Born on December 5, 1960, in Montebello, California, Jack Russell was a rock singer best known as the vocalist for Los Angeles, California-based hard rockers Great White. Influenced by classic rock vocalists like Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) and Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Jack Russell began his musical journey by fronting a variety of high school rock bands before meeting guitarist Mark Kendall in 1977. The two decided to form a band together by the name of Dante Fox. Shortly after, they decided to change the group’s name to Great White and began playing the club circuit in L.A and surrounding cities. Signing to EMI, the group released their self-titled album in 1984. Great White hit their commercial peak with the release of the hit albums Once Bitten (1987) and … Twice Shy (1989) and the hit singles “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” “The Angel Song,” and “House of Broken Love.” In 1996, Jack Russell took advantage of a brief Great White hiatus and released his first solo album, Shelter Me, before rejoining the band for their 1999 album Can’t Get There from Here. The group broke up in 2001 and Jack Russell issued his second album, For You, in 2002. When his solo career fizzled out, he decided to tour as Jack Russel’s Great White, which proved to be a successful career move. The group’s momentum came to a halt in February 2003 when the band played at a club in West Warwick, Rhode Island and their pyrotechnics set off a fire that resulted in the deaths of 100 people including band member Ty Longley. Jack Russell didn’t return to performing again until the classic line-up reunited in 2006. He left that line-up of the group in 2009 after injuring himself in a fall, which led to multiple back surgeries. When he was able to tour again in 2011, he put together a new version of Jack Russell’s Great White and continued to tour and record. Jack Russell collaborated with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns on the album Medusa, which was released in January 2024. In July 2024, Jack Russell announced his retirement from music because he was suffering from Lewy body dementia. On August 7, 2024, Jack Russell died at the age of 63.
