She was expecting a call from her sibling for that reason, but instead, was notified of his death.

“Alcoholism is not something he chose,” Oswald-Ley said, insisting that drinking, but not drugs, are probably at the root cause of Lane’s death. “It’s something he fought every day and it just won.” She was quick to point out the Lane was “a heavy drinker” but not a drug addict, saying, “There were no drugs. That was one thing he could not tolerate, he couldn’t stand them. He did not do drugs.”

In a bit of a shocking twist, Oswald-Ley said that the singer’s wife Kimberly, whom he married a year ago, and his manager have not yet contacted the family since the news broke or about funeral arrangements. “It would be common courtesy to call,” she said, “we don’t even know if there’s a service.”

The death of their mother seven years ago may have factored in Lane’s inability to stay on the wagon, since a driving force was now gone. Oswald-Ley said, “She was always the glue that kept us together. She would always talk him into going to rehab and hospitals. I think when she passed that [his] desire to stay healthy died too.”

Lane’s alcohol issues — he was arrested twice for DUI, spending 120 days in jail for the second offense — led to him shutting out his family. She labeled Lane, born John Kennedy Oswald, as “talented and witty and bright,” but says her brother’s shame over his drinking problem caused him to erect a wall. “We would all have flown out to Los Angeles from Ohio to bring him back if he’d let us, but he isolated himself,” she said about the Oswald siblings.

Oswald-Ley, who last spoke with Lane on June 19, when he checked himself into a three-day detox, is left with some pretty lingering questions about her brother’s death, asking, “Why was he in a hotel? Why was he away from her (his wife)? Why was there isolation? We have so many questions and don’t know where to turn for answers.”

Answers won’t likely come for another four to six weeks, as coroners await the results of the toxicology tests.

Jani Lane dead at 47: Warrant singer's death under investigation

Police are investigating the circumstances around the death of Jani Lane, the former Warrant singer who was found dead in a Woodland Hills motel room Thursday night.

Law enforcement was investigating why the 47-year-old Lane, who has a home in Redondo Beach, was at the Comfort Inn on Ventura Boulevard, police sources told L.A. Now on Friday. Alcohol and prescription drugs were found in the room; Lane had struggled with substance issues, with a pair of DUI arrests in recent years.

Warrant Singer Jani Lane Dead At 47

Jani Lane, the golden-haired former lead singer of 1980s hair-metal band Warrant, was found dead on Thursday in a hotel room in Woodland Hills, California.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, police found the body of Lane (born John Kennedy Oswald), 47, at a Comfort Inn, with no cause of death available at press time. Lane was best known for the Warrant hit "Cherry Pie," which he wrote and which featured a guitar solo by Poison's C.C. DeVille. The double entendre-filled video for the song — packed, of course, with a bevy of video vixens — was a staple of MTV programming when it was released in 1990.

Jani Lane Dead

Just days after Jani Lane died, the current members of the band Warrant paid tribute to the former frontman at a concert on Friday night in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The current group of members of the American glam band — Erik Turner, Jerry Dixon, Steven Sweet, Joey Allen, and Robert Mason — dedicated the song Heaven to him That was the same song that helped put the band on the map in 1989 much thanks to the help of Lane.

“The guy was loved and he wrote some amazing songs,” current frontman Robert Mason said about Lane. “Truth be told, I love singing them, I’ve always said that. If we do this one, can we dedicate this entire show to his memory? Let’s all do this together…can we have cigarette lighters and cellphones, can we all bond together?”

On Friday, the autopsy of Lane came back inconclusive, according to the Los Angeles coroner’s office. His cause of death will be determined after the toxicology results come in, which could take up to two months to complete.

While an official cause of death hasn’t been determined, when he was found in his Comfort Inn hotel on Thursday, a half-empty bottle of vodka was found near him along with prescription medication. The death is being treated as an “accidental overdose or possible death from natural causes,” according to TMZ.

Obi Steinman, a good friend of Lane as well as his manager, told E! that he “lost his battle over alcohol.” He also noted Lane’s well-documented past with alcohol, including hitting two different parked cars within two years and being given a three-year probation for the incident as well as being jailed 120 days when he did it again in 2010.

Steinman also talked about his past, including looking at the good times. “He was one of the great rock-and-roll frontmen and singers of all time. His music helped shape the ‘80s,” Steinman said.

Jani Lane Reportedly Trashed Hotels In Months Prior to His Death

Former Warrant singer Jani Lane was reportedly bouncing from hotel to hotel in the months before his Thursday death, often leaving a trail of destroyed rooms in his wake. This account comes as details continue trickling in about the untimely demise of the singer, who was found dead in a California Comfort Inn last week.

TMZ has investigated Lane’s final days and reports, “Lane had been frequenting L.A. area hotels in the weeks before he died — and trashed one of his rooms so badly, that he was banned from the hotel.”

Those sad weeks sound like out-of-control rock-star behavior, but apparently, once the damage was done, Lane was polite about the evictions. The question of why the singer was staying at hotels, instead of with his wife in their house just 30 miles away, has also yet to be answered.

Though pills and a bottle of vodka was found on the scene, an autopsy on Lane was inconclusive, with no official cause of death expected for several weeks. Warrant paid tribute to Lane at a Friday night concert, dedicating ‘Heaven’ to their former bandmate. You can also check out our tribute, a list of the Ten Best Warrant Songs.

Schecter: Omen 7

I've been neglecting the 7-string; these days I play my 6s & resort to the 8 if there were moments that require lower notes peddling. So today, after Janet alerted me to the arrival of my Omen 7, I headed out to town despite the flu bout... 

As stated on the headstock truss rod cover- Omen 7. This is the entry level tier of Schecter's offering but the QC on show would shame many other costly instruments. I like everything about the Omens; they are really no-frills guitars fit for the beginners or seasoned players alike, who wish to focus on play rather than be over-delighted with instrument cosmetics.

I've chosen the lacquer-free finish for all my Omens (my upcoming Omen 8 included), I simply love the brighter acoustics because this does good to the overall heftiness of the instrument. Based on my personal encounters, I know this finish type compliments many Tesla pickup models which are what I will purchase in time to come, to replace the default pickups.

LTD: H301

ESP has made it clear that their LTD models are the company's more affordable instruments without a stark contrast in QC. Well, my encounter today with the LTD H301 was a simple witnessing of the company's promise. The H301 was a class act from one end of the instrument to the other. Perhaps the only feature which doesn't quite manifest class appeal are the active pickups (EMG 81/85) but this would tread the issue of personal appeal- some of us prefer these pickups because they help us achieve our objectives. To me, pickups which over-power the instrument's dynamics & literally breathe a life of their own, should not belong here. However, these pickups did wonders to the instrument's commanding presence, even I enjoyed the tonal offerings (not quite the cleans, though) after plugging the H301 into a 30W Marshall- fantastic!

The H301's playability is tops in my books considering I have limited tolerance for guitars with a lacquered neck finish. Top top it all off, the dazzling looks make it worth every cent of the asking price. If you are looking for an instrument in the $700 - $1K price bracket, the H301 should be on your list. Highly recommended (not for those looking for an immaculate clean tone).

PS: Thanks Janet & everyone at Davis GMC for tolerating 20min of my 'test-drive' today.

Ibanez S570B: (Slight) Set up

I was rather fortunate to have acquired this particular Ibanez S570B as it manifested one of the best QC from the Indonesian plant. The neck was ramrod straight so no adjustments were required but take a look at the bridge in the above pic- it's embedded too much into the cavity implying a very low action. To many of us, we equate very low action to shredding goodness- the lower the action so the more desirable it would be, yes? But that's not the case if it impedes movements, especially so if it affects your (individual) playability.

So the objective here was to raise the action to suit my playing comfort, first up would be the unlocking of the top-lock (nut) device. Many of us tend to overlook the (bridge) fine tuners before we do this, we should level the tuners prior to unlocking the nut because we need a 'neutral' positional reference when we next fine-tune our instruments. Raise/ lower the tuners to a mid-point position, this way we get equal travel to compensate the need to sharpen/ flatten tuning after we lock the nut. 

After tuning, do check your bridge alignment (side view) to see if it's sitting parallel to the body's top surface; in my case, it wasn't. The springs-strings required a balancing act & I couldn't be more grateful to Ibanez for this exposed feature- it provided easy access to the thumb-wheel adjuster. 

And there we have it, a raised action (but still low) & a leveled bridge alignment. Since it was a slight adjustment (magnified by the big photos here) the intonation stayed true so no adjustments necessary there. Great guitar this S570B.

Black anniversary

12th August was Metallica's black album anniversary- 20 years ago we bought this black bundle, some of us loved it while the rest of us felt that the money could have gotten us some other worthy albums. I was in the latter camp. It was quite the case of not hearing what you want to hear from the guys whom you've trusted to churn out some of the most commanding music in heavy metaldom.

The songs in there were definitely worthy music- that's incontestable but some of us simply find them unacceptable coming from Metallica. Whatever the case was, I bought the cassette tape format & dumped it into a canal on my way home. The cover sleeve went up in smoke- no kidding, I burnt it. There's no loss of a good cover art, yes? It's barely illustrated, after the incendiary process, it still looked... em... black. He, he...

Desolate ways

The Desolation Series by Charvel- singlecut attraction & a recent addition. It's obvious proof that...

... the guitar world is still in love with the singlecut design.

Jani Lane found dead

Ex-Warrant vocalist, Jani Lane (47) was found dead on 11-8-2011. His body was discovered at Comfort Inn, Woodland Hills. No details of his cause of death is currently available.

S-series: Wish list

These are the S-series made available for the US market but not offered here (wish they were...). I am keeping my Ibanez acquisition focused on the S-series because they are the models I prefer over the RG. The QM top here is a mere laminated layer but it adds a touch of class to the overall finish.

The S770PB sports a satin finish & a poplar burl top. I have a soft-spot for a lacquer-free top as it adds sting to the guitar's top end without relying too much on the pickup performance. There's a 770 model available here but it features a flame maple top which is, em... nothing extraordinary. 

But this maple fretboard S570MQM is priority before 2011 comes to a close. Simply stunning...

COB @ Fort Canning

All ye COB fans... you have been informed. See you there.

Remembering Fender

In memory of Clarence Leo Fender, born 10th August 1909... without whom, the guitars of today would probably be better off as canoe oars. Salute!

Ibanez - Pyramid

It's good to know that I'm not the only one fitting Pyramid strings into (some of) my Ibanez guitars; the Pestilence guys are at it as well... So it means Pyramid strings are quality products after all, eh? We usually come to such a conclusion- brand name embrace by recognized players imply a quality endorsement but it's really a personal experience/ appeal. I know those Pyramid strings are above average products, it's all about what works for you.

PRS- 1 for the south as well...

Looks like PRS is now riding the South-paw bandwagon as well; here's the reversed Custom 22. It's rather obvious guitar manufacturers are now wary of the left-handed market potential, my thumbs-up to them.
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Plush activity

I've been hearing too much passive tones lately so I had my Ibanez RGR08LTD going this morning, through the Plush Cream pedal. The Cream overdrive did well in taming the protrusive top end from the Duncan Blackout to give a very smooth response. However, this combination proved too much (subjective) in terms of output because there wasn't quite an overdrive tone to be heard, in fact, it's a distortion outcome pertaining to intensity.

National Day greetings...

Have a good break, everyone... maybe we can all take some time to play guitar today.

Or catch up with sleep...

ESP: M-series former headstock

Following my Samoth-ESP post, there were some queries as to how the former ESP pointy headstock look like since the one in that entry wasn't showing enough clarity. The one above proves useful.

This headstock design lasted till late 1980s before the current cut took over. The reason for it being dumped was simple; it looked too similar to another manufacturer's design so legal complications took place.

The final pic here is off the ESP website, note the slight design variation- the blue version featured a more acute break angle from the bass-side E string to the machine head post as opposed to its black counterpart.

Ibanez: S570B

Got this Ibanez S570B from the Swee Lee sale (BB branch) which happened yesterday. It wasn't my initial target but it's a lovely compromise. It needs a little set up, though. This will be done soon, I see some spare time come National Day.

My other S-series:

• S540LTD
• S1620
• S420

Samoth- full circle

Still pertaining to ESP- I recently searched for old Emperor pictures hoping to see them in their face paints or maybe a glimpse of how Ihsahn looked like with longer hair, he, he... Yes, I found them but I also found out they started with ESP guitars. In the collage above, you'd see Samoth wielding a black M-series type ESP, we know these are the early ESP models because the headstock was the Jackson type design. He then embraced a BC Rich, mostly seen during the IX Equilibrium era, moved on to Jackson & finally back to the ESP.

Dark Funeral- fresh blood

Dark Funeral's Dominator is back in the fold...

... together with new vocalist, Nachtgarm...

... & bassist, Zornheym, the Dark Funeral line up is complete. Can't wait to hear them in action.

Grassroots: G-RV

 This Summer's new additions by ESP included the above G-RV-55 guitar, a simple V-type instrument yet looking very attractive. Again, I wish the stores here would make the Grassroots models more available for us budget conscious dweebs.

Lessons in black

There's so much to learn just by watching these gentlemen play; in fact, they'd taught me much about riffs variation & harmony incorporation. Samoth & Ihsahn took time to pen down thoughtful riffing, just listen to any Emperor releases & you'd hear two guitars doing justice to a great black metal tune. This is quite the opposite of many black metal acts with two guitar players but very little variety in hand; what you'd hear is two guitars playing the same tune more than half the time.

Ibanez: GRGR011LTD

What does the 'GIO' tag there on the headstock, mean to you? Does it imply a second-grade instrument which you should avoid? Whatever it means, I gave this guitar a go yesterday...

We tend to be dismissive of the GIO series because they are the manufacturer's budget offerings & they still are. But this lightning beast here is a wonderful player, even the Powersound pickups in there sound very 'right' under loads of distortion. However be warned all ye in search of sparkling cleans- not quite available here. I love the neck- it has all the Wizard goodness while not being excessively thin, will definitely appeal to shredders. While there was a general acceptance of the pickups, be informed that the absence of a tone knob means you must live with the default pickups' tone character so make it a point to hear it in action before you commit to purchase.

Leskelele

The ukelele now has an Epiphone Les Paul model. Or... is it the other way round- the Epiphone Les Paul now has a ukelele offering? Gee...

Ibanez RGD321: Regional availability

We've seen this guitar before; it's Ibanez RGD321, offered in the US market exclusively...

... until this (2011) Summer, of course. Ibanez is now making the RGD321 available in this region. Note the (slight) pickup difference there- this region's offering features the CAP version of the VK humbuckers.
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Obiter dictum: Transport cost to increase by 1%... Will the service quality also increase by 1%?