Jani Lane’s ex says Warrant singer was drugged and raped by fellow musician

Jani Lane and Bobbie Brown in 1989
Jani Lane and Bobbie Brown in 1989 (Image credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic - Getty)

The ex wife of late Warrant frontman Jani Lane has said the vocalist told her he was drugged and raped by a member of a heavy metal band and their manager early in his career.

The model and author, who appeared in the video for Warrant’s 1990 hit single Cherry Pie, was speaking with Fox News about her new book Cherry On Top: Flirty, Forty-Something, And Funny As F**k.

The website pointed to her comments that Lane could have used the #MeToo movement if it had been around prior to his death in 2011.

Brown replied: “At the moment that he admitted [he was drugged and raped by a member of a famous heavy metal band and their manager] it was devastating to hear. He admitted this to me before his death. 

“It was traumatising to watch him reveal those things and how much it had affected his life up to that point. When we were married I had no clue. 

“This occurred when he was just starting out on the Strip. So when I'm hearing all of this with him, I’m crying with him. I was going, ‘We have to do something, we have to say something.’ He was like, ‘No! No!’ It was a humiliation for a man to be in that position.”

She adds: “It’s so emasculating and humiliating. It would have been humiliating for him. So we couldn’t say anything. Instead he lived with this anger inside. 

“He felt like he couldn’t say anything because he was a man. He was raised to be a man, not to cry. It was all mind-fucking. I could see how it would have been devastating and humiliating for him to speak up. 

“I got his perspective from it, but at the same time, I felt so hopeless for him, knowing that he felt he couldn’t say anything. And wouldn’t. That affected him greatly his whole life. It was part of the reason he drank. It’s sad really.”

Lane was found dead in a hotel room in California on August 11, 2011, with authorities later revealing that the 47-year-old died of acute alcohol poisoning. 

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more for Louder. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, The Tragically Hip, Marillion and Rush.