Mark Kendall explained that Great White’s split with Jack Russell was driven by Russell’s struggles with addiction rather than a personal disagreement, speaking on 101 WRIF. Kendall says he attempted to help Russell and that the separation was about Russell’s inability to perform, not animosity.
Kendall addressed the reasons behind the band’s separation from Russell, the band’s longtime vocalist. He emphasized that the split stemmed from Russell’s deteriorating condition and efforts to encourage him to seek help for his addiction problems.
“Jack Russell was a beautiful man and my best friend,” Kendall said. “We were connected at the hip our entire career. It was never personal. He declined to a point where he couldn’t even stand anymore, to where he was on stools performing and then kind of just crashed and burned to where he couldn’t perform at all.”
“So all we said was, ‘Just go get well, work on your addiction.’ And I tried to help him the best I can, because that’s all I do is work with alcoholics and addicts, practically on a daily basis. He had a little bit tougher time, and that happens. Some people have a little bit tougher time getting away from their drug of choice, and he was one of those people.”
Kendall stressed that fans had misunderstood the nature of the split. “So it was never a personal thing, and that’s where I think the fans were confused. They think that we had some kind of personal falling out, but that wasn’t the case. We still loved each other. It’s just that he wasn’t able to get well.”
The guitarist explained that the conflict escalated when Russell moved forward with other plans. “So instead of getting well, he went and found another band to play with and wanted to take our name and make that be Great White. I couldn’t have that. That wouldn’t be fair. So, we ended up doing lawsuits and all that kind of stuff, so then it became kind of a pain in the butt.”
Kendall’s comments addressed the long-standing questions about what caused the split between the two musicians. The situation highlights the difficulties that arose after Russell’s departure from the band.
The tensions that led to Kendall and Russell’s separation came after Russell left Great White in December 2011 following a series of injuries. Russell sued his former bandmates in 2012, claiming they had stolen the Great White name while he was recovering from surgery. Kendall, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Michael Lardie, and drummer Audie Desbrow countersued Russell, alleging that his self-destructive behavior was damaging the Great White name and that he was charging promoters less for his own touring version of the band.
The lawsuit was resolved in July 2013 with a settlement that allowed Russell to perform under the name Jack Russell’s Great White while Kendall and the other original members continued as Great White. According to Kendall, the two sides shook hands on an agreement that gave Russell a way to earn a living performing. In 2017, Jack Russell’s Great White released their first album, titled He Saw It Comin’.
Russell died in August 2024 at the age of 63. Kendall’s recent interview reflects on the complicated history between the guitarist and the vocalist he once considered his best friend, offering his perspective on why the split became necessary despite their close bond.
