GREAT WHITE
Biography and discography of Great White, the California hard rock band Mark Kendall and Jack Russell formed in 1982, with pages for its thirteen studio albums from Great White to Full Circle: running orders, CD details, liner notes, official videos and the band's concerts in Japan.
Biography
GREAT WHITE
Biography
Great White is a blues-based hard rock band from Los Angeles, built around the guitarist Mark Kendall and the singer Jack Russell. The band the two of them put together at the end of the 1970s played as Dante Fox before it took the name Great White in 1982. Its debut album came out on EMI America in 1984; on Capitol, Once Bitten (1987) was certified platinum by the RIAA and ...Twice Shy (1989) double platinum. The band's cover of Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten Twice Shy" reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Having ended in 2001 and re-formed in 2007, the band has made thirteen studio albums, the last of them Full Circle in 2017. In 2003 a fire during a show by Jack Russell's Great White, the band Russell was then leading, killed 100 people at a nightclub in Rhode Island. Russell started his own band in 2011, leaving Great White, and died in August 2024. Kendall has kept Great White going, with Brett Carlisle as its singer since October 2022.
Before the name: Dante Fox (late 1970s-1982)
Mark Kendall grew up in a musical family in Southern California: his father played jazz trumpet, his mother sang jazz and his grandfather played the piano. He took up the guitar at nine and names Jimi Hendrix, Cream and the Doors as his first influences (official site; Louder, 2013).
At the end of the 1970s, looking for a singer for his band, Kendall met Jack Russell, who was born in Montebello, California (Louder, 2013; Ultimate Classic Rock, 2024). Russell was later sent to prison for a robbery attempt in which he shot and wounded a maid; sentenced to eight years, he was out in less than two, joined Kendall's band, and played his first show with it under the name Dante Fox (Louder, 2013; Ultimate Classic Rock, 2024).
In Russell's own account, the band of 1982 was Russell, Kendall, the drummer Gary Holland and the bassist Lorne Black (Blabbermouth, 2007). That year Alan Niven, who went on to manage the band, saw it play and suggested the name Great White, after Kendall's striking blond hair (Blabbermouth, 2026; Louder, 2013). The band itself dates the Great White sound from 1982 (official site).
Out of the Night and EMI America (1983-1985)
Alan Niven was working in Los Angeles for the record distributor Greenworld, where he had handled Mötley Crüe's first album, and he went to see the band because Don Dokken urged him to (Louder, 2013). After Aegean Records released the EP Out of the Night in 1983, Niven got two Los Angeles stations, KMET and KLOS, to play it, and the crowds grew from a couple of hundred people to more than six thousand for a headlining show at the Magic Mountain amusement park (Louder, 2013; Blabbermouth, 2017).
Eight major labels made written offers. The band signed with EMI America, made the album Great White with the producer Michael Wagener and released it in 1984, and went to Europe to open for Whitesnake; EMI America then dropped it (Louder, 2013; Blabbermouth, 2017).
Shot in the Dark and Capitol (1985-1986)
Alan Niven raised the money to put out the next album, Shot in the Dark, independently. A cover of the Angels' "Face the Day" won radio play, and the band was signed by Capitol, the parent company of the label that had just let it go (Louder, 2013). Mark Kendall has said he still does not know how Niven persuaded Capitol to come and see the band (Louder, 2013). Shot in the Dark came out on Capitol too, and the band's discography lists it as its 1986 album (official site; MusicBrainz).
In 1985 the drummer Audie Desbrow, an old friend of Jack Russell's, joined the band (official site; Louder, 2013). Michael Lardie, who had been the second engineer on the Shot in the Dark sessions, then came in on keyboards and guitar, completing the line-up that went on to make Once Bitten (Louder, 2013). From then on Kendall and Lardie were the band's main songwriters (official site).
Once Bitten (1987-1988)
Once Bitten, released in July 1987, was the band's breakthrough. It came out in the same month as Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction, and Alan Niven was managing both bands (Louder, 2013). "Rock Me" reached No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Save Your Love" No. 57, and the album was certified platinum by the RIAA in April 1988 (Billboard; RIAA). By 1988 Great White had toured with the likes of Guns N' Roses and Twisted Sister (Ultimate Classic Rock, 2024).
...Twice Shy (1989-1990)
...Twice Shy (1989) was the band's commercial peak (Ultimate Classic Rock, 2024). Its cover of Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten Twice Shy" entered the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1989, climbed to No. 5 in August and stayed on the chart for 26 weeks; the next single, "The Angel Song", written by Jack Russell, reached No. 30 (Billboard; AP, 2024).
The single "Once Bitten Twice Shy" was certified gold by the RIAA in July 1989 and the album double platinum in September, and ...Twice Shy went on to sell more than two million copies (RIAA; Ultimate Classic Rock, 2024). The song was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 32nd Grammy Awards in 1990 (Recording Academy; official site). In March 1990 the single "House of Broken Love" entered the Hot 100, peaking at No. 83, and the same year brought the live album Live in London, recorded at Wembley Arena in 1989 (Billboard; official site).
Hooked and Psycho City (1991-1993)
Hooked (1991) was certified gold by the RIAA in April that year, and "Call It Rock N' Roll" reached No. 53 on the Hot 100 (RIAA; Billboard). But with Nirvana and the other Seattle bands on the rise, the ground was shifting under hard rock bands like Great White (Louder, 2013). Psycho City (1992) was the band's last album for Capitol, and Jack Russell later recalled that its sales fell far short of what the band had sold before (Louder, 2013). Capitol released the compilation The Best of Great White 1986-1992 in 1993; it was certified gold in 2015 (MusicBrainz; RIAA).
Zoo, Imago and Portrait (1994-2001)
Away from Capitol, the band released Sail Away on Zoo Entertainment in 1994 (MusicBrainz). Its title song was a minor radio hit and the album sold a quarter of a million copies; around this time the band dismissed Alan Niven as its manager (Louder, 2013). Let It Rock (1996) came out in the United States on Imago (MusicBrainz), and Can't Get There from Here (1999) on yet another label, Portrait; the band also joined a package tour with Ratt, Poison and L.A. Guns (Louder, 2013).
Mark Kendall stepped away from the band in 2000, and the drummer Audie Desbrow followed. In November 2001 Jack Russell announced the end of Great White (Louder, 2013; Rolling Stone, 2024).
Jack Russell's Great White and the Station fire (2002-2006)
After the split, Jack Russell was touring clubs as a solo artist; he asked Mark Kendall for help, and Kendall joined the tour. The shows, by Russell's solo band with Kendall added, were billed as Jack Russell's Great White (Louder, 2013; Blabbermouth, 2024).
On the night of 20 February 2003, during that band's show at The Station, a nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, pyrotechnics used in the performance ignited polyurethane foam lining the walls and ceiling around the stage, and the fire spread along the ceiling over the dance floor. The club had no sprinklers, and crowding at the main entrance held up the escape. One hundred people died, among them the band's guitarist Ty Longley, and more than 200 were injured (NIST; AP, 2024).
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which investigated the fire, smoke reached the main entrance a little more than a minute after ignition, and flames broke through part of the roof in under five minutes. Sprinklers had not been required for an existing building of this kind under the 2003 editions of the model codes. NIST's report set out recommendations for building standards, codes and practices (NIST).
Three people were charged: Daniel Biechele, the band's tour manager, who set off the pyrotechnics without a permit, and the club's owners, the brothers Jeffrey and Michael Derderian; all three reached plea deals (AP, 2024). Biechele pleaded guilty in February 2006 to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced in May to four years in prison and three years' probation (Rolling Stone, 2006). In September the brothers each pleaded no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter; Michael Derderian was sentenced to four years in prison, and Jeffrey Derderian received a suspended sentence and served no time (WBUR, 2006). Russell was not charged (Rolling Stone, 2024).
In the civil cases brought by victims and their families, the band and Russell settled for $1 million, part of settlements that came to $176 million in all (Rolling Stone, 2024; AP, 2024). After the fire the band played benefit concerts for a fund supporting the victims and their families (AP, 2024; Louder, 2013). In May 2017 the Station Fire Memorial Park opened on the site of the club, with granite monuments bearing the name and birthday of every victim (NPR, 2017).
Re-formed: Back to the Rhythm and Rising (2007-2009)
In January 2007 Jack Russell, Mark Kendall, Michael Lardie, Audie Desbrow and the bassist Sean McNabb came together again for a benefit concert, and went on to mark the band's 25th anniversary with its first album in eight years (Blabbermouth, 2007; official site). Back to the Rhythm, produced, engineered and mixed by Lardie, came out in the United States on Shrapnel in July 2007 and in Europe on Frontiers in August (Blabbermouth, 2007). From 2003 to 2007 Lardie was also a member of Night Ranger (official site).
The Chicago bassist Scott Snyder joined in 2008, and Rising followed on Frontiers in 2009; Snyder has played on every Great White release since (official site).
Illness, a departure and a dispute over the name (2010-2013)
In 2010 Jack Russell had surgery for a perforated bowel and stepped away to recover; Jani Lane of Warrant sang in his place, and then Terry Ilous of XYZ (Blabbermouth, 2012; Blabbermouth, 2022). In 2011 Russell started his own band, Jack Russell's Great White (Blabbermouth, 2023). In 2012 he sued his former bandmates, claiming that they had pushed him out and taken the band's name while he was recovering; Mark Kendall, Michael Lardie and Audie Desbrow filed a counterclaim in federal court in Los Angeles, and the two sides settled in July 2013 without going to trial. Russell carried on as Jack Russell's Great White and the other three as Great White (Blabbermouth, 2012; Blabbermouth, 2024).
With Ilous, Great White released Elation on Frontiers in 2012, written mainly by Kendall, Lardie and Ilous, and in February 2013 Frontiers released the live album 30 Years - Live From The Sunset Strip (Blabbermouth, 2017).
Full Circle and a run of singers (2017-2022)
For Full Circle, released in June 2017, the band went back to Michael Wagener, the producer of its first EP and its debut album. It was recorded in January and February 2017 at Wagener's WireWorld Studio in Nashville; the nine-song album came with a DVD about its making, and its first single was "Big Time" (Blabbermouth, 2017; Blabbermouth, 2018).
In July 2018 the band parted with Terry Ilous and brought in Mitch Malloy, a Nashville-based songwriter and singer (Blabbermouth, 2018). Mark Kendall later said that Ilous was told by e-mail and had already seen the news online (Blabbermouth, 2022). In July 2020 the band drew attention for playing a show in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic with no masks or social distancing (Rolling Stone, 2024).
On 31 May 2022 Malloy's departure was announced, together with the arrival of Andrew Freeman of Last in Line (Blabbermouth, 2022). Freeman sang with the band for about five months. Brett Carlisle, from Alabama, first sang with Great White on 24 September 2022 at the Cannery Casino Hotel in Las Vegas and was announced as its new lead singer on 20 October; the band said that Freeman was committed to his work with Last in Line (Blabbermouth, 2022; official site).
Jack Russell's last years (2017-2024)
Jack Russell released the album He Saw It Comin' with Jack Russell's Great White. Seven years later, in January 2024, Frontiers released Medusa, the album of Russell - Guns, his partnership with Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns (Blabbermouth, 2023).
On 17 July 2024 Russell announced his retirement from touring, saying he had been diagnosed in May with Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy (Blabbermouth, 2024). That summer saw the publication of his autobiography, written with K. L. Doty, The True Tale of Mista Bone: A Rock and Roll Narrative (Rolling Stone, 2024; AP, 2024). Russell died in August 2024 at the age of 63, and his family announced his death on 15 August; Doty said the two illnesses were the cause (Rolling Stone, 2024; Blabbermouth, 2024; NPR, 2024). Great White offered its condolences (Rolling Stone, 2024).
Great White today (2023-)
As of October 2026 the official site lists Brett Carlisle on vocals, Mark Kendall on guitar, Michael Lardie on guitar and keyboards, Audie Desbrow on drums and Scott Snyder on bass (official site).
In March 2026 Kendall said that Full Circle (2017) was still the band's last album and that the band was working on new songs with Carlisle; in September he said he had been going into the studio with an old friend, Tracy G, who had played guitar in Dio (Blabbermouth, 2026).
In August 2026 Kendall announced that he had signed with Diversion Books for his memoir, Soul Of A Man: My Life In Great White, From The Stage And Beyond, with publication given as autumn 2027. The book covers his rise from the Southern California club scene, his sobriety and recovery, his marriage and his current fight against stage IV cancer (Blabbermouth, 2026).
Discography (studio albums)
| Year | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Great White | Studio album |
| 1986 | Shot in the Dark | Studio album |
| 1987 | Once Bitten | Studio album |
| 1989 | ...Twice Shy | Studio album |
| 1991 | Hooked | Studio album |
| 1992 | Psycho City | Studio album |
| 1994 | Sail Away | Studio album |
| 1996 | Let It Rock | Studio album |
| 1999 | Can't Get There from Here | Studio album |
| 2007 | Back to the Rhythm | Studio album |
| 2009 | Rising | Studio album |
| 2012 | Elation | Studio album |
| 2017 | Full Circle | Studio album |
Besides these there are the 1983 EP Out of the Night and the live albums Recovery: Live! (1988), Live in London (1990), Stage (1996), Extended Versions (2004), Once Bitten, Twice Live (2006) and 30 Years - Live From The Sunset Strip (2013) (official site). Not in the band's own discography are Great Zeppelin: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin (1999) and Recover (2002), both on Deadline Music, and Capitol's compilation The Best of Great White 1986-1992 (1993) (MusicBrainz).
Concerts in Japan
In Japan, Toshiba EMI released every album from Great White (1984) to Hooked (1991), Pony Canyon released Psycho City (1992), BMG Victor Sail Away (1994), Victor Entertainment Let It Rock (1996) and Can't Get There from Here (1999), King Records Back to the Rhythm (2007) and Rising (2009), and Marquee's Avalon label Elation (2012) (the Japanese editions' obi strips; Oricon; Tower Records). Let It Rock and Can't Get There from Here came out in Japan first (Oricon). The Japanese editions often added tracks found nowhere else: the first Japanese CD of Shot in the Dark, in 1987, carried "Red House", and the Japanese Psycho City carried "Somebody to Love" (the obi strips).
The band first came to Japan in May 1990. Its promoter, Udo Music Office, later recalled on its official account that the first concert was held in Tokyo, on the tour for the album ...Twice Shy, and that the band played six concerts in Tokyo and Kawasaki alone (Udo Music Office's X account). Presented by Udo and billed as the 5th Anniversary Burning Live Vol. 6 of the magazine BURRN!, the Tokyo concerts were held at the Kan-i Hoken Hall in Gotanda on 1 and 2 May and at the large hall of the Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in Shinjuku on 7 and 8 May. The poster printed a time of 18:30 and prices of 5,000 yen for S seats and 4,500 yen for A seats, tax included, with the radio station bayfm's programme Power Rock Today supporting and Toshiba EMI cooperating (Udo's poster). The Kawasaki concert of 11 May was billed as a Yokohama-area concert, presented by Udo Yokohama and the television station TVK, with a printed time of 18:00 (Udo's poster). The hall is the Kawasaki Kyoiku Bunka Kaikan; the poster prints its name from before the renaming of 1988, Kawasaki Sangyo Bunka Kaikan (Udo's poster; the tour program). The tour program also lists concerts in Osaka and Nagoya, and an added concert at the large hall of the Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Kaikan on 9 May (the tour program; a fan's flyer collection).
The band came back in September 1991. According to Udo's flyer, the concerts, now billed as the Burning Live Vol. 12 of BURRN!, were held at the Kan-i Hoken Hall in Gotanda on 10 September and at the Nakano Sunplaza Hall on 12 September, followed by a Yokohama-area concert at the Kawasaki Kyoiku Bunka Kaikan on 14 September. The printed times were 19:00, 18:30 and 18:00; seats cost 5,500 yen (S) and 5,000 yen (A), tax included; the television station TV Tokyo presented the concerts, bayfm's Power Rock Today supported them and Toshiba EMI cooperated (Udo's flyer).
| Date | Venue | Show |
|---|---|---|
| 1 May 1990 | Kan-i Hoken Hall (Tokyo) | BURRN! 5th Anniversary Burning Live Vol. 6; the first date of the first visit |
| 2 May 1990 | Kan-i Hoken Hall (Tokyo) | As above |
| 7 May 1990 | Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Kaikan, large hall (Tokyo) | As above (on the poster) |
| 8 May 1990 | Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Kaikan, large hall (Tokyo) | As above |
| 9 May 1990 | Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Kaikan, large hall (Tokyo) | An added concert (not on the poster) |
| 11 May 1990 | Kawasaki Kyoiku Bunka Kaikan (Kanagawa) | A Yokohama-area concert, presented by Udo Yokohama and TVK |
| 10 September 1991 | Kan-i Hoken Hall (Tokyo) | BURRN! Burning Live Vol. 12 |
| 12 September 1991 | Nakano Sunplaza Hall (Tokyo) | As above |
| 14 September 1991 | Kawasaki Kyoiku Bunka Kaikan (Kanagawa) | A Yokohama-area concert |
About the sources
The sources are Great White's official website (officialgreatwhite.com); the Recording Academy (Grammy Awards); the RIAA's Gold & Platinum database; Billboard's chart records; the investigation of the Station fire by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); Rolling Stone; the Associated Press; NPR; WBUR; Blabbermouth.net; Louder (Classic Rock); and Ultimate Classic Rock. Some labels and release dates were checked against MusicBrainz.
Trivia
Can't Get There from Here came out in Japan first: Victor Entertainment's Japanese edition (VICP-60628) was released in May 1999, and the American edition on Portrait followed in July. The Japanese CD has a 13th track, a bonus for Japan only. Mark Kendall says he recorded almost the whole album through combo amps, a pile of them in the Twin Reverb mould, and that the Japanese bonus track, which he calls "When the Good Die Young", was the only song on which he used a Mesa Boogie.
"Once Bitten Twice Shy" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 1990 Grammy Awards. Its rivals were Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator", Motley Crue's "Dr. Feelgood" and Guns N' Roses' G N'R Lies, and the award went to Living Colour for "Cult of Personality". Guns N' Roses were managed by Alan Niven too at the time, and it was their guitarist Izzy Stradlin who had suggested the song to Great White in the first place.
Jack Russell was already in a band at eleven. At sixteen he met Audie Desbrow and played in his band for a while, but quit because they would not do original songs. Around then a guitarist from a cross-town rival band, Mark Kendall, kept phoning him. As Kendall tells it, he had been getting discouraged with a singer who could not quite reach the high notes when Russell came to an audition, and the two decided to build a band of their own. Russell was seventeen when they teamed up, and in 2013 he laughed that he had spent more time with Kendall than with all his wives put together. Desbrow, his old friend, later became Great White's drummer.
Van Halen were what convinced Mark Kendall it could be done. He had watched them play a backyard party, a dollar to get in, and then saw that band from just up the road sign to Warner Bros. and put out a record: if they could, he thought, maybe his band could too, with some luck. In a 2013 interview he put it the same way, recalling that when Van Halen got their deal, everyone around him realised it was possible. In the early 1980s, he says, Hollywood was buzzing, with someone always playing: Motley Crue, Ratt, Dokken.
Dante Fox struggled to find a singer. With Jack Russell in prison, Mark Kendall had to start again from scratch: an ad in the paper brought him drummer Tony Montana and bassist Don Costa, and the three gelled at once, but no singer stuck. One sounded like Rob Halford; John Bush auditioned and was great, but did not fit. Then came Lisa Baker, who turned them into something very different. Her father, who worked in television, set up a couple of industry showcases, but before anything came of them George Lynch poached her for his own band, Xciter. When Russell came out, he auditioned again and joined Dante Fox, the band that would grow into Great White.
It was Don Dokken who sent Alan Niven to see the band. Niven was working in Los Angeles for the distributor Greenworld when Dokken brought him Breaking the Chains; the two became good friends and shared a house. On Dokken's word Niven went to see Dante Fox and was appalled: by his account the bassist was all in black, the guitarist all in white, the singer half and half, a wannabe blend of Van Halen and Judas Priest. Told he had missed it and should look again, he found the second show even worse. Out of respect for Dokken he went a third time, and at the Troubadour an encore of a Humble Pie song let Mark Kendall bring the house down. Niven asked them to bring over a tape.
The name Great White came from Alan Niven. Mark Kendall recalls that the first thing Niven told them on becoming their manager was that he hated the name Dante Fox, and that Great White was a far better one. The band did not take to it at first, but thinking of the shark won them over. Kendall also liked that the name did not dictate what kind of music they had to play, unlike a name such as Slayer, which in his view commits a band to extreme lyrics on every song.
Great White's first label was Aegean, which Alan Niven had just started; the name came from his initials, AGN. Niven says his first signing was Berlin and he wanted Great White as the second. When Jack Russell and Mark Kendall asked him to manage them as well, he told them that would be a direct conflict of interest. Russell's answer was "You'll learn", and Niven took the leap. Aegean released the band's 1983 EP, Out of the Night.
News
GREAT WHITE Founder MARK KENDALL Signs Memoir Deal For 'Soul Of A Man', Due Fall 2027
Written with Jeffrey Mangus for Diversion Books, 'Soul Of A Man: My Life In Great White, From The Stage And Beyond' traces his rise from the Southern California club circuit and covers addiction, recovery and his current battle with stage IV cancer.
Current Members
Current line-up as published by the band's official site, verified on 2026-10-16.
Albums
Great White's thirteenth studio album, released on 2 June 2017, reunited the band with Michael Wagener, producer of its first EP and debut album.
Great White's twelfth studio album, released by Frontiers in May 2012, was its first with singer Terry Ilous and its first without Jack Russell.
Great White's eleventh album, out in Europe on 13 March 2009, introduced bassist Scott Snyder and was Jack Russell's last studio album with the band.
Great White's tenth studio album, released by Shrapnel on 17 July 2007, was its first in eight years, made after the band reunited in January 2007.
Great White's ninth studio album, produced by Jack Blades, came out in Japan in May 1999 and then on Portrait in the US.
Great White's eighth studio album came out first in Japan, from Victor Entertainment in February 1996, and then on Imago in the US.
Great White's seventh studio album, released by Zoo Entertainment in May 1994, came with the bonus live disc Anaheim Live in the US.
Great White's sixth studio album, produced by Alan Niven and Michael Lardie and released by Capitol in 1992, reached 107 on the Billboard 200.
Great White's fifth studio album, released by Capitol in February 1991, reached number 18 in the US and was certified gold by the RIAA that April.
Great White's fourth album, released on 12 April 1989, went double platinum as its cover of Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten Twice Shy" hit number 5.
Great White's third album, released by Capitol in June 1987, went platinum behind the seven-minute "Rock Me", the band's first Hot 100 hit.
Great White's second album, first issued on the band's own Telegraph label in 1986 and reissued by Capitol, reached number 82 on the Billboard 200.
Great White's debut album, produced by Michael Wagener and released by EMI America in February 1984, peaked at number 144 on the Billboard 200.