R.I.P. Jani Lane (Vocals - Warrant)

Jani Lane in better days...

(Image via No Life Till Leather Man Blog)



Blabbermouth (via TMZ.com) is reporting that former Warrant lead vocalist Jani Lane was found dead in a Los Angeles area hotel room early last evening, August 11th. Lane was 47 years old.



Lane was pronounced dead by Fire Department personnel who responded to a call shortly before 5:30 p.m. in the Comfort Inn in the 20100 block of Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills, California, the Los Angeles Police Department said.



The cause of death was unknown, and the case was turned over to the Los Angeles county coroner's office, LAPD officer Sara Faden told the Los Angeles Times.



Lane was married three times and is survived by a wife and four children.



Sadly, to anyone who knows much about Jani's life over the past decade the news comes as no real surprise. I was sad to hear it - but not surprised. And while Warrant were never in my Top 10 favorite band, not even in my Top 20, I did and still do listen to them from time to time and saw them live once with Lane and once again a few years later after he'd been thrown out of the band. Here's one of my favorite Warrant tracks in memoriam. Rest in Peace, man...

One From The Archives: 07/18/92 Milwaukee Metalfest VI @ Mecca Arena, Milwaukee, WI

(Image via: NYCDreamin Archives)

07/09/11 R.I.P. Michael "Wurzel" Burston - Former Motorhead Guitarist

(Image via: Mainstreetmallonline.com)

According to Blabbermouth.net and several other sources, Lemmy Kilmister's longtime bass tech and "right-hand man," Tim Butcher posted news earlier today on his Facebook page that former MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Michael "Würzel" Burston had died earlier this morning, Saturday, July 9th. He was 61 years old. Wurzel was a member of Motorhead from 1984 through 1995.

UPDATE: Cause of death is being reported as ventricular fibrillation caused by heart disease. In any case, one thing is certain, he was...



That's him on guitar there if you didn't know.

Rest In Peace, brother...

06/28/11 R.I.P. Bleu Ocean

(Image via: Bleu Ocean.com)

UPDATED 06/30/11

New York City based percussive multi-intstumentalist and recording musician Bleu Ocean passed away just after 12:00pm on Tuesday afternoon, June 28th due to complications from a heart attack he suffered while performing last Friday evening at the P&G Bar in New York with his latest group, The New York Blues Project. NewYorkNearSay.com reports:

Bleu..."suffered a heart attack midway through the show amidst a scene that quickly grew surreal. A room filled with friends cheered him on as police and paramedics took the stage. In a place where music was to be performed, they instead performed CPR, trying desperately to revive him. Bleu was taken by ambulance to a local hospital where he fought bravely for four days until he could fight no more."

A close friend to many in the early-mid 1970's NYC underground music scene, Bleu was a life-long musician and was involved in many interesting projects throughout his musical career. Some of his career highlights are detailed in the bio on his website:

*Toured and recorded with the Monkees.

*Formed the power-trio "Profit" in 1971 along with Jerome Arnold of Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Don Brown from Donovan’s band.

*Worked as an in-house promoter for New York City clubs "The Elgin Theater" and "Max's Kansas City."

*Managed artists Neon Leon, Kongress, Shanghai Side Show, and several others.

*Formed the "Ocean Star Band", a band that featured among it's members Jordan Rudess of Dream Theatre on keyboards.

*Appeared on the track "Bring The Boys Back Home" from Pink Floyd's legendary 1979 multi-million selling album "The Wall. According to Bleu: "I got the call from Michael Kamen and Bob Ezrin (producer) on Friday needing 30 drummers by Monday, and I was able to deliver."

To read more about Bleu's long career in the music biz and hear to some of his music, visit his website Bleu Ocean.com.

04/27/11 R.I.P. Dag Stokke - Keyboards, TNT

(Image via VGNett)

Dag Stokke, keyboardist with long running Norwegian hard rockers TNT, lost his battle with cancer early yesterday (Wednesday, April 27). He was 44 years old.

04/25/11 - R.I.P. Poly Styrene

(Image Via)

BBC News (and several of our Facebook friends) are reporting this morning that former X-Ray Spex founder and vocalist and multi-talented solo artist Poly Styrene passed away yesterday at the age of 53 due to complications from Cancer.