Great White biography
Great White is an American hard rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The band gained popularity during the 1980s and early 1990s. The band released several albums in the late 1980s and gained airplay on MTV with music videos for songs like "Once Bitten, Twice Shy". The band reached their peak popularity with the album ...Twice Shy in 1989.
The band continued to release new material into the 1990s, although none of their material charted in the United States. In 2003, the band made headlines when The Station nightclub fire led to the deaths of 100 people in West Warwick, Rhode Island, including the band's guitarist Ty Longley, who had been a member of the band for three years. In 2011 the band split with Jack Russell forming "Jack Russell's Great White" and Terry Ilous fronted Great White.
History
The 1980s
Vocalist Jack Russell met guitarist Mark Kendall in 1977, and Russell asked Kendall to join his band. The next year in 1978, the two formed Dante Fox, with bassist Don Costa (later a one-time member of Ozzy Osbourne) and drummer Tony Richards (later a member of W.A.S.P.). They played their first gig in 1981 at The Troubadour in Hollywood, California.
After recording several demos, the band chose as manager Alan Niven, who had worked for the independent distributor Greenworld in Torrance, California and had dealt with Mötley Crüe's debut self-release. Niven suggested the name change from Dante Fox after seeing singer Jack Russell introduce Mark Kendall during his solo as "Mark Kendall, the Great White", due to his naturally white-blonde hair, white Fender Telecaster guitar, white jumpsuit, and white Capezio shoes. In 1982, founding members Mark Kendall, Jack Russell, drummer Gary Holland, and bassist Lorne Black recorded and released a 5-song EP,
Out of the Night, on the independent label Aegean formed by Niven. Niven then convinced the Los Angeles radio station KMET to begin adding songs from the EP to its playlist in heavy rotation. KLOS-FM soon did the same. The band suddenly went from drawing 100 people to a local club to drawing thousands in L.A. concert halls such as Perkins Palace in Pasadena, The Palace in Hollywood and the Country Club in Reseda. As an unsigned act, Great White headlined at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia playing to 6,250 people. Near the end of 1983, EMI America signed the band and subsequently released Great White's eponymous debut album in early 1984. The band immediately toured the UK supporting Whitesnake's
Slide It In tour and the entire US and Canada opening for Judas Priest's
Defenders of the Faith tour.
Shot in the Dark, their follow-up independent release, marked the arrival of drummer Audie Desbrow. By the time Capitol Records signed the band and reissued
Shot in the Dark, keyboardist-guitarist Michael Lardie had come aboard. After the release of
Shot in the Dark, Great White hit the road with Dokken and was on the verge of even bigger success.
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The band hit the mainstream in 1987 when they released
Once Bitten..., which featured the hits "Rock Me" and "Save Your Love".
Once Bitten... was certified platinum in April 1988.
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