Skip to main content

Jack Russell, singer for and founding member of Great White, has died at age 63. 

The ‘80s hard rocker was performing with his version Great White at a nightclub in Rhode Island in 2003 when a pyrotechnics display ignited a fire. The blaze killed 100 people, including the band’s guitarist, Ty Longley, and ranks among the deadliest nightclub fires in U.S. history.

The Station fire is one of the worst nightclub disasters in U.S. history

An aerial view of the charred remains of The Station nightclub in February 2003
The remnants of The Station nightclub on February 23, 2003 | Douglas McFadd/Getty Images

Great White formed in Southern California in the early 1980s and went on to score hits with songs such as “Rock Me” and “Once Bitten, Twice Shy.” The band broke up in 2001, but shortly after, Russell and guitarist Mark Kendall reformed the group with several new members. 

The new band, performing under the name Jack Russell’s Great White, headlined a concert at The Station nightclub in Warwick, Rhode Island, on Feb. 20, 2003. The club had a maximum occupancy of just over 400, but 462 people were inside. Shortly after 11 p.m., Great White began their set and the tour manager set off the band’s pyrotechnics. 

The pyrotechnics ignited acousical foam near the stage, quickly setting the small club ablaze. Many concertgoers fled toward the exits. The main entrance to the club soon became blocked as people tried to escape. Ultimately, 100 people died in the disaster and hundreds more were injured.   

More than 20 years later, The Station fire remains the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. 

Jack Russell called The Station fire a ‘horrible tragedy’ 

Jack Russell talks to reporters after The Station nightclub fire in 2003
Jack Russell of Great White speaks to reporters on February 21, 2003, after the fire at The Station nightclub | Douglas McFadd/Getty Images

The owners of The Station and Great White’s tour manager were all criminally charged after the fire. The band agreed to pay a $1 million settlement. Russell did not face any criminal charges, though many survivors and their loved ones thought he shared blame for the disaster. Others told the Boston Globe that they felt he had never expressed adequate remorse for what had happened as his band performed. 

″It was a horrible tragedy,” Russell told The Roanoke Times in Virginia in 2010, according to the AP. “I wish we could go back in time and erase it. I wish there was something I could’ve done about it. This was one of those things where you don’t see it coming — there’s no way you can possibly see it coming. You just kind of pick yourself up and move on. You take what life gives you.”

In the years after the fire, Russell battled substance abuse and other health problems. A few weeks before his death, he announced on Instagram that he was retiring from touring following his diagnosis with Lewy Body Dementia and multiple system atrophy. 

In a 2013 interview with the Globe, Russell reflected on the fire, saying he “never meant to hurt anybody.”

“It’s been almost 10 years and no matter what I say it’s never going to make anybody feel any better about it, and sometimes it might make them feel worse,” he said. “So I really would rather not say too much, you know.” 

Source: The Providence Journal

For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.

Best in Entertainment