Insights for Hollywood

Autopsy inconclusive for rocker

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Los Angeles - An official cause of death has yet to be determined for former Warrant frontman Jani Lane, with the initial autopsy providing inconclusive results Friday.

The excitable pop metal artist was found dead in a hotel room at a Comfort Inn in Woodland Hills, Calif., on Thursday night. He was 47.

Toxicology tests are under way, with results expected in the next two months.

Lane, whose last residence was in Redondo Beach, Calif., had struggled with addiction for years. According to TMZ, vodka and prescription pills were found at the death scene, but Vicky Oswald-Ley, Lane's sister, placed the blame for his death squarely on alcohol in a Friday interview with Radaronline: ''Alcoholism is not something he chose. It's something he fought every day and it just won,'' she said.

“There were no drugs, that was one thing he could not tolerate, he couldn't stand them. He did not do drugs. We don't have the autopsy report back yet, but he was a heavy drinker and I can only guess that alcoholism has a lot to do with it.''

Lane was arrested in 2009 for driving under the influence. In 2010, he was arrested on the same charge and spent 120 days in jail.

The rocker left Warrant numerous times, first in 1993 and then more permanently in 2004. He reunited with his old bandmates one final time, in 2008.

Lane, whose real name was John Kennedy Oswald, appeared on VH1's “Celebrity Fit Club 2'' in 2005. - Reuters

jani lane dead

Jani Lane Death Details Uncovered: Vodka, Pills Found on Scene

New details have emerged regarding the death of former Warrant frontman Jani Lane, and they don’t paint a pretty picture.
As previously reported, the 47-year old’s body was found in a Woodland Hills hotel room yesterday. Paramedics pronounced Lane dead at the scene and put his time of death around 5:15 p.m.

No official cause has been listed and an autopsy is planned for later today. But sources tell TMZ that police suspect an accidental overdose because investigators discovered a half-empty bottle of vodka, along with prescription pills, inside the room.
Lane has battled substance abuse for years. He was arrested for DUI in 2010 and was sentenced to 120 days in prison.

Jani Lane, who rose to fame as the singer of heavy metal band Warrant, was found dead at 47 tonight at the Comfort Inn hotel in a Woodland Hills, California.
Warrant, with hits like ‘Cherry Pie,’ ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’ and ‘Heaven,’ was one of the top metal bands of the early 90′s battling it out with Motley Crue, Poison, and Guns N’ Roses.

Hollywood popular singer Jani Lane was found dead on Thursday in the hotel room near his home in Los Angeles. Singer Jani was 47 year old. Country office said ‘It had not yet determined a cause’ while Lane’s manager Obi Steinman told ‘The death was alcohol related and Jani Lane struggled with alcohol.’ His band’s first album ‘Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rick’ went double platinum and its release in 1989 on the strength of power chord tracks as ‘Down Boy’ and saccharine ballads as ‘Heaven.’ These were written by singer Jani Lane. He had mixed feelings about the song. Singer wrote one night the president of Columbia records asked him for a song as Aerosmith’s ‘Love in an Elevator.’

He said ‘I could shoot myself in the head for writing that song. The VH1 documentary ‘Heavy – the story of metal’ inserting a bleeped expletive. He also told ‘He was happy as a clam to have written a song and that is still being played with still dug by many people’ in a radio interview. Singer was born John Kennedy Oswald on 1 Feb. 1964 in Akron, Ohio while her parents named him after President John F. Kennedy and the last name of the suspect in the assassination ‘Lee Harvey Oswald.’ Lane got his first drum at 6 ages, began playing in clubs at 11 ages while he was performing in a band by 15. He also plays the piano and guitar with sports in high school.

He moved to Florida, sang and played drums with a cover band. He moved to Los Angeles where he formed a band called Plain Jani Lane. He joined Warrant after its Erik Turner, founder him to rehearse with band. He left band in 2003 and released a solo album. His two marriages ended in divorce. His first wife was Bobbie Brown and she performed in the ‘Cherry Pie’ video. Taylar Lane a daughter from his first marriage. Madison Lane is a daughter from his second marriage while Brittany and Ryan two stepdaughters.