HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. — He walks with a cane now and, until recently, he wore a colostomy bag surgically attached to his waist, a humbling reminder of his near death in 2010, after years of drug and alcohol abuse.
Jack Russell, 52, has fallen a long way since that night 10 years ago when he preened before a packed house in The Station nightclub, before his band’s pyrotechnics turned the place into a deadly inferno. In minutes, the front man for the fading ’80s hair band, Great White, became a vilified figure in a national tragedy, not just for his role in starting the fire, but for his seeming insensitivity: He talked about the band’s upcoming summer tour even while The Station burned before his eyes.
Comments
How useless one man can be.
Every bodys looking for somebody to blame. It was a tradgedy, an oversight that caused the disaster. This guy had no bad intentions that night.
No Comment!!
Clearly the most important thing is to have someone else to blame. Nothing eases the pain of tragedy more than destroying another life in retaliation. Jack Russell seems pretty clueless, but he wasn't the one who installed the flammable paneling. He wasn't the one who inspected the building and said it was ok. He wasn't the one who sold too many tickets and provided too few exits.
The fire department and building inspector continue to skate. Where is the update on these people?
He got off easy, burying himself in substance abuse. The people who suffered did not escape.
How could he continue on going on stage every time, playing those songs, as if id didn't happen?
Would have been a good time to retire the band, and the name and the songs, out of respect for the dead.
My feeling is that Jack Russell did nothing wrong the night of the fire. He could have been more empathetic after the fire but that should be worthy of the hate and blame he has received. The blame lies with the two idiot brothers, the West Warwick fire inspectors and nobody else. The money grab at the tv stations, Budweiser, etc is sleezy and pathetic. The fact that some paid over 20 million in a settlement is a com plete sham. They did NOTHING wrong. Shame on all of the lawyers and money hungry people. Money can't bring back anybody.
An old boxing trainer once said "If you're born square, you don't die round."