JACK RUSSELL's Long-Awaited Autobiography, 'The True Tale Of Mista Bone', To Arrive This Summer

Former GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell's long-awaited autobiography, now titled "The True Tale Of Mista Bone: A Rock + Roll Narrative", will be released this summer via Gatekeeper Press. Penned by author Katelyn Louise "K.L." Doty, it features a sentimental foreword by Lita Ford, with additional commentary from Eric Singer, Eddie Trunk, John Kalodner, Kip Winger and others. The book, with a cover photo by legendary rock photographer Mark Weiss, will be available in paperback, hardcover and e-book form. The exact release date will be announced later this spring.

In a recent interview with George Dionne of KNAC.COM, Russell stated about the status of his autobiography: "A girl named Katelyn Doty is working on it with me. We started writing this together about three years ago, I wanna say. I don't know if it's been that long, but it seems like it. Sorry, Katelyn, if I messed that one up. But we've been working on it for a long time. She's a brilliant writer, just brilliant. She knows how to put pen to paper, I'll tell you — just has a flair for it. I wanted somebody that had finesse with writing, not just, 'One day I was working on my car and then I got oil on me.' I wanted [to] let the pen be the voice."

Asked if he is going to dish any dirt in his autobiography, Jack said: "You know what? I said a few things that some people are gonna lift their eyebrows about, but I pretty much kept most of the dirt under the rug. There's no point in pointing fingers and calling people out on stuff. I mean, everybody's got skeletons in their closet, and probably me more than most. So, what's the point in talking bullshit about other people when you don't really necessarily need to? I don't need to fill up the pages, that's for sure. I've got enough stories without doing that. I think I may even have to do a second book. There's that much involved. I mean, you've got a lot of years of work on the big testimonial."

Back in December 2021, Russell told Tulsa Music Stream that he gets along with Doty, who is Chip Z'Nuff's wife, "like peas and carrots. So it's gonna be a really great book," he added. "What I've read is really great. We've got a lot of people that have done interviews for it. Even [A&R guru] John Kalodner came out of the closet [to be interviewed for it]. No, he didn't come out of the closet — I didn't mean the 'closet' closet."

Russell exited GREAT WHITE in December 2011 after he was unable to tour with the group due a series of injuries, including a perforated bowel and a shattered pelvis. Jack largely blamed these injuries on his alcohol and painkiller addictions as well as the prednisone drug he was prescribed.

Russell sued his onetime bandmates in 2012 over their continued use of the GREAT WHITE name after Jack had taken a leave of absence from the band for medical reasons. A short time later, Russell was countersued by guitarist Mark Kendall, rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Lardie and drummer Audie Desbrow, claiming the vocalist'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, with Russell now performing as JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE while the others are continuing as GREAT WHITE.

Russell previously discussed his book in a 2016 interview, saying: "I'm just dumping everything in this book. And there might be a couple of lawsuits out of it, I would imagine. I'm gonna have to have my lawyers check it out before I release it. But, I mean, I don't really think that's gonna happen. 'Cause the book is about myself and what I've [gone through] and not so much about other people. But there are gonna be spots where somebody might raise an eyebrow and go, 'Hmmm….' It's gonna make some people upset. But it'll make more people laugh. If you're the butt of the joke, that's just the way it goes. [Laughs]"

Six years ago, Russell said that one of the main reasons he was writing a book was "because I want people to know that no matter how far down the ladder you fall you can always climb back up. You don't have to stay down," he told Daily Boom. "Whether you have a drug an alcohol problem or anything else for that matter, you can pull yourself out of it. You can accomplish so much in life if you just believe in it and visualize it. Nothing happens by chance, and I believe that everyone that you meet has some sort of message for you, if you listen closely enough. It might be a stranger that says something random to you that you shrug off, but if you sit and think about it, maybe they said something that you were supposed to hear. You just never know when you are being used as that voice of encouragement for someone else. I don't believe that anything happens by coincidence; it's all for a reason, both good and bad. Life isn't random; it's very well choreographed and we're here to learn."

Photo courtesy of Frontiers Music Srl