Jack Martin Blades (born April 24, 1954) is an American rock musician.[1] He has worked in the bands Rubicon, Night Ranger (as bassist and one of the lead vocalists), and Damn Yankees (as one of the founding members). He has also recorded with Tommy Shaw under the name Shaw Blades and has done work alongside the Tak Matsumoto Group. Blades' most recent efforts include a second solo album and three albums with Revolution Saints, which he was a member of until 2022.
One of Blades' sons, Colin, has co-written and performed songs with him[2] and has also released his own solo material.[3] Blades also has another son, James.[4]
Former Sly and the Family StonesaxophonistJerry Martini formed the funk band Rubicon with Blades as bass player and future fellow Night Ranger member Brad Gillis on guitar. The band recorded two albums on 20th Century Fox Records – Rubicon, and American Dreams. They had one hit single titled "I'm Gonna Take Care of Everything". They played Cal Jam 2, held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in California before 250,000 people. Rubicon broke up in 1979 and Blades formed the short-lived club band Stereo with Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy, the latter of whom had joined as touring drummer for Rubicon.
Blades' roommate at the beginning of the '80s was Alan "Fitz" Fitzgerald, bass player for Montrose and Gamma and keyboard player for Sammy Hagar. He suggested they form a band. Fitz knew another guitar player in Sacramento, Jeff Watson, along with guitarist Gillis and Keagy, and Ranger was formed in 1980. The band recorded demos and played shows around the Bay area for two years. They were signed to Boardwalk Records and released their first album, Dawn Patrol in 1982. Prior to the release, it was discovered that there was a country band by the name of The Rangers. Blades had written the song "Night Ranger" for the album, so the band changed their name to Night Ranger to avoid any potential problems. Night Ranger went on through the '80s releasing albums that sold by the millions, as well as several hit singles. The band toured constantly both in the US and in Japan, where they continue to be popular today. In 1989, Blades left Night Ranger and formed the Damn Yankees. Blades re-formed Night Ranger with the original members in 1996. They recorded three albums – Neverland in 1997, Seven in 1998, and Hole in the Sun in 2008. Night Ranger continues to tour today.
Damn Yankees
In 1989, Damn Yankees was co-founded by Blades, Ted Nugent, and Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw. The band had multi-platinum success with two albums, Damn Yankees, Don't Tread, and a gold-selling single, "High Enough". They recorded and toured non-stop for four years. In 1996, Ted Nugent left the band to revive his solo career. Blades and bandmate Tommy Shaw continued to produce music as Shaw Blades. Although they have not released any new music since 1992 and have made sporadic appearances through the 2000s onstage, the band is considered to be on hiatus but "has met multiple times to meet and write over the years."
Shaw/Blades
After the Damn Yankees decided to take a break in 1994, Blades and Shaw decided to record together under the name Shaw Blades. They wrote and recorded the first album together, Hallucination, which was released in 1995. In 2007, they released Influence, which is a collection of cover songs that influenced them. Shaw Blades have toured acoustically across the US.
TMG (Tak Matsumoto Group)
In 2004, Blades recorded an album and toured Japan with Tak Matsumoto Group (TMG), formed by guitarist Tak Matsumoto of the Japanese band B'z. TMG scored a top 10 single ("Oh Japan ~Our Time Is Now~") and a No. 1 album (TMG I) on Oricon's domestic chart. With TMG, Blades performed "Never Good-Bye", the ending credits theme for the 2004 film Ultraman (a.k.a. Ultraman: The Next). The song appears on the 2005 soundtrack album for the movie and on TMG I. On February 28, 2024, in an interview with Rockpages.gr, Blades revealed that the band would be reforming.[5] A week later, on March 8, the band officially announced its reformation, with a second album and a nationwide tour across Japan in the works.[6]
Solo
Blades released his first solo album in 2004, Jack Blades. His second solo effort, Rock n' Roll Ride, followed in 2012.
Blades continues record new material with Night Ranger as they also still tour around the world. He also played at the Republican National Convention on August 29, 2012.
