Ex-Great White vocalist Jack Russell shocked the music world recently—or, at the very least, the five people who associated Great White with anything other than the Station Nightclub Fire—by announcing his retirement from touring due to his recent diagnosis of Lewy body dementia. Russell exited Great White proper back in 2011 after he was unable to tour due to injuries including a shattered pelvis and perforated bowl, both of which he blamed on his drinking and painkiller addictions. However, he quickly started his own band called Jack Russell’s Great White, which led to a lot of animosity between him and his former bandmates.
However, Great White guitarist Mark Kendall indicated recently that he has no hard feelings towards Russell following his departure from the band. In a recent interview with Brazillian outlet Alma Hard (that was transcribed by Blabbermouth), Kendall explained that he could never take anyone’s addiction personally:
“It was awful. We basically just said we wanted him to get well and be better, because he wasn’t able to perform up to his potential because of addiction. And I myself have been sober for almost 16 years and I work with a lot of people that suffer and are struggling. I only work with people who need help. But some people, it’s harder than others; the addiction just overwhelms them and they really have a hard time stopping. And I never take anyone’s addiction personal.”
Kendall continued on, with nothing but positive things to say about Russell:
“Jack Russell has never done anything to hurt me. He just had an addiction. He’s still a brother. It’s unfortunate because he’s such a talent. He had one of the best rock voices ever. He could sing anything — beautiful ballads, anything hard, heavy-hitting. He had the range, good-quality voice — just the greatest ever. So it was a little tough because we made a band together, just me and him. When he first met me, he auditioned for my band and then he said, ‘Why don’t you and me get away from this deal and go make our own thing?’ And so the brotherhood was just amazing from the get-go. And we created everything from nothing, just him and I, getting this bass player and that drummer and just plugging away and making music. So you hate for something to happen to where someone can’t perform to their potential anymore. It’s unfortunate. But we’re just moving down the road. We, of course, wish him the best. I know he’s really in a bad spot. So you’ve just gotta pray for people.”
It’s good to hear, as Russell steps down from touring, that he hasn’t burned all his bridges. Is it insensitive to make a reference to “burning” bridges when talking about Great White? Do I have to avoid all fire metaphors when talking about this band? Anyway, it’s nice to hear that they’re still on good terms.