Guitarist Frank Marino of the Canadian band Mahogany Rush has announced that he’s retiring from touring due to an “unexpected” and “debilitating” medical condition. The news came from a statement on his social media.
Mahogany Rush had a series of North American tour dates scheduled for September and October of this year. While Marino didn’t reveal any specific details regarding the condition, he said that he’s now unable to tour, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to recover from whatever is plaguing him.
Marino formed Mahogany Rush in Montreal in 1970. According to the band’s website, his experimentation with LSD when he was young helped form his vision for where he wanted to go musically.
“This experience became the basis of everything that I was to do in music, including the name Mahogany Rush, which was a description I would use to describe a certain sensation that I was having on the trip,” Marino said.
They put out 12 studio albums between 1972 and 2000, with Eye of the Storm being the final release.
The guitarist has had a longstanding impact on guitarists of later generations, including Zakk Wylde, who’s cited the Mahogany Rush leader as an inspiration.
This is certainly unfortunate…In all the years I’ve been a fan…. I have never seen Frank Marino…We purchased tickets, which were postponed due to COVID. The St. Louis show was rescheduled for this fall. I’m saddened to hear the news…hopefully Frank will realize his tremendous contribution to Rock (as well as Jazz). I encourage everyone to take a serious look at his music.