By Monk
Jack Russell, lead singer with LA hard rock veterans Great White, has died at the age of 63.
Russell founded Great White with guitarist Mark Kendall in 1977. The band enjoyed their biggest successes in the late Eighties with the albums ‘Once Bitten…’ and ‘…Twice Shy’ and the singles ‘Rock Me’, ‘Once Bitten, Twice Shy’ (a cover of the Ian Hunter classic) and ‘The Angel Song’.
As commercial success waned in the 1990s, the band’s career also struggled, and they split up in 2001, although the singer continued under the moniker of Jack Russell’s Great White. In 2003, 100 people died when the band’s pyro set fire to The Station venue in Rhode Island. At the time, Russell had re-united with Kendall, but they ultimately split in 2011, going their separate ways with two different versions of the band.
Earlier this year, Russell was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). The diagnosis led to him announcing, just last month, his retirement from live performances.
- Photograph courtesy of facebook.com/jack.russell.1232.