Great White guitarist Mark Kendall says he’s watched video clips of former singer Jack Russell performing with his new band – and thinks it looks “ugly”.
The parties are locked in a legal battle over the band name, with the frontman touring under the title Jack Russell’s Great White. They went their separate ways last year after the vocalist failed to gain control of his addiction issues – something he insists he’s done now.
But Kendall tells The Classic Metal Show: “I’ve seen YouTube – I know what he’s capable of and I’m not seeing it.
“I’m seeing somebody who’s struggling. He’s not singing well. He looks like he can barely stand up. It’s not the Jack I’ve known, the guy flying around the stage and taking command like he did in the past.
“It’s just addiction – it’s ugly.”
Kendall says he can’t spend any more time worrying about Russell, explaining: “He is a person that’s gone down the worst drug-abuse highway I’ve ever witnessed. We’ve waited, we’ve tried, everybody’s fought to try to get him well.
“I’ve been at his bedside in rehab day after day, going, ‘You can do it.’ I’ve cried in family meetings. It’s totally not easy to watch or be a witness to. I don’t know what to say.”
And the guitarist can’t even consider the possibility of working with him again while the lawsuit is in motion. “I really can’t envision,” he says. “If he was truly well? I’m not sure. It’s difficult to answer when we’re in the middle of everything we are.”
Great White recently confirmed Terry Ilous as Russell’s full-time replacement and released new album Elation with their new singer.
Russell – who’s admitted he has to walk with the aid of a stick, but doesn’t use it on stage – recently insisted he’d finally beaten his addiction demons, and called on Kendall to stop expressing “fake concern” for his welfare.
-Classic Rock Magazine
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