Today (March 16th) Rich Seibert of BLACKFOOT Reunion Headquarters sent BW&BK; the following message:

“Blackfoot drummer Jakson Spires passed away this morning from a brain aneurysm in Ft Pierce FL.

Many fans of southern rock or just straight-ahead rock & roll considered Blackfoot a secondary (Lynyrd) Skynyrd... all while the band insisted that ‘Train, Train’ was just plain get-down rock & roll.

Jakson was the writer behind so much of Blackfoot's music... with Rickey Medlocke, Greg T. Walker and Charlie Hargrett they pushed the band to platinum status with the Strikes album in 1979.

The 1980 Tomcattin’ and 1981 Marauder releases proved that the sum of all members was greater than the total of any one... the band was a notorious powerhouse and toured relentlessly with the likes of IRON MAIDEN, SCORPIONS and AC/DC.

Jakson helped this band redefine "Take NO Prisoners" as a stage attitude... DEF LEPPARD found this out as opener for Blackfoot's 1981 tour!

Additional info can be found at www.blackfootrocks.com .

Raise a toast and say a prayer... Dimebag was a big Blackfoot fan, now he has a great drummer!!”

As previously reported, Jakson Spires suffered a brain hemorrhage Sunday night (March 13th). He had no brain activity and was being kept alive by machines.

Blackfoot were gearing up to hit the road in early April for a string of US dates featuring Spires, Walker, Hargrett and singer Bobby Barth.

Blackfoot frontman Bobby Barth (AXE) has been putting updates in the Guest Book at the band’s official website. Head here to view.

All at BW&BK; send our condolences to Blackfoot and all family and friends of Jakson Spires.