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The fire tore through The Station nightclub in West Warwick,
Rhode Island, after sparks from the band's pyrotechnics show
ignited the small wooden building's highly flammable foam sound
insulation.
In an interview with Portland, Oregon's 105.9 "The Brew" radio,"
Russell said he was working on a documentary film that would
include an apology to the victims of the fire. Some 200 people
were injured, in addition to the 100 who died.
"It's really hard, you know but it's going to give me a chance
to apologize and say how I feel about it. I never had the chance
to say I was sorry," Russell said in the interview, which aired
last week. "How do I feel about it? Just horrified. I feel a
guilt, a sadness, survivors' guilt, you know? Why did I get to
live and so many other people didn't?"
In 2009, hundreds of survivors and victims' relatives reached a
$176 million settlement with more than 50 defendants in cases
filed as a result of the fire. The band's tour manager and two
men who owned the nightclub pleaded guilty to 100 counts of
involuntary manslaughter.
Russell said he had been advised by his attorney at the time of
the fire not to apologize as that would imply that he was guilty
of wrongdoing.
"I'll never be over it, really, and I don't think I ever
should," Russell said. "I think I owe it to my fans who lost
their lives to never forget them."
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Christian Plumb)
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