Jack Russell, Vocalist from Great White Band Dies at 63

Jack Rus­sell, the found­ing vocal­ist of the ’80s glam met­al band Great White, has died at the age of 63. The icon­ic singer passed away on Thurs­day, August 15, 2024, sur­round­ed by fam­i­ly and friends after bat­tling mul­ti­ple sys­tem atro­phy and Lewy body dementia.

Great White’s Rise to Fame

Great White, found­ed in Los Ange­les in 1977, rose to promi­nence in the mid-1980s. The band’s break­through came with their plat­inum-sell­ing 1987 album “Once Bit­ten” and its 1989 fol­low-up “… Twice Shy.” 

These albums pro­duced hit sin­gles like “Rock Me” and “Once Bit­ten, Twice Shy,” which became sta­ples on MTV dur­ing its ear­ly years.

Jack Russell’s Musical Journey

Rus­sel­l’s pow­er­ful vocals and stage pres­ence were inte­gral to Great White’s suc­cess. The band toured with major acts of the era, includ­ing Guns N’ Ros­es and Twist­ed Sis­ter, cement­ing their place in the glam met­al scene.

The Rhode Island Tragedy

In 2003, a trag­ic inci­dent occurred dur­ing a per­for­mance by Jack Rus­sel­l’s Great White at a Rhode Island nightclub. 

A fire start­ed by the band’s pyrotech­nics result­ed in the deaths of 100 peo­ple, includ­ing gui­tarist Ty Lon­g­ley, and injured 230 oth­ers. This remains the dead­liest fire­works acci­dent in US history.

Russell’s Final Years

Last month, Rus­sell announced his retire­ment from tour­ing due to his health con­di­tions. In his final mes­sage to fans, he expressed grat­i­tude for their sup­port through­out his career.

“I am unable to per­form at the lev­el I desire and at the lev­el you deserve,” Rus­sell said on social media. “Words can­not express my grat­i­tude for the many years of mem­o­ries, love, and support.”

Jack Rus­sel­l’s pass­ing marks the end of an era in glam met­al his­to­ry. His con­tri­bu­tions to the genre and his pow­er­ful voice will be remem­bered by fans and fel­low musi­cians alike.

#Glam­Met­al #Great­White­band