Jack Russell, the frontman of rock band Great White who survived the 2003 Station Nightclub fire in Rhode Island that killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others, has died. He was 63 years old.
The cause of death was lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy, K.L. Doty, the author of his memoir, confirmed to WBZ-TV.
Great White peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s with a cover of “Once Bitten, Twice Shy.” Russell was performing with his spinoff band, Jack Russell’s Great White, at the packed West Warwick club when the band’s pyrotechnics ignited soundproofing foam in the walls of the building.
The fire was one of the deadliest in U.S. history. In the beginning of the autobiography published just weeks before his death, Russell offered an apology to the families of the victims.
“I’m sorry for every gentle embrace of love no longer possible and that you dread every twentieth of February for more reasons than ice and snow. That birthdays and sunsets and good news are things you cannot share. That plans and dreams were not fulfilled. That hell walks with you,” Russell wrote. “I’m sorry that it wasn’t me.”
Criminal charges were brought against the club owners Jeff and Michael Derderian, along with the band’s tour manager Daniel Biechele. Michael Derderian and Biechele served time in prison. Rhode Island implemented stricter fire codes as a result of the tragedy.
Russell was born in Montebello, California and played with Great White from 1981 until 1996, and then from 1991 until the band broke up in 2001. He announced his diagnosis of lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy last month and said he would retire from touring.
“Thank you for letting me live my dreams,” he said in an Instagram post. “You have made my life a wonder.”
Great White said in a Facebook post that Russell had an unmatched love for rock music.
“The consistency of his live performances were always beyond comparison,” the band said. “Rest in Peace, to one of rock’s biggest champions.”
