History & Biography Georgia’s Jackyl began playing its southern hard rock just as the trend was swaying away from hard rock. The band was formed as early as 1987 as a cover band called Damien however. This incarnation featured a singer called Ronnie Honeycutt who would later form Rufus Fontain. The band was soon popular and amassed a sizeable fan base in the US south and Canada. Aided by its authentic music, raspy vocals and the chainsaw (a chainsaw guitar would also eventually appear) utilized on stage and in video Jackyl managed to make a serious go at climbing the hard rock food chain in the ‘90s. The band obtained the coveted opening slot for bands like Slaughter and Aerosmith and toured North America, while its album climbed the charts. Notwithstanding the success, the group was ejected from the Lynyrd Skynyrd tour. The band was on stage at Woodstock ’94 as well. The band’s favourite encore song at this point was the track She Loves My Cock. The Night Of The Living Dead live album, which was taped in Texas, was issued in Europe.
The band’s 1997 single Locked And Loaded featured a rare appearance and co-writing credit with AC/DC’s singer Brain Johnson. The effort sold well, but not well enough for the major label of 1998 and Jackyl was soon on its own. Shimmer Tone issued a collection of the band’s B-Sides in 1998 as Stayin’ Alive. In response the band soon went on a well-publicized trek by playing 100 shows in 50 days/21 sets in 24 hours and garnering a spot in the Guinness Book Of World Records. After September 11, 2001 the band fell into the reigning jingoistic and ignorant mode composing a song quoting the Bible by George W. Relentless was issued by the band and featured another cut co-written by Brian Johnson. The band would end up on Sanctuary Music. The label would issue a full-length video of the band in 2004, which was recorded in South Dakota in 2003.
After parting ways with John Sykes, Thin Lizzy had to pull out of 2009’s Rocklahoma festival. Thin Lizzy was replaced by by Jackyl. Jackyl released a new independent album, called When Moonshine And Dynamite Collide, on May 4th independently. It could be ordered at www.jackyl.com. Jackyl wrote a song for an episode of an animated show called Squidbillies. It aired on the America: Why I Love Her episode in July of 2010. Jackyl’s Jesse Dupree (vocals), Jeff Worley (guitar), Roman Glick (bass) and Chris Worley (drums) celebrated the release of their new CD, When Moonshine And Dynamite Collide by personally calling everyone that pre-ordered to thank them for their support! Jackyl was ending 2010 by collaborating with DMC from Run DMC by releasing the single Just Like A Negro. DMC was performing the song with Jackyl on stage during the late autumn and winter tour. Jesse James Dupree was recuperating in late summer of 2011 after a motorcycle accident on Route 411 near the Georgia/Alabama state line. Dupree was hit by a car and suffered a broken left ankle and foot and a fractured right arm.
The band’s new album, Best In Show, was out in July of 2012 through Mighty Loud Entertainment. The Americans were releasing a new album, called Rowyco, on August 5th 2016 through Mighty Loud Records. On a show called SixX Strings, the obviously oblivious to the history of art and speaking truth to power singer Jesse James Dupree offered profanity and criticism of Bruce Springsteen and U2’s Bono. Claiming he does not want to hear their political opinion he went on to offer his own about USA’s political leadership. Jackyl was commemorating its anniversary with a compilation called 25 through Mighty Loud Records in 2017. Guitarist Jeff Worley and bassist Roman Glick co-authored a tour cookbook called Dawg Eat Dawg: A Rockstar's Guide To A Healthy Life While Being The Life Of The Party. Jackyl released a live DVD and CD, called Family Reunion - Live In Kansas City, independently in 2020. RokIsland Fest 2022 would take place in Key West, Florida, USA between January 14th and 17th 2022. It was to feature yet another George Lynch appearance with Dokken, Winger, Dee Snider and Jackyl. Jackyl had a new upload called Get All Up In It (Another Round Of Mother Funker) in 2022 and was touring the USA all summer. The act was commemorating its 30th anniversary on August 12th and was releasing a new best-of and live collection called 30 Coming In Hot in 2022. This new compilation album featured 17 tracks, three of them new studio songs and 14 live versions of fan favourites. Due to a medical issue with Jeff Worley Jackyl dates from June 16th through June 25th were postponed. Jeff and Chris Worley announced the release of a first solo/duo album entitled WorleyThePirate for May 24 2024. It was named after an English pirate. Jackyl was touring the USA in the autumn of 2024.
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