The Florida Man Who Headbanged in a Hurricane

Lane Pittman is a headbanging, electric-guitar-playing Jacksonville legend—but he’s more than just a local rockstar. In fact, this Florida man is dedicated to providing relief to hurricane victims throughout his community—something the state desperately needs right now.

Who is Lane Pittman?

Best known as the guy who headbanged in a Category 5 hurricane, Pittman is one of the rare oddballs to have earned the name “Florida Man” in news headlines not once but twice.

It all started when he attended a BBQ block party in Neptune Beach on the Fourth of July in 2015. For some reason, he thought it was a great idea to play electric guitar in the middle of the street, attracting hundreds of people—which ended with him getting arrested for 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.”

Raising hurricane relief for Florida victims

While many view him as a source of entertainment, Pittman is trying to do a lot of good for his state, especially recently.

With Florida recovering from Hurricane Helene and preparing for the disastrous Hurricane Milton, many have lost their homes and/or are being forced to evacuate. Pittman is taking to his platform to help spread awareness, raise donations, and provide hurricane relief to victims.

In the past, Pittman has made sure to note that he got to use his 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!”