Jack Russell had the world in the palm of his hand. Then poof – it disappeared before his very eyes and he found himself on the outside looking in. And outside was not a safe place to be. Waking up to the hum of machines and a voice whispering that a friend had died is a cruel reality check. Jack Russell needed to wake up before it was too late.
Turning the late 80’s on fire with a breakthrough single called “Rock Me,” followed by several years of building a reputation as a solid straight-shooting rock & roll band; Great White fell into the pop metal tornado that engulfed the LA music scene and became famous for Russell’s Plant-like vocals and Mark Kendall’s blues inspired chords. It was a good time that continued through several albums, hundreds of gigs and some popular videos showcasing Russell’s good looks and some blonde chick with a mermaid’s tale.
Jack Russell is a survivor and the time has come where he feels healthy enough to go back into the fold of his fans and his music with a band he currently calls Jack Russell’s Great White. And a few weeks ago, while lounging out on his boat where he lives with his wife, Russell had a lot he wanted to say.
There are so many rumors and there are so many people talking. So can YOU tell us how you are feeling and what it’s been like these past few years for you physically and emotionally?
You know, it’s been a long road back. I did damage to my body and it was touch and go for a while there. I was in a coma at one point for five days with sepsis from a bowel perforation, where the contents of your bowels seep into your body and cause a massive infection. The doctors told my wife they weren’t sure if I was going to make it. They thought I was going to die. I woke up five days later with a colostomy bag going, what the hell just happened? Oddly enough, through the whole time, none of my former band members even called me to see how I was doing or to see if I was even alive. And that really, really hurt me.
Granted, they’re upset because I cost them some money but it’s like when did money become more important than a human life; somebody that you called your friend, that you spent your life with, and that was the beginning of the end right there. But right now, I’m doing good. My health is great. Sure, I’ve got aches and pains, I always will. I’ve got degenerative disease which means basically it’s vertebrae on vertebrae but it’s tolerable. I can still go out and do my thing on stage and run around and there’s nothing missing, you know. My voice is better than it’s ever been because I’ve been taking care of myself. A lot of the medicine I was taking, like prednisone, which is a super-radical anti-inflammatory, which I was taking for my voice because I was being worked so hard by the guys when I needed some time off. Come to find out it was actually worse for me than not taking it and that caused a lot of osteoporosis. The stuff I did because I wanted to sing and now I realize I don’t need it and my voice is great right now. Notes that I thought I’d lost forever are back, my voice is stronger than it has been in years and it sounds just like it always did so I’m really happy, you know.
You had a bulging disk in your back, didn’t you?
Yeah, that was the first thing I had. In my lower back I had a bulging disk and they did a surgery and two days later it re-herniated. They did another surgery. It was hard to walk and I went out on the road. I didn’t really want to but it was kind of like, “Come on, dude, we need the money”; “Ok, I’ll go. I’ll just take a bunch of pain pills and go out”. Then I tripped over a monitor cable and I shattered my left femur and I finished the show on a stool. But I lost two units of blood, they rushed me to the emergency room after the show was done and put a rod down my left femur. Now my left leg is two inches shorter than my right leg.
After that, it was all downhill. I fell and I broke my right hip and then I had the colostomy bag, then I shattered my pelvis. Enough, you know. I’m like the Evel Knievel of rock & roll (laughs). If I had nine lives I’ve spent eight of them. I just can’t push it anymore. The bottom line was I wanted to take some time off and my former manager would say, “Ok, yeah, Jack, no problem, we’re behind you 100%, we’ll pull the tour down but I’ll tell you as a friend, it’ll probably ruin your career, because promoters will never trust you again. So what do you want to do, just let me know, and I’m behind you all the way”. So, ok, do I lose my career or do I take a bunch more pills and go on the road? So I took a bunch more pills. Then at the end, I was ostracized for taking the pills. It was ok to take them when I was working. It’s sad when you have people that you thought were your friends for thirty-something years and they turn out to try and knife you in the back. When I found out that they’d filed for the [Great White] trademark, that just devastated me. That was the only way to get the name cause they can’t fire me cause it’s my band. The only way they could do it is try to steal it from me. But I just found out their trademark application just got denied.
You played NAMM a few months ago with your new band and the fans seem really excited to have you back.
The fans are really excited to have me back, God bless them. They’ve been here to support me all through the downtime and it’s nice that I can vindicate them. There were a lot of naysayers – “Oh, he’ll never be able to come back” or “He’s done”. No, I’m not done, I’m far from it. I have a new lease on life. I’ve been sober over seven months. I had a colostomy bag and I was still drinking and I had all these broken bones and I was still drinking and what saved my life was on August 11 of last year when I woke up from my last surgery, I had a shattered pelvis, and my wife said, “Jack, your friend Jani Lane just passed away from alcohol poisoning”. And I went, “Oh my God, I’m next”. Then Steven Tyler called me up a day or two later and said, “Jack, what the fuck are you doing?” And I said, “Steven, I don’t know” and he goes, “Man, you got to get sober. We don’t want to lose you.” So between that and Jani’s death it saved my life. It really did. Being sober, I just feel great again, like myself again, and I have a new lease on life and my life is wonderful. It is once again a dream. I live on a beautiful boat with my wonderful wife and every day is an adventure and it’s just been fantastic.
The only downside right now is all the legal stuff going on with the other guys. They’re trying to steal my name but that’s all being worked out so I’m not concerned about that at this point. It’s just a fly in the ointment, really.
But yeah, we’re booked all over. We’re just doing weekend shows right now. Then in June we’re headlining a tour with Faster Pussycat, BulletBoys and Lillian Axe. It’s going to be great. We’re going to get on a bus for the first time in years and do that and it’s going to be a lot of fun. I haven’t been on a tour bus in years.
So you’re ready and raring to go.
Yeah, it’s going to be a blast and I’m looking forward to it. The only downside is that I’ll miss my wife. We’re very, very close. She literally saved my life three times. She’s a nurse, you know, thank God or I wouldn’t be alive. At one point I was a 137 pounds and she used to have to pick me up out of a wheelchair into my bed, bathe me, feed me. I had to learn how to walk again. Five months ago I was in a wheelchair permanently and I had to teach myself how to walk again.
But the tour is going great. We’ve had nothing but sold out shows and it’s been wonderful. It’s so nice to be back. I’ve got the best band in the world, these guys are phenomenal. I’ve never heard my songs sound so good. We’re doing a lot of different stuff in the set so it’s not the same old thing. We’re not a bunch of old farts standing around just going through the songs. We’ve changed a lot of the endings to make them different and exciting. I don’t want to give it all away but just make sure you come out and see it. It’s going to blow your mind.
Once there is only one Great White, which is probably going to happen pretty soon, then the offers are going to get a lot more cause right now there are two fish in the sea so it kind of dilutes the market. But this is my band, always has been. I’ve been the only one in the band in every inception. I started it, I dissolved it at one point, I fired this guy, this guy quit, but I’ve been the only constant. I’m like the Northern Star, I’ve always been there (laughs)
Where did you grow up? Aren’t you a California guy?
Yeah, I grew up all over California. I’ve been living at the beach for years. I lived out in the desert for ten years and it just drove me crazy. So my wife and I bought a new boat and moved back out on the boat and are living in Redondo Beach on the water and it’s great. I just sit here on the back of the boat and it’s like living at Sea World. There’re seals all over the place and fish jumping out of the water. I’ll take the boat out fishing all the time. It’s my kind of life. I’m a pirate, you know, I always have been and a pirate belongs on a ship.
What were you like growing up?
I was a fucking nightmare (laughs). I drove my parents crazy, poor people. I was always in trouble with the law, this that and everything but I was always a good singer and music was always in my blood. I always knew I was going to be a rock star. Ever since I was six years old when my parents got me the Beatles Help album I just knew – I didn’t think, I didn’t wish, I just knew. I was just waiting around for it to happen. I never worried about it happening because I always knew it would. I just figured God didn’t give me this voice to sell hamburgers, you know. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, all work is honorable, but I knew I had this voice for some reason and the ability to write songs.
How did you know you had this strong voice?
Well, I was in the Glee Club when I was in Military school and that was my first experience. When I was eleven years old, I met a guy on the next street over and we started my first band and I’ve been doing it ever since.
Were you ever nervous on stage?
Only when I’m sick. If I’m sick and my voice isn’t feeling good then I’m nervous. Other than that, nah. That’s the one place I feel totally at peace. It’s like the one place I never feel uncomfortable in my own skin.
You always seemed to have this sexy, cool swagger about you. Were you the cool guy in high school?
You know, I was always different. I was the wearing the things nobody else wears kind of guy. I was twelve years old and had my ear pierced. I always dressed different and I didn’t really care what people thought about me, I am what I am. I was never afraid to be myself. Despite the side-long glances and the talking behind my back like, “That guy what a freak, what a fag”. It never bothered me. I knew who I was and I’m confident in that. I love who I am and I wouldn’t trade myself for anybody. I wouldn’t. You could be Steven Tyler if you want – nope. I’d rather be Jack Russell. I love my life. It’s been one hell of an adventure and it continues to be so. It’s not always good but it’s definitely never boring (laughs)
What was the first band or musician that just totally blew you away?
Alice Cooper. I used to dress like him and go to high school. I used to paint my eyes all up and go to school. People thought I was a freak. Oddly enough, it was cool because I got to meet Alice Cooper and we did a tour in 1989. I recorded one of his songs one year and he called me up and said, “I’m really glad you did the song”. Actually I just saw him again when I did That Metal Show. We did the show together so it was good to see him again. He’s a really wonderful guy, a sweetheart of a man.
What was it about him that caught your attention? Was it the music or the theatrics?
The music. I really like the songs. The theatrics thing was alright but I just liked the tunes. After that I got into Zeppelin and Aerosmith, and Steven Tyler is probably my favorite singer and he is actually a friend, which is really, really cool. He’s my mentor in a lot of ways and he’s always been there for me when I needed him, as busy as he is. He was one musician that called me in the hospital besides Jani; not the last time but the time before that. My band guys never called me at all. I haven’t spoken to them in years. But in their interviews it’s, “Oh I talk to Jack three times a week”, Mark was saying. I’m like, it must have been a different Jack (laughs). It wasn’t me.
The last time I saw Mark was at Jani Lane’s memorial and he had a panic attack, had to go to the hospital before the show because he thought he might have to play a song with me. It is what it is. It’s sad and it really hurts me because these guys were my friends, we grew up together; but they got sober before I did so I guess I wasn’t worth waiting for. To me, the voice is the band. That’s the one element that makes the band sound like that band. I mean, as good a singer as I am you couldn’t put me in Aerosmith and call it Aerosmith. Nor could you put Steven Tyler in Great White and call it Great White. The singer is one element you cannot change because it is the signature sound of the band. And for those guys to come out and do a 30th anniversary album and show, it is just blasphemous. I mean, come on, are you serious? That’s not Great White. They aren’t in Great White anyway, they were fired. They just don’t want to give up the name because that is the only way they can make a living so they’re just trying to keep using it and it’s unfortunate that people have to be that way. Had they called me and said, “Hey, dude, we’re sick of your crap and we don’t want to play with you anymore, maybe we could work something out”, I probably would have come up with some kind of terms. But they couldn’t do that. So now it has to go a different way, which is really sad. I thought they were my friends.
When you started Great White, you were originally called Dante Fox. Where did that name come from?
It was a friend of the bass player and that was his name, Dante Fox. That was the name of the band. Actually, when we originally started the band it was called Highway and then we changed it to Wires and then it became Dante Fox. Then in 1982, I used to call Mark Kendall the Great White cause he’s so white and I’m a shark aficionado so it naturally came up that way. The manager at the time said, “Hey, why don’t you guys change your name to Great White?” I thought, what? And Mark was like, “Are you kidding me?” We thought it was kind of a stupid name but it grew on us and actually it is a good name cause I love to shark fish.
When you were starting out, you weren’t really in with the pop metal that was happening then. You were more straight up rock & roll with a bluesy undertone. What do YOU think made Great White stand out from everybody else that was out there on the Strip trying to make it?
We never tried to write formula rock. We just wrote songs that we liked. I write stuff that I like and hopefully everybody else will like it too. If not, we’d go broke with integrity. We never sat there and said, “Ok, we need two ballads, two mid-tempo songs”. We just write what we like and if the song’s any good you put it on the record. Fortunately we got lucky and the songs we wrote came out to be really good and people liked them. Great White wasn’t a hair band. Sure some of the guys in the band liked to spray their hair up, like Michael Lardie, he looked like he got shock treatment or something (laughs) but that was the trend. But as far as the band we were a blues rock band, we were more akin to our influences like Aerosmith.
And we really didn’t play that much. We just kept rehearsing and writing songs. There were only a few clubs that we were playing and we weren’t a top 40 band and we didn’t want to play every single night of the week because then nobody shows up. You’ve got to make it special, you know. So we’d play like once or twice a week so not to burn ourselves out and we played mostly like the Troubadour or the Whiskey and a place in Anaheim called the Woodstock, and that was pretty much our three gigs. Occasionally we’d do something else and that was enough. We put out our own EP and we sold 10,000 copies in Southern California on our own and then every label in town wanted to sign us and after that it’s all history. We’ve been on five different labels. With our record deal with Sony, I got the record deal myself. John Kalodner didn’t want to deal with anybody else but me. I went in to negotiate the whole thing and got us a record deal. At one point he told me, “Jack, I’m not sure if Great White has another good record in them or not but I love your voice and I believe in you so I’m going to sign the band”. And that made me feel good.
So what happens now with your new band? Are you going to record or stay on the road for a while?
Oh yeah, we’re going to record. We’ve got stuff in the can already.
When do we get to hear it?
What I think we’re going to do in the next month or so I think we’re going to do some live stuff, toss it out for free on YouTube and just let people have it, not sell it, just give it to them. There’s no point in selling records anymore. People just download them anyway. As far as a live album goes, I want to do a live album and just give it away.
You’re feeling good and you’re getting your band together. Some of these guys were in Great White before, correct?
Oh yeah, I mean Matt Johnson was in Great White when Mark quit. Derrick Pontier was in Great White when I fired Audie. So we have former members, they’re all former members since I fired them (laughs). It’s funny because in their statement they called it a garage band and I’m thinking, wait a minute, these guys played with you guys. Why would you call them a garage band? I thought that was kind of funny, you know.
But I want to say one thing here. The one element of this band that makes it really unique is I have two lead guitar players. Both of them are virtuosos. And the stuff they’re able to do together, doing harmonies and trading off solos, is truly remarkable. And that was something we were never able to accomplish because, Mark’s a great guitar player and Mike is a good utility player, but he really couldn’t do the kind of things we’re doing now, which is really, really wonderful, it’s out of the box, and makes the songs sound that much more dynamic.
When did you first start to write songs? And what kind of songs were you writing about then?
Well, I was younger and it was the same old stupid stuff: chicks and sex (laughs). As I got older I was really getting into writing about my life and my life experiences. So each record is basically a snapshot of my life at that moment, where I was emotionally and spiritually. You could pretty much listen to any of my records and see exactly where I was at that time. I write about myself and my experiences and I think that’s what makes it easier for people to understand cause no matter who you are or what you do, we all have the same stuff, we all go through the same shit, and none of us are any different in that regard. So when you hear a song about somebody’s life you can relate to your own a lot of times. “Oh you wrote that song for me”. And a lot of times it seems that way because you touch a chord with somebody. For me, that’s the most important thing as a lyricist, to make somebody feel something: sorrow, happiness, anger, whatever; just tap into their emotions and make them feel something, make that song special to them even though they may not understand the meaning of the song as I wrote it, whatever it means to them is what the song is about.
So the songs you are writing now, are they more positive or more negative?
You know, the ones I am writing now so far have been very positive, but there are some aspects. I focus on every facet of my life but obviously the last couple of years haven’t been all fun and games. But I’m not going to write a song called, “In The Hospital With A Colostomy Bag” or “The Colostomy Bag Blues” (laughs)
Oh you should (laughs). The fans would get a kick out of it.
Yeah, like “Oh I Shit Myself” (laughs). Of course I’m not going to write about that but there’s definitely a blues song in there somewhere. For the most part, I want to keep the positive because that’s the way I’m feeling right now, that’s my life right now, very upbeat and positive. There is a song called “Footprints” that we wrote and put in the can so far. It’s about that old poem, “Footprints In The Sand” where a guy is walking looking at his life and he looks in the sand and there’s two sets of footprints and he tells Jesus, “Well, look Jesus, how come during the worst times in my life there is only one set of footprints? You weren’t there”. And Jesus goes, “That’s when I was carrying you”. And that is what the song is about. It’s a beautiful, beautiful song. It really is. And regardless of what people’s beliefs are, it could be anything, your higher power, God, a friend. It doesn’t matter. It’s not per se a religious song but a spiritual song.
“
House Of Broken Love”, I have to say, is one of my favorite songs.
Yeah, mine too. I wrote that song at 2:00 in the morning in Nashville, Tennessee. I woke up out of a dead sleep and wrote that song. I’d left my first wife and my friend’s wife left him and I moved into his house, there was no furniture, she took it all, and we were sitting there and drinking a bottle of Boone’s Farm sitting up against the wall depressed. His brother walks in the front door and goes, “What is this? The house of broken love?” And I go, “Dude, that is a great name for a song. One of these days I’m going to write that song”. And two years later I did.
In 1988, you told Music Connection Magazine, “When you forget where you came from then you’re no longer a band”. Do you still believe in that?
Oh yeah, you can’t forget your roots. You have to understand where you came from. Years ago, I talked about Aerosmith and Joe Perry sent me a message saying, “You know, I’m flattered by your comment but you need to look farther back”. So I started investigating a lot of old blues players and to really see where it came from, like Lightnin’ Hopkins and Howlin’ Wolf and Willie Dixon. And I started to really uncover where rock & roll came from, back to these old guys on the porch in Kentucky singing, “Waaaahhhhhaa, I got me a new dog and he just died”. So I really started to discover the roots of the music and it really made my writing a lot more diverse, to know where it all kind of came from. And I suggest that to any musician who goes, “Oh Justin Bieber is my influence”, you need to go back and really, really discover and think about where music actually came from. That’s going to help you a lot.
Who was the first real rock star that you ever met?
It would have been Rob Halford actually. I was twenty-two. I met him at the Troubadour one night, he happened to stop by, and I said, “Dude, you don’t know who I am but one of these days I’m going to open up for you”. And he said, “Alright, good luck to you”. Two years later we were opening up for him on the Defenders Of The Faith album. I told him, “You don’t remember this but …” And he’s like, “That’s an amazing story, Lad”.
What do you like to do when you’re not concentrating on music?
I fish, I scuba dive, I sky dive, I surf. I just started surfing again last week. I don’t know if you can call it surfing. I ate about a mouthful of sand and drank about half an ocean of water (laughs). I think a couple more times I’ll be back up on the board. I mean, it’s been years since I surfed but it was nice to get out there again.
That means you’re getting your strength back.
Yeah absolutely and things like that help. We just did Disneyland. I must have walked fifty miles, man. God, that place is huge. I’ve forgotten how big it was. I took my wife there for her birthday and it was our anniversary last Sunday and her birthday was the Sunday before.
Any plans to start a family? I’ve noticed that a lot of musicians in your age group are only now starting families.
I would love to but I’m just too old right now. I’m 51 years old and I just don’t want to start a family right now. I want to spend time with my wife. She’s twelve years younger than me and I’m probably not going to be here and she’s going to be a young widow so I want to spend as much time with her as I can. We’re like soul mates in every sense of the word. I’ve never had a love this great. Every minute together is precious. To bring a child into this world, it’s just such a messed up place and who knows what it’s going to be. But I do have one child from a girl in high school I was with and I have a stepson and they are both named Matthew (laughs)
But my wife is truly, truly amazing. God brought her into my life to save my life and she did. Every day with her is a blessing. She is the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met in my life and I worship that woman. I am very happy.
Guns N Roses is riding a new wave of success, having recently toured the country playing to sold out crowds, so join us next week to learn more about GNR guitar player Richard Fortus.
