According to Pollstar, former GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell has announced that he is retiring from touring.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I must announce my retirement from the road,” Russell said in a statement. “After a recent diagnosis of Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy in May 2024, I am unable to perform at the level I desire and at the level you deserve. Words cannot express my gratitude for the many years of memories, love and support. Thank you for letting me live my dreams.”
Lewy body dementia (LBD) is the second most common cause of neurodegenerative dementia after Alzheimer’s disease.
Lewy body dementia impacts memory, decision-making and ability to solve problems. It has led to motor and muscle weakness and rigidity. It also can cause sleep disorders and hallucinations.
Lewy body dementia is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease due to its early similarity to those other neurodegenerative diseases.
After actor and comedian Robin Williams took his own life in August 2014, autopsy results revealed he was suffering from LBD.
Russell‘s long-awaited autobiography, now titled “The True Tale Of Mista Bone: A Rock + Roll Narrative”, has just been released via Gatekeeper Press. Penned by author Katelyn Louise “K.L.” Doty, it features a sentimental foreword by Lita Ford, with additional commentary from Eric Singer, Eddie Trunk, John Kalodner, Kip Winger and others. The book, with a cover photo by legendary rock photographer Mark Weiss, is available in paperback, hardcover and e-book form.
For more information, visit www.jackrussellbook.com.
Russell exited GREAT WHITE in December 2011 after he was unable to tour with the group due a series of injuries, including a perforated bowel and a shattered pelvis. Jack largely blamed these injuries on his alcohol and painkiller addictions as well as the prednisone drug he was prescribed.
Russell sued his onetime bandmates in 2012 over their continued use of the GREAT WHITE name after Jack had taken a leave of absence from the band for medical reasons. A short time later, Russell was countersued by guitarist Mark Kendall, rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Lardie and drummer Audie Desbrow, claiming the vocalist’s self-destructive behavior was damaging the GREAT WHITE name (they also alleged he was charging promoters less for his own touring version of GREAT WHITE). The parties settled in July 2013 without going to trial, with Russell now performing as JACK RUSSELL’S GREAT WHITE while the others are continuing as GREAT WHITE.
In a December 2023 interview with Neil Jones of TotalRock, Russell was asked if he still enjoys going out on the road. He responded: “I enjoy the hour and a half of playing. The rest of it you could take it and do what you would with it. It’s not fun. It’s hard. The traveling is just a drag — it’s a real drag. I mean, getting on airplanes and cars and buses and all that stuff is a real drag. We try to keep that to a minimum. We play maybe two, three shows a week. We try to play every weekend, ’cause I don’t wanna do a job that I don’t like. So just keep it to where I can function, have a good time doing it and I’m not complaining about my back.”
Elaborating on his recent health setback, Jack said: “I’ve been having some issues with my back [in 2023 and 2022]. So I’ve had to take a little time off. It’s finally starting to get better. But I had to have my back fused to my neck, actually.”
Asked if this is “just because of the rigors of the road over the years,” Jack said: “Yeah, [just from] pounding the boards for 47 years, just jumping up and down, acting like a fool.”
Russell previously discussed his surgery in an interview last October with Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station. At the time, he said: “I had a fusion in my neck and my back, so it was a pretty gnarly surgery. That kept me off stage for a while. I couldn’t even move my neck. Somehow it screwed up my voice a bit and then it finally came back. But it was really weird, really strange… Yeah, it’s coming back, slow but sure. I get people — they can’t tell. They tell me, ‘You sounded just like you did in 1985.’ I’m, like, ‘No.’ It’s, like, ‘Okay, cool. Awesome.'”
In October 2022, GREAT WHITE officially named Brett Carlisle as its new lead singer. Carlisle joins the band as the replacement for Andrew Freeman, who sang for GREAT WHITE for only five months.
Carlisle made his live debut with GREAT WHITE on September 24, 2022 at the Cannery Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Photo courtesy of Frontiers Music Srl
