By the following year, however, Mark Kendall had joined up with lead singer Jack Russell's solo touring band, and the group began performing as Jack Russell's Great White,[8] which also made headlines when, in 2003, their show pyrotechnics set a Rhode Island nightclub on fire, leading to the deaths of 100 people, including band member Ty Longley.

[citation needed] 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 Kendall stick his head out of a car window while driving by the Troubador and some kid in the crowd said "there goes Great White".

In 1982, the members by this time (as Costa and Richards had left) were Mark Kendall, Jack Russell, drummer Gary Holland, and bassist Lorne Black.

Niven then convinced the Los Angeles radio station KMET to begin adding songs from the EP to its playlist in heavy rotation.

Near the end of 1983, EMI America signed the band and subsequently released Great White's eponymous debut album in early 1984.

Shot in the Dark, their follow-up independent release, marked the arrival of drummer Audie Desbrow after the firing of Holland on December 27, 1984.

[13] By the time Capitol Records signed the band and reissued Shot in the Dark, keyboardist-guitarist Michael Lardie, who had played on that album as a session musician, had come aboard as a full member.

[15][16] Once Bitten... was certified platinum in April 1988,[3] and a year-long tour in support of the album cemented Great White's popularity worldwide, performing with Guns N' Roses, Twisted Sister, Whitesnake, David Lee Roth and TNT, and appearing on several dates as part the European Monsters of Rock tour in the summer of 1988 with several acts such as Kiss, Iron Maiden, Guns N' Roses, David Lee Roth, Megadeth, Helloween, Anthrax and Testament.

[citation needed] The band continued into the next decade performing the song "House of Broken Love" at the American Music Awards in January 1990.

They returned to the United States for the Memorial Day weekend festival dubbed The World Series of Rock, which featured Whitesnake, Skid Row, Bad English, and Hericane Alice.

In support of Hooked, Great White did a tour as opener for the German metal band Scorpions and traveled to Europe and Japan.

[citation needed] Great White kept up the pace once Sail Away was released on Zoo Records in 1994, touring the US several times over the following year and a half.

[citation needed] In a memo dated January 20, 2000, Mark Kendall announced he was taking a hiatus from Great White.

[citation needed] By late 2002, following a relatively unsuccessful change in music direction with his second solo album, Jack Russell contacted Kendall, who was struggling with irrelevancy.

At the beginning of a Great White performance at The Station night club in Rhode Island, pyrotechnics used by the band's crew created a spray of sparks that ignited the makeshift and unapproved, unlisted foam soundproofing material affixed to the walls and ceiling around the stage.

[43] Jack Russell's Great White played their first full show following the Rhode Island tragedy on July 22, starting a benefit tour for the survivors and victims of the fire.

"[46] Talk of a reunion of Great White began in a 2004 interview, where Jack Russell told Metal Express Radio: "I spoke with Michael [Lardie], we threw that around a bit, and thought that sounds like a cool idea, it'd be fun.

I'm pretty positive it's gonna happen... probably next year ... We talked to some other people, and [former drummer] Audie [Desbrow] would not be a person I would want to play with ever again in my life.

I have to stand up for myself..."[48] Russell's stance towards Desbrow had significantly changed by 2006 when he told Mitch Lafon: "I talked to Michael Lardie the other day and he is into doing it.

Terry Ilous (XYZ) replaced Jack Russell for several shows,[55] beginning with a show at the Brixton South Bay in Redondo Beach,[56] during August 2010, while Paul Shortino (Rough Cutt, Quiet Riot, King Kobra) filled in for Russell when Great White performed at Stockholm Rock Out Festival in September.

[57][58] By 2011, Great White was touring regularly with Ilous fronting the band, as they continued waiting for Russell to fully recover and return as lead singer.

[59] The band appeared to be on good terms with Russell even as late as August 2011, when Kendall stated in an interview that the group were still actively awaiting his return to the stage, further indicating that Russell was not only supportive of the current situation, but even checking in with Ilous on occasion to give the latter encouragement and thank him for doing such a great job singing Great White's songs.

"[60] A later interview with Kendall provided additional detail, indicating that the band had initially hoped Russell would rejoin by the early summer of 2011, but that he was not in any condition to return at that time.

"[62] In September 2013, the parties finally reached an agreement in Federal Court that legally Jack Russell will turn all his rights to the "Great White" name over to Kendall, Lardie, and Desbrow.

[16] Lorne Black, Great White's original bassist, who performed and recorded with the group up through the Once Bitten album, died on September 27, 2013.

[64] In a November 2015 interview with Dayton Daily News, Michael Lardie stated that Great White was "hoping to get into the studio in February or March to at least flesh out some ideas" for their next album.

[66] On June 2, 2017, Great White released their most recent studio effort, Full Circle, on Bluez Tone Records, with Wagener as the producer.

[76] On July 9, 2018, Great White announced that they had parted ways with Terry Ilous as their singer, a situation that he was not aware of until he found out "through an e-mail and the Internet", and he was replaced by Mitch Malloy.

[84] On July 17, 2024, Jack Russell announced that he was retiring from touring, following "a recent diagnosis of Lewy body dementia and Multiple system atrophy" from May of that year.