Bobbie Jean Brown’s part 2 of an in-depth and heartfelt chat with LRI

 

 

Bobbie Jean Brown LIKES to talk.  Okay, we established that in PART ONE of her exclusive interview so it goes without saying that once you enter into “Bobbie’s World”  (as her best friend and co-star Athena Louise put it) you can be ready for long and frequent phone calls, chit chats, texts, emails and above all, UNFILTERED CONVERSATION.  As we stated in the last portion, she has a habit of speaking her mind and she tends to naturally get a reaction out of you rather than leave you unchanged.  That’s fine by us as that’s the primary goal of ANY of our interviews but some entertainers just seem to be a little more open than others as is the lovely Ms. Brown.  While it’s slightly surreal to be in such candid conversation with the ex-wife of one our favorite singers the late Jani Lane …it is also strangely comfortable because she is so refreshingly candid, kind and easy to talk to.   We got a great response from part 1 and lots of well wishers but Bobbie’s words are still often controversial.  In our conclusion she clarifies and also takes no shit… defending herself against the  people who decided she spoke a little TOO  much of her mind and decided to attack HER.     Read on for part two……

LEGENDARY ROCK INTERVIEWS:  Hello Bobbie, HAPPY HOLIDAYS.  Thank god I finally got to talk to your mother Judy.  We probably talked for an hour and I wasn’t disappointed.

BOBBIE JEAN BROWN:  Ummm…I told you, she’s a character.  You love her don’t you?

LRI:  I am convinced you should be on multiple reality TV shows just like you stated, yes.  Your mom kept saying how different you two were but as we were 40 minutes into the conversation all I could think about were the similarities.  You both like to talk and you both speak your mind she is also hilarious.  She made it a point to tell me that she has the “balls” in the family (laughs).

BJB:  (LAUGHS).  I know.  Nice.  Well, she told me to tell you she is lending me her balls.  That’s my mother.

LRI:  Well, I fuckin love talking to you and judging by the majority of the feedback we’re getting people seem to really appreciate you speaking your mind.  I know this last year hasn’t been easy for you or your daughter and you got a lot of stuff off your mind that was eating at you but……………

BJB: Of course, I piss a lot of people off and hurt people with my blabbing.  I never anticipate it but every time I  feel comfortable in my own skin to talk it happens.  I felt comfortable getting some things out that bothered me and comfortable talking to you and I still do.

LRI:  Do you feel like anything you told me is untrue or conjecture or at least opinion?

BJB:  Not untrue whatsoever but ABSOLUTELY conjecture and thoughts and always opinion.  What interviews do you do where people  don’t give you thoughts or opinions?  When you are telling stories and speaking about your life you are entitled to your opinion.  I never claimed to have all the answers about Jani’s death, that’s why I am suggesting it be looked into further, that’s why an investigation is still ongoing.  I feel like a lot of people misinterpreted things like for instance  me saying my daughter wasn’t devastated by Jani’s death to mean she wasn’t deeply hurt by her dad’s loss.  My daughter doesn’t get “devastated” really by anything, she’s definitely affected by her father’s death and shares her emotions with those people she’s close to like my mom and me but she doesn’t get “DEVASTATED”.  Taylar is a really, really smart girl, she’s a writer, she’s going to school on a scholarship to BE a writer, she’s really close to the vest and private and really smart.

LRI:  I know…..she proofread the rough edit of your interview you know….and pointed out all my lazy rock and roll typos!  But she was very nice and kind to me in an incredibly aware sort of way.  I”m just glad she liked it (LAUGHS).

BJB:  (LAUGHS)  That’s our Taylar.  She is really smart and she’s just always thinking positive.  She’s like the most positive minded person in my life.  If she doesn’t like something she will deal with it but just always in that same, positive, cheerful way.  I’m still working on that like I said.  She will turn up the most positive possible outlook from the most devastating circumstances.  But she is not devastated. She is a strong soul, she takes the best of everything  JANI offered her and works with that.

LRI: That was the vibe I got from you, that she was not blind to her Dad’s problems and had a sense of awareness of how to process it that was advanced.

BJB:  Exactly John.  She always had that type of interaction with him.  Like I said she was NOT one of his “yes” men, he had a lot of them but she always was able to see him as his true self and not some fuckin celebrity.  She didn’t sit back and take his problems with a smile she was very confrontational with him.  Like I said, it amazed Jani, it amazed ME…. she could just boil down to his soul.  She knew, as we all did that it was inevitable so she tends to take the philosophical road, the high road on things.  That’s really what I was getting at for those people who chose to take it the wrong way.  Was she affected?  Of course, she cried all day yesterday.  This is the first Christmas her dad isn’t able to be with her but did we SEE her cry?  NO.  She’s just really private and guarded, she’s not going to do that directly in front of you.  She has a way of dealing with things that make sense to her, my kid does not get DEVASTATED by anything, she has a really simple, positive way of incorporating life experiences to make herself stronger.

LRI:  You, your mom and Taylar come off totally witty and smart and confident. Like I said, your mom seemed to focus on the differences and the friction between you two but I just kept seeing all these parallels and kept laughing.  She gave me a nice crash course on Bobbie Brown Rebellion 101.  She basically admitted all your friction and said you agree to disagree but you all love each other so much.

BJB:  That’s just it though is that yes, everything I said about my mom is true, that’s my version of my childhood bullshit and I am sure she has her own but  like you said we love each other very much and we agree to disagree.  I think sometimes in print interviews even when you put in the laughs it’s hard to understand you and I were laughing pretty much the entire time we were talking about my mom, even the stuff that bothered me is still fuckin funny.  We might have a communication problem that leads to the disagreements and arguments but it’s not a love/hate relationship.  We love each other and would take a bullet for each other we just fight and a lot of times it is hilarious and I think pretty common of a lot of the friction in mother/daughter relationships.

LRI:  She seemed to especially like the fact that I told you she was right about wanting you to work more.

BJB:  (laughs).  I bet she did John.  You know what though, she’s a hundred percent right though, you’re both a hundred percent right.  My desire and work ethic sucked early on in my career and if I had Taylar’s drive and focus at her age I probably could have went way further in my career.  Like I said, especially considering the amount of work that fell into my lap and I begrudgingly did.  If I had really stayed focused on my work and been one track minded in that regard as my mother suggested it would have been a very good thing for me.  Everything happens for a reason but I honestly rebelled against every bit of career advice my mother gave me  like the shitty little kid that I was.  It all goes back to our communication problem (laughs).

LRI:  A small segment of Jani fans seem to either still be going through their own grieving process or just have some deep-seated, preconceived notion of you and have decided to not like you because we got some messages that seemed like  some of them clearly didn’t read the interview at all.  Many of them said you were talking bad about Jani even though you never said a single bad word about him other than the problems of his addiction.  I was stunned at these people who didn’t understand how much both of us were appreciating Jani and his talent and heart throughout the entire interview.

BJB:  Yeah well, they all knew him in their own way too.  Many of them knew him through his music which was so obviously from his heart or met him and loved him which I understand….. I know I did and I still do John.  If you met the guy when he was sober you would love him instantly no matter who you were, people loved Jani, I loved Jani, it was just that he became a totally different person when he drank.  That’s no secret but of course I loved him and he loved us, again……everybody loved JANI look at the outflow of emotion when he passed.  The memorial at the KEY CLUB, the old GAZZARRI”s was sad but it also showed just how much he was loved and respected by fans and other bands.

LRI:  Let’s clear up a few misconceptions some of your naysayers have.  We received one letter indicating we should PULL the interview because of what you said.  This person  sent us letters saying that you were only with Jani for a YEAR and that was 20 years ago.  Some feel like “How dare she be allowed to give her side of the story or talk about Jani like that”.

BJB:  Wow.  Jani and I were always speaking over the years and by the way we were together for THREE  years not one and if they were really a fan or were really cared about him you would think they would at least know that, that’s very hurtful to me that someone would say that.  A lot of times the people who say things like that are not fans but are people who want to stake claim to being an insider, I have met a lot of very cool fans, a lot of people who say things like that are people who want to think they are somehow insiders or know someone who claims to be.  Any one who knows me or my family knows we were together for THREE years, that is ridiculous!  I was pregnant with Taylar for practically one year (laughs).   Comon people.  That’s just idiotic. We spoke often over the years after our divorce, like  I said it was wonderful when he would be sober and difficult when he wasn’t.  He would lash out at me and me at him and it wasn’t always perfect but to me the fact that he would  ask  to move in with me a month before he died SPEAKS VOLUMES about whether or not we communicated kindly or cared for each other.  We did and often.  I dealt with JANI LANE every month, every YEAR from when we met to when he died.  Not only did we have a daughter together but we shared with each other, knew each other, fought with each other, laughed with each other and had a very close bond.  To insinuate that we didn’t is insane.  This  holiday season is hard for us because we spent last Thanksgiving together.  That’s when that photo of us together that you said broke your heart when we first started talking that’s when that was taken….at Thanksgiving so this is a difficult time for us as it is for JANI’s immediate family.

LRI:  We of course got some heat about your thoughts and opinions  from his family but to be honest some of them were much more cordial and respectful than others in stating their case against you.  One of them in particular stated that you had no contact with the family or Jani and barely see your OWN daughter.  That you’ve only dealt with your own little circle of  partying  friends since you divorced Jani.

BJB:  That is insane and hurtful and utter bullshit, my daughter is the most important person in my life and I in hers, we talk every day and always have EVEN since she went to College.  I love Taylar more than anything or anyone in the world.  We are all hurting including Jani’s family and that probably only came from one person I can think of  but that is  low even for them.  Every other member of Jani Lane’s family would never suggest that except that one immediate family member.  To be totally straight with you John our relationships with the rest of the family have NOT been close and it IS true that I haven’t really dealt with them much over the years but that’s only because we havent reached out to each other.  I certainly didn’t do myself any favors with the things I said about them using  his fame but to be honest I was trying to go out of my way to avoid naming names so I stupidly used a blanket statement like “his family” rather than point-blank saying that it was ONLY his sister Mickie, her husband and their son, which it was.   The rest of his family knows this and that’s pretty well-known and documented that her and her family lived with and relied on Jani and not even that bad really to say.  I think it says a LOT about Jani and how generous he was to her and how much family meant to him that he had them stay with him that last year.   I guess I should have just mentioned them by name apparently.  My family and I feel horrible that I didn’t just come right out and say whom I was trying to express my statements towards because the REST of JANI’s family  just had a normal relationship with Jani.  Like I said, my ability to fudge the truth or self edit SUCKS.  I was trying to avoid coming right out and saying the name on my mind.  I loved Jani, I don’t want to be malicious to all of those people in that family or even Mickie.   That’s his sister’s family and if he wanted  to help them out that was his right even if 23-year-old “Cherry Pie” Bobbie thought that was tacky at the time.  That was again, just my opinion and to be fair I had plenty of my own issues at that point like I have said countless times.  I love my daughter, I love my friends and I am a very honest person who says a lot without always thinking as much as I should.  My family hasn’t always seen eye to eye with Jani’s family but they are generally pretty level-headed people who stay out of the Hollywood loop and mean well and love their Jani.

LRI:  Well to be fair you might not want to sit back and take shit either.  One person was on a JANI “fan” site, saying he was a nephew of Jani’s and posting about how you cheated on him the entire relationship with Tommy Lee.  He  said you were “fucking” Tommy the entire time behind their uncle’s back.   We talked to Athena, Tommy’s sister who said that was total bullshit and that your relationship actually happened during the 1994/95 Corabi album?

BJB:  Athena was living with Tommy and they should know what she is talking about.   Jani and I divorced in 1993 and for what it’s worth he was cheating on me as I said before.  Even that isn’t anyones business but infidelity came up in the first interview  and I answered to the best of my knowledge. I started dating Tommy in 1994 and Vince was NOT in the band it was John Corabi by that point.  In fact I had never even MET Tommy until Jani and I split  so to say that shit is SO not true.  Anyone who knows me or was there KNOWS that’s total bullshit.

LRI:  Don’t you think that’s stupid  to even suggest about Tommy?  That hardly makes them look good to say that shit about his cousin Taylar’s mom.  You never married anyone else, you didn’t have other children and to suggest that the entire time you were fucking Tommy behind his back is messed up.

BJB:  That’s very hurtful to me, to Jani, to Taylar and to Tommy.  Tommy doesn’t deserve that shit and doesn’t appreciate it.  You’re a big Motley fan John, you know how much he loves tabloid bullshit!!!   My daughter has been a teenager having to grow up and read that shit about her mom and dad and it’s even more messed up and weird when someone just outright makes up shit.  I cannot believe people would say I was fucking someone the entire time behind my dead ex-husbands back, the father of my daughter.  Some people are unreal and usually these are the same people who get upset or call me callous when I simply say how I feel.

LRI:  I was most pissed about the people indicating you were misinformed or not credible for your rememberences.  Some also told us that you don’t know what you’re talking about in regards to the songs being written.  That “Blind Faith” was not about you but about Bekka and that “I Saw Red” was NOT about Bekka (laughs).

BJB:  I can only say that  I watched him create on a regular basis… did they John?  I can also say what he told me and that’s all I did.    “I SAW RED” was about Bekka and yes I think even spoke about it in interviews, I am not saying that to slam Bekka at all because I know she and Jani were close.  He “dedicated” Blind Faith to me and Taylar like I said and has done so more than once which I think is also documented.  Are you serious?  I know what i believe to be true based on me speaking with Jani directly.

LRI:  We realize that you have some detractors who feel you are a starfucker or a slut.  To be fair Bobbie, you COULD edit your WIKIPEDIA page as it lists all these guys you allegedly dated. Have you seen it?

BJB:  No.  I didn’t know you could edit your own WIKI page (laughs).  I might need to get on that.  I didn’t even know you could google your own name until about 5 years ago when the guys from CRAZYTOWN told me.  They go “Hey Bob…you want an ego trip?….check this out”  and of course all this stuff comes up.  Some good, some just rumors and shit.  It’s like Wikipedia listing that I dated Stevie Rachelle, I didn’t.  It was a one night stand and I have no problem coming clean about any of my relationships.  I NEVER did Scott Baio (laughs).   I went on two dates with him and we didn’t even make out (laughs).  A lot of the other relationships were serious longstanding relationships, Matthew Nelson, Tommy Lee and of course Jani.  I guess people say these things about me because of the way I look or the fact that I end up dating people who happen to be famous sometimes.  I worked around and was in the same circles as a lot of these names that are mentioned with me.  I never was a groupie and I never sought THEM out, it just worked out this way.  I haven’t dated anyone like that in a long time, not because I don’t want to but just because it’s all a matter of circumstance.  People are just going to say all kinds of shit about me being a slut and whatever….I am not.  I am probably the “hardest to get” person I know.   This may not sound sexy but I can and have gone WITHOUT sex.  I have gone without sex for five years at one point.

LRI:  We contacted you to do an interview and you said yes.  We talked for over an hour and a half and you never even brought up “EX-WIVES ROCK”, I did after an hour or so of conversation but to be honest I almost forgot about it we were talking so long.  What do you say to the people who are accusing you of dredging all your drama out to plug your show or even suggesting that YOU are sponging off Jani still or trying to get his estates since TMZ reported there was no will.

BJB:  As for my TV show, I am not trying to promote or demote my show.   If  people don’t wanna watch it that’s fine there are always going to be people who either love or hate me and this is me, that show is my life and my friend’s lives.  But that wasn’t the purpose of doing this really.  I mean I do like the show so if people want to watch it that’s great because  I think it’s good.  It’s my real life, it’s my real world, it’s my career and how I pay my bills.  Having said that  unless you have a lot of CANADIAN readers it’s not even airing in the U.S.    It’s on in Canada in April, but not here and we aren’t even set in stone on the NAME of the show.  I wasn’t doing an interview as much to talk about my show as I was to get some things out there that were bothering me.   As for sponging off Jani, again, that is not true.  I havent seen a dime from Jani in years in fact Jani’s had his own share of financial problems and it was often  my family who supported Taylar.   I don’t have big rock star money or live the way silly people think I do.  I live in a one-bedroom apartment and drive a Hyundai !!!  Isn’t that glamorous?  Jani lost a lot of money and to the best of my knowledge had no “financial” windfall for anyone to inherit.  If there are some assets I would NOT  think they were cash and either way that wouldn’t apply to ME.  We have been divorced for years and Taylor is an adult now.  That might apply to one of Jani’s other wives like his third wife Kim.  I really don’t know.  I know according to talking to him from his own lips he said that he said he was divorcing her and was separated, my daughter says she has text messages saying he was divorcing her.  I saw the paperwork he had that his people working on to divorce her.  Kim said they were attempting to reconcile which may be true, they had that kind of relationship which I totally understand and I really can’t say because I wasn’t there.  Incidentally, I have NOTHING personal against her and really LOVE Kim and we really had a common bond in dealing with some of the troubles Jani’s alcoholism caused for their relationship because it was so similar for both of us.  I happen to really like her and always have, she  is a really nice, pretty girl and put up with a LOT and when they would fight I will admit I often sided with her because when he was drinking he was a lot to take and very difficult to like being around.  She had a kid like I do and she spent time talking about Jani and trying to help him.  She loved Jani and wanted to see him get better.  I would not be in a position to benefit financially from Jani’s estate anymore anyway, that would be for the OTHER wives and the children.

LRI:  Ironically, one of  his Uncle’s family posted a comment to the first interview that they actually agreed with you about some of  the circumstances around his death needed further clarification and were suspicious but just wished they were put more delicately.

BJB:  Yes.  I really didn’t mean to upset anyone it’s just that the more I dwell on it and all of the inconsistencies between the police report and the hotel statement and the coroner report and certain people it just really FREAKS me out.  There is still an investigation pending and hopefully there will be more answers for the people who truly deserve to know. I know people don’t all understand or believe in the things I told you about speaking with a medium to “talk” to Jani.  Some people think that’s hokey or weird but I just kept feeling like I had to reach out to him and I do feel that the communication I between the medium was real and I know that’s also my OPINION.  I loved Jani, I love my daughter, I love my friends and I am a very honest person and I don’t feel I said anything BAD about anyone,  even when I said that someone wanted money from him like I just know that I was experiencing some really strong spiritual senses and it helped ME.   I know there is a police report that can be read by certain people.  I was NOT a part of the investigation because they haven’t questioned me which is fine because I really don’t wanna be directly involved  but  I know my friend Sheila was and can read the report, she knows more about it than me.  I don’t know everyone else that was questioned.  I hope that something more comes about it because right now there are still far too many questions.   There is nobody, nobody I am implicating or suggesting was involved in his death  just a ton of glaring inconsistencies between the various reports that came out between the people supposedly with him, the Hotel and the death report.   I think the fact that the case is not closed says a lot, there are a lot of things that people in the general public are not aware of that leave me questioning how JANI died and WHY.  The official toxicology report says acute ethanol but they are still investigating how it all went down.  He did not just go to a hotel and die there as people were led to believe.  We need to know who put the idiotic “I am Jani Lane” note in his pocket and whose name was he under at the hotel and why did he not have any shoes or luggage.  These are all legitimate questions, I am not making them up to seek attention for myself I am bringing them to light because they fuckin freak me out.  It made me curious that none of it made sense when added up.  Why was there a do not disturb sign on the hotel door and noone checked on him for two goddamn days?  Who brought him there?  Do you know what I mean?  When I heard about all these glaring inconsistencies and weird details it disturbed me because I KNOW Jani Lane, I knew him very well til the day he died and he did not pin notes to himself saying I am Jani Lane no matter how drunk he was.  That is insane.

LRI:  Mark Kendall of Great White was very happy to read your interview.  He told us we could tell you and I quote ” I thought it was a very honest, emotional, and heartfelt interview. I’m not sure about intense, but it was nice that she was fighting for Jani and in his corner, but not in a patronizing way because she revealed his faults also. It was interesting about the pills in the hotel, because I have also heard he was never into pills. He was a straight up alcoholic and pills were never in the equation.”

BJB:  Well, that is very nice of Mark first of all and very true.  Jani never had a problem with drugs, he hated drugs, obviously we can all agree that he was a very, very severe alcoholic but to have pills by the side of his bed that were not in his tox screening was questionable to me.  That made my red flags go up, Jani was not a pill guy and if they were in his system and part of some intentional suicide that’s one thing but they ran the toxicology screening and the pills did NOT show up.  I am not saying they were planted only that the thought has to cross your mind.  I think it should cross anyone’s mind because it doesn’t make sense, I feel like I am just stating the obvious about my ex-husband’s death.  I don’t think I should be crucified for asking questions that anyone who cares should be asking about someone they were close to.

LRI:  The other thing is this ridiculous notion that you acted like no one else tried to help or you were the only one there for Jani.  If anything you threw your family under the bus and were beating yourselves up unnecessarily.  You said that Taylar tried tough love when she shouldn’t have and you feel incredible guilt for not taking him in to live with you in your apartment when he asked.

BJB:  John, I do feel a terrible burden of guilt that maybe if I had said yes to him about moving in to our place in that month before he died  none of this would have happened.  I still feel that way sometimes because I have such guilt about that and wondered why at the time but now realize that he must have trusted me or loved me to reach out and I just didn’t know how to react.  He was freaking out on me over the phone and I have a little place and a boyfriend to think about.  To think about had I known what was going to happen of course I should have been there I feel like and it really, really hurts me that people think I was trying to come off as Jani’s saviour.  I wasn’t, I wish I was.  I did try to help him many times over the years………………Everybody did.    I never spoke to him again after he asked me to move in, that was the last time I spoke to him and it…………..

LRI:  I’m sorry.  We can talk another time or end this, it is a rough time for you.

BJB:  It’s just that everyone tried but nobody could help him, not me, not his daughter, not his friends.  John, EVERYONE tried, if you crossed paths with the guy you tried out of love or for your own sanity or both .  I tried to help, I may have been  mad at their way of doing things or their reasons but the Warrant guys tried to help, Great White tried to help, the kids tried to help, Sheila tried to help, she put him in rehab the last month of his life.  Kim tried to help.  EVERYBODY tried to help Jani in their own way.  Like I said, everyone loved him.   I loved him as a person.  Everytime I saw him and we had a really lucid, sober moment I would tell him I love you and anytime I saw him in need I would cry and tell him “I love you, I don’t wanna see you like this” because it hurt you so much to hear that torment in his soul.  I might not have been in love with him anymore but I loved him like any member of my family because that’s what he was to us.  I still love and care about him.  I always will as will his daughter.  I leaned on her and my friends and family.  I was as devastated by his loss as anyone including the fans.  Like I said, he cared about his fans and they cared about him.  He was a very, very talented songwriter and he will always be missed.  I want to thank LEGENDARY ROCK INTERVIEWS  for being upfront with me and I hope I haven’t caused you or anyone any trouble with my raw nerve, my stupid brashness or my honesty but I try to live my life as honestly as possible.  It really hurts that people would be hurt or attack me but it all goes back to my inability to shut my big mouth (laughs).  I just want every one to know how I feel and how I appreciate YOU and also thank Stevie and Metalsludge.tv  for being the only one who actually linked  your work without putting his own spin on it or adding  smartass or tabloid TMZ bonus coverage shit.  It’s been some emotional shit for all of us close to Jani and thanks to everyone who has been interested enough to even read my take on all of it.  Your support means the world to me and my family.

LRI:  Thanks again to you  Bobbie and your extended family for your time!

BJB:  Thank YOU John….Happy Holidays, I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me and for letting me express myself.

Our interview with Bobbie’s best bud and Tommy’s sister Athena Louise can be found right HERE: http://www.legendaryrockinterviews.com/2011/11/22/legendary-rock-interview-with-athena-louise-author-drummer-of-krunk-and-tv-star/

 

Part ONE of Bobbie’s interview can be found HERE:  http://www.legendaryrockinterviews.com/2011/12/19/legendary-rock-interview-with-modelrealitytvstar-bobbie-jean-brown-yes-that-bobbie-brown/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Bobbie Brown, Bobbie Jean Brown, jani lane, model, Tommy Lee, warrant

Category: Interviews