Mark St. John of KISS RIP

[WetWilly]

Former KISS Guitarist Mark St. John Dead at 51

Former KISS Guitarist MARK ST JOHN Dies At Age 51
From: KISSAsylum.com
by: Peter Arquette

Former KISS guitarist MARK ST JOHN passed away this morning of a brain hemorrhage. He was 51. Mark replaced KISS guitarist VINNIE VINCENT in 1984, only to shortly thereafter develop Reiters Syndrome, a form or arthritis, which left his hand too swollen at times to play guitar. Mark played on all but one of the tracks of the 1984 Animalize album. On the subsequent tour his condition had deteriorated and was only able to play 1 full and 3 partial shows. BRUCE KULICK was called in as a temporary guitarist to play the remainder of the partial sets as well as the rest of the tour. Mark's condition was not improving and sadly had to soon step down to have Kulick take his place permanently on December 8,1985.

His musical career not over, Mark later formed the band White Tiger in 1986 and then interestingly enough teamed up with former KISS drummer PETER CRISS to record a demo in 1990. A self-produced CD entitled the MARK ST JOHN Project was released in 1999.

Born Mark Norton in Anaheim California on January 7, 1956. He is survived by a younger brother and sister.

 

[KISSFREAK]

Former Kiss guitarist Mark St. John died yesterday morning (April 5) from an apparent brain hemorrhage. He was 51.

Born Mark Norton in Hollywood, Calif., St. John was Kiss' third official guitarist, having replaced Vinnie Vincent in 1984. By this point, Kiss had done away with its trademark makeup and costumes, but the group was enjoying a career renaissance. The lone Kiss album on which St. John appeared, "Animalize," re-established the group as one of the world's top arena metal bands. The album spawned the popular MTV video, "Heaven's on Fire" (the only Kiss video to feature St. John).

St. John's flashy playing reflected the era's Van Halen-influenced rock guitarists, but it certainly helped spark the material on "Animalize," which many fans consider one of Kiss' strongest non-makeup releases. However, right around the time Kiss was to launch a worldwide tour in support of the album, St. John was diagnosed with a form of arthritis called Reiter's Syndrome, which caused his hands and arms to swell, and prevented him from playing guitar.

Guitarist Bruce Kulick filled in (St. John did manage to play one full show with the group, and portions of a few others) and eventually replaced St. John as Kiss' permanent guitarist.

His medical condition improved after leaving Kiss, and St. John launched a pop/metal outfit, White Tiger, with ex-Black Sabbath singer David Donato. Since then, St. John briefly teamed up with original Kiss drummer Peter Criss in a group that didn't release any recordings, and appeared as a guest speaker at Kiss conventions. In 2001, he released an all-instrumental album, "Magic Bullet Theory."