Great White singer Jack Russell, whose band’s long climb to commercial success was overshadowed by a pyrotechnics display at a nightclub performance that led to one of the deadliest indoor fires in U.S. history, has died. He was 63.
A statement released by his family on Russell’s social media accounts on Thursday indicated the singer died with family including his wife and son at his side. Russell posted last month that he was retiring from touring due to a diagnosis of Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy.
“Jack is loved and remembered for his sense of humour, exceptional zest for life, and unshakeable contribution to rock and roll, where his legacy will forever thrive,” the family statement said.
Great White achieved radio play on rock stations with Rock Me from their third album, 1987’s Once Bitten, and scored a Top 5 Billboard hit on their followup album, with a cover of Ian Hunter’s Once Bitten, Twice Shy. That performance earned the band a Grammy nomination for best hard rock performance in 1989.
Their commercial fortunes waned in ensuing years, and they were performing as Jack Russell’s Great White on Feb. 20, 2003, in Warwick, R.I., when a fire erupted at the Station nightclub venue, which had a capacity of 300.
In addition to the fans killed, 31-year-old band guitarist Ty Longley perished in the blaze. The extent of the damage was such that identifying the dead took weeks, with dental records necessary in many cases.
Overture to victims’ families was spurned
The aftermath of the fire was ever present for Russell. He told a Portland, Ore., radio station in 2015 that he felt a sense of survivor’s guilt.
“Why did I get to live and so many other people didn’t?” he said. “I feel guilty for people coming to see me play and losing their lives. It’s really hard to deal with.”
He was a controversial figure to many family members of victims, who felt he should have been criminally charged. Russell’s intention to give proceeds from a 2013 show to a foundation trying to get establish a memorial for victims was rejected.
Recriminations and finger pointing ensued immediately after the fire, with the band and the club owners disagreeing over whether there was prior knowledge pyrotechnics would be utilized. A club owner in New Jersey, where the band had performed days earlier, said he had been unaware the band was incorporating pyro into their act before they hit the stage.
The band’s road manager and a co-owner of the Rhode Island nightclub served short prison sentences after reaching plea deals. The club owners had installed soundproofing insulation — which turned out to be flammable — in violation of the state’s fire code.
Civil litigation wound through the courts for years. The band agreed to pay $1 million US to some 300 family members affected in 2008. More substantial was a $22-million settlement paid by Clear Channel Broadcasting, which owned a local rock station promoting the concert.
Years of toiling before short-lived heyday
Great White’s origins stretched back to the late 1970s, and their name evolved from an early nickname given to guitarist Mark Kendall.
“It was a privilege and joy to share the stage with [Russell] — many shows, many miles and maximum rock,” Kendall said in an Instagram post on Thursday.
Great White released their first album in 1984 and opened for the likes of KISS, Judas Priest and Whitesnake, but their first two releases were not big commercial successes.
They earned a reputation as a partying band. In promotional appearances, Russell hailed 1991’s Hooked, their attempt to sustain the momentum from their biggest hit, but he would offer a different perspective years later.
“The Hooked album was a mess because we all should have been in rehab at that point instead of making that record,” Russell told Canadian music writer Martin Popoff in 2014’s The Big Book of Hair Metal.
Russell would be up front in interviews in later years about longstanding substance abuse issues and stints in rehab.
The group continued to perform and tour through the 1990s even as grunge and other musical trends forced many hard rock bands like Great White to downsize their concert venues.
Bassist Dave Filice and drummer Eric Powers left the group shortly after the deadly fire. Russell remained for two more band albums, released in 2007 and 2009. A series of lineup changes ensued in subsequent years and even Russell left, with various singers including Warrant’s Jani Lane — who died in 2011 — filling in.
Some hard rock musicians paid tribute to Russell on social media on Thursday.
“To my friend Jack Russell, such an amazing voice. May you rest in peace,” said Poison frontman Bret Michaels.
