For twenty-five years, Great White kept touring and making records — long after their glory days had passed.
Jack Russell, singer and one of the original Great White members, gets emotional during a brief statement about guitarist Ty Longley who was killed in a nightclub fire in Rhode Island., twenty-five years old, was thriving in the winter of 2003. Guitarist Mark Kendall had quit drinking — which had nearly killed him — and returned to the group. Russell had beaten back booze and cocaine, and he’d also come to terms with the death in 2001 of his father, John.
And a good living it is. Marquee bands such as Great White collect $3,500 to $5,000 for a club show, and as much as $15,000 for an appearance on a package tour with bigger bands. “They make great money,” says Nancy Sayle, a publicist for metal bands and tours. Most Great White shows sold out. Founders Russell and Kendall took larger shares of the proceeds, sources say, than did hired guns like the late guitarist Ty Longley, who earned from $200 to $500 per concert.
“Everybody likes Jack, and everybody likes the band, because they’re sort of the people’s band,” says Los Angeles metal promoter Jimmy D. “There are a bunch of idiot bands out there, like Quiet Riot, who are the biggest dicks in the world. For them, I had to go shopping for low-cal mayonnaise and low-cal yogurts, specific brands. They didn’t do any meet-and-greet or any signings, and pissed people off.
Generous as he was with fans, Russell could be a tightwad with Great White and its small entourage, which traveled by tour bus. They stayed at Red Roofs and Quality Inns. In restaurants, Russell insisted on separate checks. “I believe there was one meal that the band paid for in ten weeks on tour,” says former guitar tech Erick Kirkland, who toured with Great White in 1996. “They were trying to keep costs down as much as possible.
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