The Florida Man Who Headbanged in a Hurricane

Lane Pittman is a Jacksonville legend. 

Though he’s best known as the guy who headbanged in a Category 5 hurricane, Pittman was actually a local star long before that. In fact, he’s one of the rare oddballs to have earned the name “Florida Man” in news headlines not once but twice.

It began at a BBQ block party in Neptune Beach on the Fourth of July in 2015—which ended with him getting arrested.

“I had an idea to play the National Anthem,” Pittman told VICE. “You got people partying and raging, and then you see and hear the National Anthem on an electric guitar. There was probably, like, 200 or 300 people all here in the streets, all behind me.”

According to police, the crowd got out of hand. Bikes and cars drove into the area near pedestrians, causing safety issues. But Pittman was more focused on the music than on the chaos around him. 

“I’m just stoked to be an American,” he said of the moment. “I’m stoked to live in a country where I can play the National Anthem on the Fourth of July.”

The crowd pushed back on the officers, but Pittman was cited with a breach of peace. (The charges were later dropped.) He said it made him feel like a rockstar. Footage of the arrest went viral. His career as Florida Man had begun. 

Fast-forward to 2016 and the hurricane season’s worst storm, Hurricane Matthew. 

“I think a family friend was like, ‘You should go out there and, like, hair-whip in the storm,’” Pittman reminisced. “And I was like, ‘Yeah! Alright, sick!’” His dad filmed the video.

Pittman was so impressed by himself and the clip that he shared it on Facebook so more people would see it. From there, he went viral—again.

“I am ‘Florida Man’ all of a sudden,” he said, mentioning how bands like Slayer and the Foo Fighters shared the video. “Yeah, I got to do so many cool things because of these videos.”

Pittman made sure to note that he got to use the videos to provide hurricane relief to those affected.

“I love being a Florida Man in the most positive way a Florida Man can be,” he said. “There are really jacked-up Florida Men that do pretty horrendous things,” he elaborated. “I ain’t one of ‘em!”