Cherry Pie (Warrant song)

Background and writing

"Cherry Pie" was added very late to the band's second album, originally titled Uncle Tom's Cabin. Columbia Records president Don Ienner requested a rock anthem reminiscent of Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator", and frontman Jani Lane wrote the song in about fifteen minutes. Guitarist Joey Allen noted that the label's marketing drove the change, not the band. The song was inspired by Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me", itself a last-minute addition to Hysteria.

Lane wrote the lyrics on a pizza box, now displayed at the Hard Rock Cafe in Destin, Florida. The guitar solo was performed by C.C. DeVille as a favor to Lane. Many band members considered "Cherry Pie" not among the album's better songs, viewing it as a double-edged sword that brought fame but overshadowed their other work. Lane later expressed regret for writing the song, though he clarified that personal stress at the time of the interview influenced his remarks.

Music video

The video for "Cherry Pie" received heavy rotation on MTV and other music video stations. It featured the band and model Bobbie Brown, who appears scantily clad and dancing, with tongue-in-cheek visual references to the lyrics against a white background. Canadian network MuchMusic refused to air the video, deeming it "offensively sexist".

Director Jeff Stein defended it as a parody of other hair-metal videos. Brown and Lane became involved after filming and married in 1991. Howard Johnson of Classic Rock ranked the video number 3 on a list of the top 10 best hair metal videos.

Did You Know?

• An acoustic version of "Cherry Pie" was recorded by Lane in 2004 and appeared on the VH1 Classic Metal Mania: Stripped compilation.
• An electronic remix of the song was released in 2015 by Lack Jemmon.
• The band revisited "Cherry Pie" in 1999 on their Greatest & Latest album.