Tributes planned for ex-Warrant frontman Jani Lane (AP)

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – Fri Aug 12, 7:25 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – As investigators searched for clues Friday as to what killed Jani Lane, the former lead singer of the metal rock band Warrant, his family and friends prepared for a pair of memorial services to honor the rocker.

Lane, 47, was found around dead Thursday in a hotel room in the San Fernando Valley, which is north of downtown Los Angeles.

Coroner's officials did not determine a cause of death after an autopsy Friday, but said they would wait to see the results of toxicology testing that could take up to two months.

With his long blond hair and tight leather outfits, Lane embodied the excess of 1980s "hair metal" rock bands. He joined Warrant in 1984 and wrote such hits as "Heaven," "Down Boys" and "Cherry Pie."

He had an on-and-off relationship with the band, leaving it in 1992 before returning and quitting several times. He left the band for good in 2008.

The current band will offer a tribute to Lane at a performance Friday night in Grand Forks, N.D., their publicist said.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family," the band wrote in a statement. "Jani was a very important part of our lives for a long time. We will always be incredibly proud of the music we created together. He was a true talent and will be missed by all of us."

His family will convene Sunday for a private memorial service, Lane's manager and longtime friend Obi Steinman said. A public memorial with performances by fellow metal rock bands including Great White and L.A. Guns will be held in Hollywood on Aug. 24 at a venue to be announced later, he said.

"He was one of the great rock-and-roll frontmen and singers of all time," Steinman said. "His music helped shape the '80s."

Lane had a pair of drunken driving arrests in recent years. Steinman said he battled alcoholism for years.

"He finally succumbed to that," Steinman said. "He lost his battle over alcohol."

"Cherry Pie" became a hit record when it was released in 1990, but Lane had mixed feelings about the song over the years.

Lane wrote the song after a record executive told him they needed a radio-worthy single for Warrant's second album. "As a joke, Jani wrote 'Cherry Pie' overnight in a hotel room," Steinman said.

It became the album's title and the band and Lane's biggest hit.

The racy music video for the song was also a hit, and Lane married the model who starred in it, Bobbie Brown.

"He used to laugh," Steinman said. "It was a curse and a blessing all at the same time."

Although Lane denounced the song in the 1990s, Steinman said the rocker later embraced it, but just didn't want it to "define his artistry."

He spent recent years writing music for other musicians and himself, Steinman said. He also appeared in a season of VH1's "Celebrity Fit Club."

Lane had been married for about two years to his third wife, Kimberly, Steinman said. He has two daughters from two previous marriages.

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/celebritydocket

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Tributes flow for Aboriginal actor Ngoombujarra (AFP)

SYDNEY (AFP) – Tributes have flowed for Aboriginal actor David Ngoombujarra who died on the weekend, with Hollywood star Hugh Jackman describing him as "an extraordinary man".

Ngoombujarra, 44, had starred in several iconic Australian films including "Rabbit-Proof Fence" and the Baz Luhrmann directed 2008 feature "Australia" with Nicole Kidman.

He was found in a park in Fremantle, Western Australia, on Sunday and later pronounced dead in hospital. Police are awaiting a toxicology report to pinpoint the cause of death but are not treating it as suspicious.

Jackman, who co-starred with Ngoombujarra in "Australia", tweeted of "an extraordinary man, actor and friend."

"His laugh, warmth and humanity will live on with all who knew him," he said.

Luhrmann told The Australian newspaper that Ngoombujarra had an "extraordinary spirit, life force and creativity" which lifted spirits during the many months of shooting "Australia".

Indigenous actor and presenter Ernie Dingo, who co-starred with Ngoombujarra in an ABC television series, described his friend as a man who was "always in touch with his culture, wherever he was".

"Very sadly, he was lost between two cultures," he said.

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Tributes for Aboriginal boxing hero Rose (AFP)

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian sports and political figures on Monday paid tribute to boxing great Lionel Rose, the first Aboriginal boxer to win a world title, who died over the weekend aged 62.

Rose outpointed Fighting Harada in Tokyo in 1968 at the age of 19, becoming a national hero and an icon for Australia's indigenous community. Hundreds of thousands lined Melbourne's streets to welcome him home after his triumph.

He was named Australian of the Year later that year, the first Aborigine to be awarded the honour and was also appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

Rose went on to make three successful world bantamweight title WBC defences against Japan's Takao Sakurai, Mexican Chucho Castillo and Englishman Alan Rudkin before he lost the title to Mexican Ruben Olivares in a fifth-round knockout in August 1969.

Rose, who had been in ill health after suffering a stroke in 2007 that left him partially paralysed in a wheelchair and with speech difficulties, won abiding national respect for his achievements.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard led the plaudits.

"Lionel Rose was an Australian champion in every sense of the word, and an inspiration to all of us," she said in a statement on Monday.

Aboriginal Anthony Mundine, the two-time WBA super-middleweight champion, said on Twitter: "To all my followers it's a sad day as the best fighter in Australian history has passed, Lionel Rose. RIP mate."

Three-time world champion Jeff Fenech said: "Lionel was not only a great fighter but a wonderful human being. He was an absolute legend and I was honoured to know him as a friend."

Daniel Geale, who joined Rose as one of four Australian-born fighters to win a world title overseas with his victory over Sebastian Sylvester in Germany at the weekend, also paid tribute to the former champion.

"My deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Lionel Rose," Geale said on Twitter.

"An absolute boxing legend. You will be missed mate but never forgotten."

WBC president Jose Sulaiman announced a day of mourning on Tuesday for the 170 countries of the World Boxing Council as a mark of respect.

On the WBC website, Sulaiman called Rose a "special champion, who had the passionate idolatry and support not only from his Aborigine people, but also from the whole (of) Australia and the world.

"The president of the WBC, Jose Sulaiman, on behalf of the board of governors, deeply regrets to announce the passing away of the greatest boxing hero of Australia and former WBC bantamweight champion of the world, Lionel Rose, who was an Aborigine and who struggled all of his life to project and defend his people."

WBC official Frank Quill said Rose was one of the first sportsmen to make a stand against the apartheid regime of South Africa.

"He became world champion at a time when, in two or three states of Australia, Aboriginal people weren't entitled to vote," Quill said.

Quill said Rose refused a big money fight in South Africa in 1970 at a time when he was in need of money.

"He considered the fight and if he had taken it he would have had to go there (South Africa) as an honorary 'white'," Quill said.

"So he said: 'I'm not going'.

Former Australian Boxing Federation president Brad Vocale, who is also Rose's cousin, said the late fighter was an Australian sporting legend.

"He created history. He made all Australians proud, especially my (Aboriginal) race, my people," he said.

"He gave us all something to fight for and something to live for."

Rose finished his professional career after 53 fights with 42 wins, 12 of them by knockout.

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