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Jack Russell, one of the founding members of Eighties band Great White, has died. He was 63. In a social media post Thursday, Russell's family announced that the glam metal singer died "peacefully" surrounded by his family and friends.
"Jack is loved and remembered for his sense of humor, exceptional zest for life, and unshakeable contribution to rock and roll where his legacy will forever thrive," read the statement. "His family asks for privacy at this time."
Although the cause of Russell's death was not revealed, the singer announced in July that he would be stepping away from touring after being diagnosed with Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy, a rare neurodegenerative disorder.
"I am unable to perform at the level I desire and at the level you deserve," Russell said at the time. "Words cannot express my gratitude for the many years of memories, love, and support."
"Thank you for letting me live my dreams. You have made my life a wonder," he ended the note in July. Over the summer, Russell released a memoir of his life with K.L. Doty titled The True Tale of Mista Bone: A Rock and Roll Narrative.
According to the statement, a public memorial is set to be announced at a later date.
Russell was once the lead vocalist for the rock band Great White, which had its biggest hits "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" (a cover of the Ian Hunter song) and "The Angel Song" in the late Eighties. He co-founded the band in 1982 with Mark Kendall, and dropped several LPs, including 1987's Once Bitten and 1989's Twice Shy.
Kendall announced his hiatus from the group in 2000, and Russell announced the end of the band in 2001 to pursue solo music, which failed to succeed. Several years later, the musicians would reunite as Jack Russell's Great White.
For some, Russell's name brings up memories of the tragic Station nightclub fire in 2003, which killed 100 people and injured 230 others. Great White was performing at the nightclub when a massive fire broke out after pyrotechnics set off by the band's tour manager ignited flammable acoustic foam at the back of the stage. The band's guitarist Ty Longley died in the fire.
In 2015, Russell announced that he'd release a documentary on the mass casualty. "It's a story of my life intertwined with the story of the fire," Russell said at the time. "It's really hard, you know, but it's going to give me a chance to apologize and say how I feel about it. I never had the chance to say, 'I'm sorry.'"
While Russell was not charged, he and Great White did settle a $1 million lawsuit with victims of the fire, which was part of an overall $176 million settlement fund. "That is that band's legacy," Victoria Potvin Eagan, a fan who escaped the tragedy, told Rolling Stone in 2013.
Kendall has continued to tour with the Great White name with rotating singers. His version of the band made headlines for performing in July 2020 with no social distancing or masks.
