Jani Lane: So Much Talent, So Much Heart!

Warrant was one of those groups that I loved! And yes he was one of my Rock & Roll crushes, not my biggest but in the top 5. The top Rock & Roll crush spot went to Nikki Sixx (and still does!) Jani’s vocals were haunting & filled with pain or bliss on the ballads and full of life & attitude in all other songs. He had a great stage presence and put on a great show whether it was a full band show or just him and an acoustic guitar.

I had the pleasure of meeting him as a fan and as a casual friend through mutual friends on many occasions. Now lets be clear I wasn’t, nor do I claim to be a part of his inner circle or anything like that but seeing that the guy on stage and backstage after the show wasn’t far from the hilarious and big hearted guy at dinner with friends is something that I’ll remember about him. I was never left with a negative feeling from him as a fan or otherwise. His passion for music and above that his kindness towards the people he cared about and the way he always made time, real honest time, for his fans always had my respect.

My favorite memory was passing him in an airport, I just smiled and went on about my business figuring he surely wouldn’t remember meeting me but he did a double take and then stopped and we had that “Don’t I know you?” conversation as we both waited on our flights. I knew who he was but was surprised he had remembered me. We talked about family, love, mutual friends and how crazy people can be oddly enough we didn’t talk about actual music that day. It was as if we had known each other as close friends for years for a short period of time that day. My second favorite memory was a dinner with about 12 of us, about half of them I knew. After that day in the airport he had always remembered my name and had his own little nicknames that included my name, for all I know it was his way to remember people but it was fun & sweet. That dinner he had dubbed 4 of my friends Faith, Charity, Love and Grace to go along with my name of Hope, even though none of their names were anywhere near that. I wish I could remember the little song he, on the spot, made up including those names. At the end of the night, he made sure to say bye to all of the girls by their real names.

He had his demons. He battled those demons, fought hard. He will be missed not only by his fans but most importantly by the people who truly knew him and loved him, especially his kids. Those children have lost a father and no one can replace that! My prayers out to all that loved him and all of the fans.

My favorite Warrant song was Bitter Pill. I would listen to that song over and over and over. I guess second to that would be Blind Faith, that had a special person meaning to me and Brent. Actually stopping to think on it, several of Warrant’s songs did. Song and Dance Man, Let It Rain, Hollywood (So Far, So Good) & 32 Pennies for various reasons. I know most of my friends say Cherry Pie is their favorite Warrant album/cd, but not me, my favorite was Dog Eat Dog. I wore out copies of that, literally. I think Warrant got a bad rap, for whatever reason. Their later albums were great and they improved on their talent but because they were apart of that early 80′s time they weren’t taken as seriously as they should have been with Dog Eat Dog and Ultraphobic.

Sometimes the most artistically talented can be the most tortured. Finally you can rest in peace Jani! May your children feel God’s love and allow it to carry them through this tremendous loss!