GREAT WHITE guitarist Mark Kendall says that he holds no ill will toward the band’s original lead singer, Jack Russell.

Speaking about his current relationship with his onetime friend, Kendall told 80’s Glam Metalcast:

“I haven’t spoken to him in a long time. I guess he’s out there trying to do it [with his own band]. I know he has [had] to cancel shows and stuff like that.

“The situation was never, like, ‘I hate you,’ or some big fight or anything like that,”

“It all had to do with substance abuse and him not taking care of himself and [him being] unable to perform. So we just told him to go get well, and then, after a year, he came at us with a lawsuit. He wanted the name and just to hire people to play with him. So we were forced to defend ourselves. But there’s definitely no ill will. And besides that, I never take anybody’s addictions personal. I work with a lot of people with addiction problems daily, and that’s one thing — I never take it personal, because I know it’s a difficult thing to get away from.”

He added:

“It’s a sad situation… It’s really unfortunate. We went as long as we could until literally… He had walkers and colostomy bags… It was just a horrible situation. We’re all healthy and sober, and it’s very difficult when you’re in that situation. And we still have the energy to play music. It started out just getting somebody to fill in. We even had Jani Lane [WARRANT] in the band for, like, 10 shows. And then [Jack] just couldn’t return. And now he’s out there. He’s kind of struggling, but I guess he’s able to play, and God bless him.”