Mark St. John ✝

Before joining Kiss, St. John was a well-known and respected teacher and guitarist for the Southern California cover band Front Page. After leaving Kiss, he formed a band called White Tiger, featuring David Donato (lead vocals), his brother Michael Norton (bass/backing vocals), and Brian James Fox (drums). Demos that the band had recorded with producer Andy Johns and guitarist Neil Citron, prior to St. John joining, apparently led to Donato\'s equally short tenure with another legendary band, Black Sabbath.\n', ' St. John was only with Kiss a short time, but he was featured on the album Animalize, the second album of the "unmasked" period. This turned out to be one of Kiss\'s most successful studio albums, aside from those made by the original lineup. St. John\'s only video appearance with Kiss is in the video for the hit single "Heaven\'s on Fire".\n', ' During the sessions for the album, which was recorded in mid-1984, St. John clashed with the other members of the band, and according to Paul Stanley, they had difficulty putting together solos, with Stanley saying that St. John had trouble playing the same thing twice. Stanley also said that he had to dub in certain parts during St. John\'s solos to make them work better with the song. He also developed reactive arthritis, which caused his hands and arms to swell. He was all but unable to perform live as a member of Kiss, and only played two full shows and one partial show during the Animalize tour, with Bruce Kulick playing the rest. St. John was officially replaced by Bruce Kulick on December 8, 1984.\n', '