Mahogany Rush’s Frank Marino Announces Retirement From Touring

Frank Marino, guitarist and leader of Canadian hard-rock band Mahogany Rush, has announced his imminent retirement from touring, citing an “unexpected and debilitating medical condition.”

Marino announced his departure from the road in a new Facebook post. He did not reveal any specifics about his illness but said it made touring “impossible.” He added that his 2019 concert DVD, Live at the Agora, will likely mark the last show of his career.

“With sorrow I am forced to announce my immediate retirement from touring, and possibly all things related to continuing my career, due to an unexpected and debilitating medical condition which makes it impossible for me to tour,” the guitarist wrote. “I want to thank all the people who supported me all of the last half-century. I know that many were looking forward to seeing us play this fall, and I was looking forward to getting out again and doing more shows, but it now appears that in the absence of a miraculous recovery, my Concert DVD (Live at the Agora) will constitute the last show I will ever have played. I ask any that are believers to include me in their prayers.”

Marino, 66, began playing guitar as a teenager and founded Mahogany Rush in 1970. His bluesy, psychedelic fretwork garnered comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, which were amplified by the popular myth that the spirit of Hendrix entered Marino’s body and endowed him with the ability to play guitar while he was in the hospital recovering from an acid trip. (Marino denies this myth on Mahogany Rush’s website, writing, “I had this trip while Hendrix was still alive and began to play his music because it matched perfectly to what I was going through at the time.”)

Watch Frank Marino Play ‘Something’s Comin’ Our Way’ From ‘Live at the Agora Theatre’

Mahogany Rush toured heavily and released several albums throughout the ’70s. Although they never experienced great commercial success, they played with the likes of Aerosmith, Foreigner, Heart and Ted Nugent on massive festivals such as 1978’s Texxas Jam and California Jam II.

Prior to his announcement, Marino had been scheduled to embark on a Mahogany Rush 50th-anniversary tour that was to run throughout September and October.