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Great White emerged in the early 1980s with a sound rooted in the bluesy hard rock esthetic of classic rock radio behemoths like
Led Zeppelin,
AC/DC, and
Mott the Hoople. They found success in 1987 with the release of their sophomore long-player,
Once Bitten, and dove headfirst into the mainstream in 1989 with the arrival of
...Twice Shy, which went double-platinum thanks to a punchy, radio-ready cover of
Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy."
Great White's popularity waned as grunge, and alternative rock took over the airwaves in the early '90s, and they officially disbanded in 2001. They reunited in 2003 and made headlines when pyrotechnics used by the band sparked a fire in a Rhode Island nightclub, killing 100 people, including guitarist Ty Longley. They re-formed around the classic lineup in 2007 and released
Back to the Rhythm, with
Rising appearing two years later, but they soon splintered into two groups, with
Russell leading
Jack Russell's Great White and guitarist and co-founder
Mark Kendall fronting
Great White proper.
Formed in the early '80s by vocalist
Jack Russell and guitarist
Mark Kendall,
Great White were regulars of the L.A. club scene, playing their
Led Zeppelin- and
AC/DC-influenced metal to a quickly growing fan base. Local radio play and more gigging helped sell 20,000 copies of their independent releases, the Out of the Night EP and the full-length
Shot in the Dark, both released in 1983.
The
EMI label took notice, signed the band, and released their self-titled, major-label debut a year later.
Shot in the Dark would be reissued by the label in 1987, the same year as the new album
Once Bitten... appeared with the hit single "Rock Me." The release went platinum, but 1989's
...Twice Shy took things even further thanks in no small part to the massive success of the single "Once Bitten Twice Shy," a cover of a
Mott the Hoople song written by
Mott member
Ian Hunter.
Long tours with
Ratt and a co-headlined tour with
Tesla kept
Great White out of the studio until 1991, when the polished
Hooked appeared with two different album covers, one a provocative side shot of a mermaid hanging off an anchor in midair and one less scandalous with the mermaid still submerged.
Hooked went gold, while their 1992 follow-up,
Psycho City, sold less, leading to
EMI saying goodbye to the band with the 1993 compilation The Best of Great White.
Sail Away from 1994 found the group on Zoo, while 1996's Let It Rock was released by Imago. A live set of cover tunes featuring the work of their favorite band appeared as
Great Zeppelin: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin, released by Cleopatra in 1999. That same year,
Can't Get There from Here on the Portrait label gave fans their first taste of
Russell's new writing partnership with longtime friend and former
Night Ranger member
Jack Blades. Another set of covers formed the 2002 Cleopatra album
Recover, but this time the choices were surprising, with
the Cult's "Love Removal Machine" and
X's "Burning House of Love" getting the
Great White treatment.
Forgotten by the mainstream,
Great White were brought back into the limelight when pyrotechnics used by the band sparked a fire in a Rhode Island nightclub on February 20, 2003, killing 100 people, including the group's guitarist, Ty Longley. The 2004 reissue of
Recover drew some media attention, since the Horizon label had given it a new and now morbid title, Burning House of Love. Trials concerning the fire continued on into 2006 as questions about who authorized the pyrotechnics were being investigated. The band spent the rest of the year touring and playing some benefit concerts for victims of the fire. In early 2007, they began celebrating their 25th anniversary with some West Coast shows that were tied to the release of VH1 Classic Presents: Metal Mania - Stripped, Vol. 3, and in the summer they released a new studio album,
Back to the Rhythm, with the original core lineup. 2009 saw the release of
Rising, which would be the last
Great White outing to include
Russell, who elected to start up his own version of the group under the moniker
Jack Russell's Great White.
Vocalist
Terry Ilous was brought in to replace
Russell shortly thereafter, and he made his studio debut on 2012's generally well-received Elation. In 2017, the band issued the aptly named
Full Circle, which saw them reuniting with producer
Michael Wagener (
Metallica,
Ozzy Osbourne,
Alice Cooper), who helmed their 1984 debut. That same year,
Jack Russell's Great White released their debut album, He Saw It Comin', which was followed by the stripped-down
Once Bitten Acoustic Bytes in 2020. ~ James Christopher Monger & David Jeffries