JACK RUSSELL On RATT Legal Dispute: 'It's Hard To Hear Your Friend Telling Lies About Your Career Or Reinventing The Past'

Former GREAT WHITE and current JACK RUSSELL’S GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell has a word of advice for the members of RATT who are currently involved in a legal dispute over the rights to the group’s name.

Russell, who in 2012 sued founding GREAT WHITE guitarist Mark Kendall, guitarist and keyboardist Michael Lardie and drummer Audie Desbrow for control of that band’s name, tells Myglobalmind: “I’m friends with all of [the guys in RATT] and feel really bad for the guys. Bobby Blotzer [RATT drummer] and I go back long ways as I used to tuck his kids into bed. Stephen Pearcy [RATT singer] used to help us book shows at the Whisky [A Go Go in West Hollywood]. I can’t pick a side.”

He continued: “My best advice to them would be to do what your heart tells you and be honest.

“It’s hard to hear your friend telling lies about your career or reinventing the past. That’s what causes the pain — when someone tries to change how the band started, or who was in charge, or discrediting your participation when you have the most writing credits in the band.”

Russell added: “Any advice to those guys would be to make sure you are wearing padded underwear, because you’re going to get kicked by everybody. [Laughs] There really is no clear winner, as everybody gets hurt.

“I wish they could patch things up. I hate to see them going through the same thing I went through; it’s not a fun thing.”

After Russell was countersued by Kendall, Lardie and Desbrow, claiming the singer’s self-destructive behavior was damaging the GREAT WHITE name (they also alleged he was charging promoters less for his own touring version of GREAT WHITE), the parties settled in July 2013 without going to trial. Russell now performs with a new lineup as JACK RUSSELL’S GREAT WHITE while the others are continuing as GREAT WHITE.

Kendall told LA Weekly in 2014 that he was open to performing with Russell again. “If he stripped everything that was bad for him and just replaced it with nothing but good, he could totally come back,” Kendall said. “Even if it was just at 80 percent. We have too much history to just throw it all away.”

JACK RUSSELL’S GREAT WHITE‘s debut album, “He Saw it Comin'” (originally titled “The Gauntlet”), was released on January 27 via Frontiers Music Srl. The disc features Jack Russell alongside former GREAT WHITE bassist-turned-guitarist Tony Montana (as a guitar player and keyboardist), Dan McNay (MONTROSE) on bass, Robby Lochner (FIGHT) on guitar and Dicki Fliszar (BRUCE DICKINSON) on drums.