Great White started their career as Dante Fox, playing 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 (guitarist) 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 ('Great White') 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.
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.
The band followed up with '...Twice Shy' in 1989. The album included their biggest hit, "Once Bitten, Twice Shy", a cover of a UK hit single by Ian Hunter. They received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance. The album was certified platinum in July 1989 and then double platinum in September of that same year. The model Bobbie Brown (also known for being in Warrant's "Cherry Pie" video) appeared in the video for "Once Bitten, Twice Shy". They finished off the 80s touring in support of ...Twice Shy as headliners and with some best known bands, such as Bon Jovi.
In 1990, the band featured in the heavy metal video series Hard 'N' Heavy containing music, concert footage and interviews. The video included Slash and Duff from Guns N' Roses appearing with the band at a Children of the Night Benefit concert in L.A., the performance helping to raise money for housing abused homeless children. Both bands shared the same manager, Alan Niven at the time.
The band continued into the next decade performing the song "House of Broken Love" at the American Music Awards in January 1990. In March, Great White embarked on their first tour of Japan. 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. Great White recorded two more albums for Capitol Records, 'Hooked', which was certified gold, and 'Psycho City'. In support of Hooked, Great White did a tour as headliner tour, had a guest slot with German metal band Scorpions and travelled to Europe and Japan. Psycho City was followed by a US tour with Kiss.
Capitol issued the compilation 'The Best of Great White 1986-1992' in 1993, when Great White had already departed the label to begin work on their next studio release, 'Sail Away'. Before the release of the album, Great White spent seven months on the road headlining clubs. According to Lardie, it was "the longest stint we ever did without a break." 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. Their next release, Let It Rock, was released in 1996 through yet another label, Imago Records.
In 1999, the band released 'Can't Get There from Here' and embarked on a tour with Ratt, Poison, and L.A. Guns. The album featured the single "Rollin' Stoned", which managed to chart at No. 8 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
In a memo dated 20 January 2000 Mark Kendall announced he was leaving Great White, shortly thereafter both Audie Desbrow and Sean McNabb left Great White. Kendall was replaced by guitarist Matthew Johnson. 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. Meanwhile, it was rumored that Sean McNabb was fired for going to management and asking to see the accounting books. Despite only having one original member left, the band announced plans to begin work on a new album in late 2000. 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 new album. On 5 November 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 31 December 2001 at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, CA. Both Kendall and McNabb rejoined the band for the farewell show, recorded for a live CD entitled 'Thank You...Goodnight!' released by Knight Records. The live album includes two 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.
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. Kendall agreed to play some dates with Russell's band, allowing Russell to use the name Great White once again. 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.
The band returned to the national spotlight on 20 February 2003. 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 foam soundproofing material in the ceiling around the stage. One hundred people including the band's guitarist Ty Longley, died in the fire that followed. In 2008 the band agreed to pay $1 million to survivors and victims' relatives of the fire while admitting to no wrongdoing. This amount also covers former tour manager Daniel Biechele along with the band members, record label, and management as it existed at the time of the fire. The settlement was the maximum allowed under the band's insurance plan. Victims had previously received $3.8 million raised by United Way of America.
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. In fact, prior to the fire, the band's official website posted a message stating that Great White had not re-formed. It's unclear when the band began officially going by "Great White" again.
Great White played their first full show following the Rhode Island tragedy on 22 July, starting a benefit tour for the survivors and victims of the fire. The band toured 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 canceled the second half of their summer tour. The "medical reasons" turned out to be Jack Russell's addictions to alcohol and cocaine. This was the end of this version of Great White, as Jack Russell entered rehabilitation and did not perform again until 2007. Russell used the year of 2006 to get sober and get a facelift that was detailed on ExtraTV. Russell later referred 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."
Talk of a reunion of Great White began in a 2004 interview. Later in 2006, guitarist Mark Kendall officially announced that Great White had re-formed its classic lineup. The re-formed lineup of Russell, Kendall, Lardie, McNabb and Desbrow played their first date together in more than 5 years on 27 January 2007 at the Keyclub in Hollywood performing in the Harpseals.org Benefit Concert for the Seals 2007. In 2008, bassist Sean McNabb left Great White to concentrate on a career in theater and acting. McNabb was promptly replaced with Scott Snyder (Ramos, Accomplice). McNabb went on to join Dokken.
Great White released their album, 'Rising', on 13 March 2009 in Europe via Frontiers Records and on 21 April in the US.
In 2010, Jani Lane of Warrant filled in for Jack Russell, while Russell recuperated from surgery after suffering a perforated bowel. Terry Ilous (XYZ) replaced Jack Russell at the Coach House during the summer of 2010, and Paul Shortino (Rough Cutt, Quiet Riot, King Kobra) filled in for Russell when Great White performed at Stockholm Rock Out Festival in September. In December 2011, Russell formed a new incarnation of Great White with a brand-new lineup under the name of "Jack Russell's Great White".
On 18 March 2012 Great White announced their first new album with Ilous, 'Elation' , to be released in May that year, along with a live album ('30 Years: Live From The Sunset Strip') and a concert DVD of the band's 30th-anniversary show at the Key Club in Hollywood on 22 March.
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. He was 50 years old.
On June 2, 2017, Great White released their most recent studio effort, 'Full Circle', on Bluez Tone Records, with Wagener as the producer. The song "Big Time" was released as the first single and video. On July 9, 2018, Great White announced that they had parted ways with Terry Illous as their singer and he was replaced by Mitch Malloy.
On May 31, 2022, Great White announced vocalist Andrew Freeman of Last In Line replaced Malloy as the band's lead singer and frontman.
all right
Great White Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tomorrow will be all right
Held on to my defenses
In fear of the night
Covered my worried head
As she turned out the light
And just as tomorrow comes
Again comes the night
The only comfort I received
All you can do is let it be
It's gonna be all right, uh-huh?
We'll make it through the night
It's gonna be all right
Took on an education
I learned to compete
It don't take no qualification
To sleep in the street
There's not much humanity
In this kind of race
How civil is competition
A foot on a face?
And at the time I still believed
A little more juice, I'll be free
It's gonna be all right, uh-huh?
It's gonna be all right, uh-huh?
We'll make it through the night
It's gonna be all right
Now as I take your hand
Show you the stars
Try to explain to you
Who we are
With so little expectation
In this manner of life
All of the complications
The fear in the night
Will you be able to believe
There will be love eventually
It's gonna be all right, uh-huh?
We'll make it through the night
It's gonna be all right
The song All Right by Great White touches on the struggles and fears of life, and the idea that no matter what obstacles come our way, everything will eventually be all right. The opening line of the song, "Grew up on promises, tomorrow will be all right," shows the hope and optimism that we are often taught as children. However, as we get older, we learn to be more cautious and protective of ourselves, as evidenced by the line "Held on to my defenses, in fear of the night." The fear of the unknown and the uncertain can be overwhelming, but the song suggests that we must learn to let go of our worries and trust that everything will work out in the end.
Throughout the song, the lyrics also touch on themes of competition, education, and the lack of humanity in certain aspects of life. The line "Took on an education, I learned to compete" highlights the pressure that we face to constantly strive for success, often at the expense of others. And yet, despite all the difficulties we face, the song speaks of the possibility of finding love and connection, and ultimately trusting that everything will be all right.
Overall, the song offers a message of hope and resilience, encouraging listeners to face their fears and keep moving forward, no matter what life may throw at them.
Line by Line Meaning
Grew up on promises
I was raised with hope and anticipation for the future.
Tomorrow will be all right
I was told that everything would be okay in the end.
Held on to my defenses
I protected myself from harm and danger.
In fear of the night
Afraid of the darkness and the unknown.
Covered my worried head
I tried to avoid thinking about my troubles.
As she turned out the light
As the day ended and I was left to face my fears in solitude.
And just as tomorrow comes
New possibilities arrive with each new day.
Again comes the night
But those hopes are dimmed and fears return when darkness falls.
The only comfort I received
The only relief from my worries.
All you can do is let it be
I learned that some things are outside of our control and must be accepted.
It's gonna be all right, uh-huh?
Is it really going to be okay?
We'll make it through the night
I hope we can survive and endure until the morning.
Took on an education
I pursued knowledge and learning.
I learned to compete
I discovered the harsh reality of competition and rivalry.
It don't take no qualification
It doesn't require a degree or certification.
To sleep in the street
To be homeless and live without basic necessities.
There's not much humanity
This way of life lacks compassion and kindness towards others.
In this kind of race
In the competition for survival and success.
How civil is competition
How civilized and fair is it when people must step on others to win?
A foot on a face?
Metaphorical violence and exploitation of others for personal gain.
And at the time I still believed
Despite the difficulties, I clung to hope and optimism.
A little more juice, I'll be free
A little bit more effort and success, and I'll finally be liberated from my troubles.
Now as I take your hand
As I try to connect with you and share my experiences.
Show you the stars
I want to show you the beauty and wonder of the universe.
Try to explain to you
I'll attempt to articulate the complexities of life and society.
Who we are
Our identity and purpose in this world.
With so little expectation
Given the harsh realities of life, our hopes and desires are often modest.
In this manner of life
Living in these difficult circumstances.
All of the complications
All of the challenges and complexities we must face daily.
The fear in the night
Our anxieties and worries that arise when we are alone with our thoughts.
Will you be able to believe
Can you find the strength to have faith and hope?
There will be love eventually
In spite of all of the difficulties, there is still love and compassion in this world.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LARDIE, NIVEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Gabrielle Opaska
some of the comments on here are so old but my dad used to sing me this song when i had a nightmare or couldn’t sleep. this has so much meaning to me and always will...hopefully during my wedding i can dance with my dad to this.
V L
Absolutely love this one! I use this to help my friends out when they need it! It's gonna be all right!! <3
nrviking
This album is so classy. Just brilliant. One of my faves.
Deb Carter
My favorite Great White cd. Beautiful songs ✌️❤️🌟
Mike Thaxton
God what a song still ! Loved it then as I still do now !!
Dave Noell
Great band. beautiful song.
Jake LaGuna
As a 30 year follower and #1 fan of this this little ol' fishy band... this is my favorite song from sail... Even though Alan Niven tried to turn them into the eagles... this was the last stand, and Jack took back the mojo and and let it rock came out a year later...
Theplaylist Person
Amazing song by Great White, thank you Captain Jack.
Steve Johnson
I've been desperately trying to find this on vinyl with liners. I love this album so much. This song has pulled me through a lot
jalyn12002
Jack you are Great White we all know this we love you Jack Russell