Great White is an American blues-based Hard Rock band, popular mainly in the late 1980's & early 1990's. Despite their having been at the forefront of musical changes during that period, and having a number of hits, the band's notoriety today is mainly due to their involvement in the 2003 The Station nightclub fire, which led to the deaths of 100 people in West Warwick, Rhode Island.
The 1990s
The 2000sIn a memo dated January 20, 2000 Mark Kendall announced he was leaving Great White [3], shortly thereafter both Audie Desbrow and Sean McNabb left Great White. Desbrow, clearly very unhappy with the financial state of the band posted a tirade on his website lambasting Jack Russell and Michael Lardie, while claiming to have been "fired" from Great White [4]. Meanwhile, it was rumored that Sean McNabb was fired for going to management and asking to see the books [5]. Despite only having one original member left, the band announced plans to begin work on a new album in late 2000. [6] Early in the process, some of the new songs were played for John Kalodner at Columbia Records. It was mutually agreed that the "magic was gone" and the band decided their heart was not in the recording process. They subsequently left Columbia Records and discontinued work on the follow up album. [7] On November 5, 2001 Jack Russell announced the end of Great White, stating that he was moving on, and that Great White would play one final farewell show on December 31, 2001 at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, CA. [8] Both Kendall and McNabb rejoined the band for the farewell show and a live CD entitled "Thank You... Goodnight" that was recorded and released by Knight Records. This CD would include 2 new tracks, "Back to the Rhythm" and "Play On" from their discontinued studio sessions, both of which would ultimately wind up on their reunion album "Back to the Rhythm" in 2007.
The Breakup 2000-2001
In late 2002, in part due to his failure to attract good audiences while on the road with his solo band, Jack Russell contacted Kendall, who himself was struggling to gain an audience on his own [9]. Kendall agreed to play some dates with Russell's band, allowing Russell to use the name Great White once again[10]. Billed as "Jack Russell's Great White", the tour was to consist primarily of classic songs from the Great White catalog with some of Russell's solo work mixed in. Eventually, more dates were added and the tour extended through the early months of 2003[11].
Tragically, the band would return to the national spotlight on February 20, 2003. Pyrotechnics used by the band's crew would create a spray of sparks that ignited the foam soundproofing material behind the stage. 100 people who were at The Station night club in Rhode Island, including the band's guitarist Ty Longley, would ultimately die from the blaze.
See also: The Station nightclub fire
Though the media referred to the band as "Great White" following the tragedy in Rhode Island, the band was officially performing under the moniker of "Jack Russell's Great White" at the time of the incident [12]. In fact, prior to the fire, the band's official website posted a message stating that Great White had not reformed [13]. It's unclear when the band began officially going by "Great White" again, but it is possible that the intense media coverage surrounding Great White caused the band to simply return to their original name in order to avoid confusion during the tours that followed.
Great White played their first full show following the Rhode Island tragedy on July 22, kicking off a benefit tour for the survivors and victims of the fire [14]. The band would tour until 2005 to raise funds for the Station Family Fund, which had been set up to help the victims of the tragedy. In late 2005, citing "medical reasons", the band would cancel the second half of their summer tour [15]. The "medical reasons" would prove to be Jack Russell's addictions to alcohol and cocaine. He would later detail a particular low point of being caught by his ex-wife smoking crack in a laundry room. This would prove to be the end of this version of Great White, as Jack Russell would enter rehabilitation and not perform again until 2007 [16]. Russell would use the year of 2006 to get sober and get a facelift that would be detailed on ExtraTV [17]. Russell would later refer to this incarnation of Great White as "Fake White", saying "It still sounded like Great White, but not—almost like we were doing a cover of ourselves." [18]
Back to the Rhythm 2006-
Redshift increases with distance
as of 18/11/2006. * Appearances (Goals)
Club career
Demographics
Palaces elsewhere
Operators
Unpublished Songs
Etymology

Works