New York, NY (Top40 Charts) DJ Jeff Duran will portray Jani Lane in the upcoming biopic about the late WARRANT singer's life. Duran, who also serves as Executive Producer, spoke recently on iHeartRadio, "Rock fans will finally know how Lane was as a songwriter and also see how out of control he got when he drank. "
"Cherry Pie Guy" will begin with Jani arriving in Hollywood in the spring of 1985 and will treat the "hair-metal" era with "respect," according to Duran.
Like many of his peers, Lane basked in cash, booze and babes , when WARRANT released the hit album Cherry Pie. He blew his first big record label paycheck on a sports car and promptly totaled it.
"Artists like Lane were treated like scum and paid a terrible price for their fame," Jeff said. 'Cherry Pie Guy' will "astonish those who can't see beyond cliché hair-metal nostalgia and open their eyes to an amazing songwriter and frontman. This isn't the cute MOTLEY CRUE fairytale that's been told to death in recent years, think 'BOOGIE KNIGHTS' with emotions as forgiving as a raging wolverine hoped up on crystal meth."
Duran was too young to have shared the stage with Lane but felt a personal connection to the role. For over a decade Duran performed as a musician and stand up comedian JJ Star. On stage, Duran's act was an intense, borderline insane observational view on society. He was known for putting on 2 hour long shows sometimes performing drunk as an aging crossdressing rock star. He stopped drinking in 2015 and draws on his excesses as inspiration for his portrail of the late Jani Lane.
'Cherry Pie Guy' will cover how WARRANT's first five albums sold over 10 million copies around the world. Lane married steamy model Bobbi Brown, who had starred in the sleazy "Cherry Pie" music video. Then, at the height of their fame , NIRVANA released 'Nevermind'. The later marked a symbolic death-nil for hair metal.
Almost overnight Grunge took over the rock charts and metal bands like WARRANT were seen by the mainstream as self-indulgent, misogynistic Neanderthals.
Lane died quietly and tragically in 2011. After the vocalist's body was identified, WARRANT guitarist Erik Turner issued the following statement: "This is an all-too-sad ending to what started out as a great career with WARRANT, and what could have been, and should have been, a long life filled with great music and great shows."
Piper Perabo was previously attached to play the role of Lane's ex-wife but has reportedly had to withdraw due to scheduling conflicts, leaving the role of 'Bobbi Brown' currently unoccupied with no one currently rumored to take over. Cody Jenson ("Killing Eve") will direct from a script by Rachel Lynn and DJ Jeff Duran. Expect "Cherry Pie Guy" sometime in 2023.
,quality(80))
