Great White

MTV-anointed success followed more than a decade of club gigs and financial frustration.

Lorne Black, a former bassist with Great White, has died. Brave Words is reporting that he passed away on Sept. 27.

Great White's most recent reunion ended with original singer Jack Russell out of the lineup and fighting for the right to use the band's name -- a fight that's now ended in what looks like a rock 'n' roll draw.

Great White's ever-shifting lineup is too complicated for all but the most ardent fans of the band -- which now includes two separate touring incarnations and the ever-present threat of a lawsuit. But no matter who's in the group, one thing remains the same: The shadow cast by the fire that claimed the lives of 100 people at a Great White show on Feb. 20, 2003.

Next February will make 10 years since a fire at a Great White show at the Station Nightclub in Rhode Island claimed 100 lives. Co-founder and guitarist Mark Kendall says his relationship with the victims families is what's helped him through the tragedy.

Great White singer Jack Russell was involved in a drunken boat crash recently, but as the now-sober rocker proudly explains, he wasn't the one causing the damage, and luckily nobody got hurt very badly.