White Lion is an American/Danish glam metal band that formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, the band achieved double platinum status, with their hit Wait & hit "When the Children Cry". White Lion disbanded in 1991, but was reformed again by Mike Tramp in 1999 with all new musicians.
After moving from Denmark to New York in 1983, vocalist Mike Tramp (ex-Mabel,ex-Studs) met Brooklyn guitarist Vito Bratta (ex-Dreamer) and decided to form a band. The two recruited drummer Nicki Capozzi and bassist Felix Robinson (formerly of Angel) and named the group White Lion.
White Lion was signed by Elektra Records in 1984 and recorded their debut Fight to Survive. However, Elektra was unhappy with the final recording, and after refusing to release the album, terminated their contract.
Both Capozzi and Robinson soon left the band. Nicki Capozzi was replaced by former Anthrax drummer Greg D'Angelo, and Felix Robinson was replaced by bassist Dave Spitz (brother of Anthrax guitarist Dan Spitz). Within a month of joining, however, Dave Spitz left to play bass with Black Sabbath and was replaced by James LoMenzo.
The album Fight to Survive was eventually re-recorded with new line-up & picked up by RCA and released in Japan in 1984. The small US independent label Grand Slamm records finally released Fight To Survive in the US on November 9, 1985. A few months later, Grand Slam records went bankrupt.
In early 1986, White Lion, with a fictitious "female" member, had a brief part in the Tom Hanks/Shelley Long movie The Money Pit. (wikipedia)
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