Warrant

Warrant stood among the leading pop-metal acts of the late 1980s, buoyed by two double-platinum albums and three Top Ten singles. The Los Angeles group formed in 1984 and cycled through several personnel adjustments before locking in vocalist Jani Lane alongside guitarists Erik Turner and Joey Allen, bassist Jerry Dixon, and drummer Steven Sweet. Columbia Records signed them in January 1988, and Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich appeared the next year; by summer the album had entered the Top Ten while spawning the hit singles "Down Boys," "Sometimes She Cries," and "Heaven," the last of which peaked at number two on the U.S. charts. Cherry Pie, issued in summer 1990, proved an even larger commercial triumph, also reaching the Top Ten on the strength of "I Saw Red" and the title track.

Sustaining multi-platinum momentum grew difficult once the alternative-rock wave crested in 1992, although the third album, Dog Eat Dog, still earned gold certification. Ultraphobic (1995) and Belly to Belly (1996) both failed to register on the charts. Founding members began drifting away as the decade wore on, leaving only a minority of the original roster intact. Under the Influence surfaced in 2001, a collection of cover versions plus two new songs that also served as Jani Lane’s final recording with the band. Lane departed in 2004, taking two members with him, and was succeeded by Jaime St. James, formerly of Black ’N Blue. While Lane launched a solo career, the revamped Warrant issued Born Again in 2006. St. James’s stint ended quickly; he was removed in 2008 to facilitate Lane’s return, yet Lane soon left again that year and was replaced by Rob Mason of Lynch Mob. Lane died in August 2011 at age 47 from acute alcohol poisoning inside a Los Angeles hotel room. Rockaholic appeared the same year, marking the first Warrant studio album to feature Mason on vocals. The same lineup regrouped for 2017’s Louder Harder Faster, produced by Jeff Pilson and released through Frontiers.