Complete List Of Great White Band Members

Feature Photo: Matt Becker, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Great White’s roots date back to the late 1970s in Los Angeles, when guitarist Mark Kendall formed the band Dante Fox. Jack Russell later joined the group, and the name Great White was adopted in 1982. The band peaked with several albums during the mid-to-late 1980s, including the platinum-selling Once Bitten (1987) and the double-platinum …Twice Shy (1989), and those albums’ singles “Rock Me” and “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” received considerable airplay through radio and MTV. They charted two Top 40 hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” and “The Angel Song.”

Great White continued to release new material into the 1990s and beyond. The band’s current official biography credits Great White with more than 10 million albums sold worldwide. The name came from Mark Kendall’s old “Great White” stage nickname, with the shark imagery quickly becoming part of the band’s identity. Over the years, the band saw numerous lineup changes and splits. From 2011 until 2024, Jack Russell fronted a separate group known as Jack Russell’s Great White. After Russell retired from touring in July 2024 and died the following month, that group no longer continued under his name. Several of its surviving members later formed Once Bitten. Great White itself remains active in 2026.

Mark Kendall

Mark Kendall is a founding member of Great White and remains the band’s lead guitarist. He formed Dante Fox in 1978, several years before the group adopted the Great White name in 1982. Kendall was with the band during its major periods of success, including the albums Once Bitten (1987) and …Twice Shy (1989). He left briefly in 2000 but returned and eventually resumed his place in the reunited Great White lineup. Kendall’s guitar work is a defining element of the band’s blues-based hard rock sound. He remains a member of Great White’s current 2026 lineup.

Audie Desbrow

Audie Desbrow joined Great White as the drummer in 1985 and was with the band through 2000 before returning in 2006. His powerful drumming style became a core component of the band’s music, featured on albums including Once Bitten, …Twice Shy, Hooked, and later reunion-era releases. Desbrow remains Great White’s drummer in 2026.

Michael Lardie

Michael Lardie became part of Great White during the mid-1980s as a keyboardist, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist, producer, and arranger. He contributed to Shot in the Dark and became an essential member during the band’s commercial breakthrough. Lardie’s multi-instrumental talents and production skills have been vital to Great White’s recordings and live performances. After time away from the group in the early 2000s, he returned with the reunited band and remains part of the current 2026 lineup.

Scott Snyder

Scott Snyder has been the bassist for Great White since 2008. He played on the album Rising (2009) and has remained an integral part of the band’s live performances and later recordings. Snyder’s bass playing adds a driving rhythm to Great White’s music. He remains the band’s current bassist in 2026.

Brett Carlisle

Brett Carlisle became Great White’s lead vocalist in October 2022 after first filling in with the group the previous month. He replaced Andrew Freeman, whose tenure lasted only a few months. Carlisle brings a fresh energy to the band’s performances while singing material originally associated with Jack Russell, Terry Ilous, and other Great White vocalists. He remains the band’s lead singer in 2026.

Jack Russell

Jack Russell was Great White’s classic lead vocalist and one of the central figures in the band’s history. His association with Mark Kendall dated back to the late 1970s, and he became the singer of Great White when the band adopted that name in 1982. Russell’s distinctive voice helped propel the group to fame, particularly with hits like “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” “Rock Me,” “Save Your Love,” and “The Angel Song.” After Great White’s early-2000s breakup and reunion periods, Russell eventually formed Jack Russell’s Great White in 2011. He retired from touring in July 2024 after announcing that he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy. Jack Russell died on August 15, 2024, at the age of 63.

Tony Montana

Tony Montana joined Great White as bassist in 1987, after the recording and release of Once Bitten, and remained through 1992. He played on …Twice Shy and Hooked and was part of the band during its peak commercial years. Montana later rejoined Jack Russell in Jack Russell’s Great White, this time playing rhythm guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals. Following Jack Russell’s death, Montana became part of Once Bitten, the band formed by several surviving members of Jack Russell’s Great White.

Lorne Black

Lorne Black was the bassist for Great White from the early Great White era in 1982 until 1987. He played on the band’s early releases and on Once Bitten, including the breakthrough song “Rock Me.” Black’s bass work helped establish the band’s hard rock sound before Tony Montana replaced him. Lorne Black died in 2013.

Sean McNabb

Sean McNabb joined Great White as bassist in the mid-1990s and remained through 2000, returning briefly in 2001 and again for the band’s 2006 reunion before leaving in 2008. His Great White work included the 1999 album Can’t Get There from Here and the 2007 reunion album Back to the Rhythm. McNabb had left before the 2009 album Rising, which featured Scott Snyder on bass. After Great White, McNabb continued his music career with bands including Dokken and Lynch Mob and also worked as an actor.

Terry Ilous

Terry Ilous became Great White’s lead vocalist during Jack Russell’s health-related absence beginning in 2010 and remained with the group through 2018. He sang on the studio albums Elation (2012) and Full Circle (2017). Ilous brought new energy to the band’s performances and recordings. Before joining Great White, he was the lead singer of XYZ. After leaving Great White, he continued his music career as a solo artist and with other projects.

Mitch Malloy

Mitch Malloy was the lead vocalist for Great White from 2018 until May 2022. He contributed to the band’s live performances and brought his own style to their classic hits. Malloy is also known for his solo career and for having been considered as a potential replacement for David Lee Roth in Van Halen during the 1990s.

Andrew Freeman

Andrew Freeman joined Great White as lead vocalist in May 2022 after the departure of Mitch Malloy. His tenure lasted approximately five months because his commitments to Last in Line made scheduling difficult, and Brett Carlisle replaced him in October 2022. Freeman later became the lead singer of Once Bitten, the group formed by former Great White bassist Tony Montana and members of Jack Russell’s Great White.

Ty Longley

Ty Longley joined Great White as a guitarist around 2000 during a period of significant lineup changes and later performed with Jack Russell’s Great White. He was touring with Russell and Mark Kendall when the Station nightclub fire occurred in West Warwick, Rhode Island, on February 20, 2003. Longley was one of the 100 people who died in the fire. His death came four years before Great White released Back to the Rhythm, so he did not perform on that 2007 album.

Gary Holland

Gary Holland was Great White’s drummer during the early 1980s and played on the band’s self-titled 1984 major-label debut. His drumming helped establish the band’s early hard rock sound before Audie Desbrow took over the drum chair in 1985.

Teddy Cook

Teddy Cook played bass for Great White during the early-to-mid 1990s after Tony Montana’s departure. He toured with the band and was part of the lineup during the period surrounding Psycho City and Sail Away. Cook’s bass work contributed to Great White during a period when the band’s commercial fortunes were changing with the rise of alternative rock.

Matthew Johnson

Matthew Johnson joined Great White on guitar in 2000 after Mark Kendall temporarily left the band. He performed during the final period before Great White’s 2001 breakup and later became part of Jack Russell’s Great White when Russell launched his separate version of the group in 2011.

Krys Baratto

Krys Baratto played bass with Great White during the 2000–2001 period when the band underwent major lineup changes. He joined after Sean McNabb’s departure and performed with the group during the final touring period before Jack Russell announced Great White’s breakup in 2001.

Francis Ruiz

Francis Ruiz played drums with Great White during the 2000–2001 period following Audie Desbrow’s departure. He performed with the band as it continued touring through one of the most unstable lineup periods in Great White’s history.

Derrick Pontier

Derrick Pontier played drums with Great White during the band’s final 2001 period before its breakup and appeared on the live release Thank You… Goodnight!. Pontier later worked with Jack Russell’s Great White during the early years of Russell’s separate version of the band.

JACK RUSSELL’S GREAT WHITE AND ONCE BITTEN

Robby Lochner

Robby Lochner was the lead guitarist for Jack Russell’s Great White from the group’s formation in 2011 through Jack Russell’s retirement and death in 2024. Lochner was not a member of the Mark Kendall-led Great White lineup. His guitar work became an important part of Jack Russell’s later recordings and performances. After Russell’s death, Lochner continued with Tony Montana, Dan McNay, Ken Mary, and singer Andrew Freeman in the group Once Bitten.

Dan McNay

Dan McNay became the bassist for Jack Russell’s Great White in 2016 and remained through 2024. He was not a member of Great White proper but was part of Russell’s later touring and recording lineup. After Jack Russell’s death, McNay continued with his former bandmates in Once Bitten.

Ken Mary

Ken Mary began appearing with Jack Russell’s Great White as a touring drummer in 2022 and became the regular drummer by 2023. He remained with the group through 2024. Mary was not a member of Great White proper. After Jack Russell’s death, he continued with Tony Montana, Robby Lochner, Dan McNay, and Andrew Freeman in Once Bitten. Mary has also played with artists and bands including Alice Cooper, House of Lords, and Impellitteri.

Dante Fox Origins

Dante Fox was the name used by Mark Kendall’s band before Great White. Kendall formed Dante Fox in 1978, and the lineup changed several times before Jack Russell joined. The Great White name was adopted in 1982. Dante Fox was therefore not a band member but an important part of Great White’s early history.

Read More: Top 10 Great White Songs

Updated August 18, 2026.