White Lion was a hard rock/ heavy metal music band of the 1980s and early 1990s. The band was formed in New York City in 1983 by Denmark-born vocalist Mike Tramp and guitarist Vito Bratta.
After moving from Denmark, Mike Tramp met guitarist Vito Bratta and decide to form a band. After meeting drummer Nicki Capozzi and bassist Felix Robinson the band was named White Lion.
White Lion was signed by a small label called Grand Slam records in January 1985. While recording the song "The Road to Valhalla", both Capozzi and Robinson left the band. Nicki Capozzi was replaced by Dan Spitz, and Felix Robinson was replaced by James Lomenzo. Within a month of joining, Dan Spitz left to become guitarist for Anthrax and was replaced by former Anthrax drummer Greg D'Angelo.
The band then finished their debut album, Fight to Survive, which was released on November 9, 1985. A few months later, Grand Slam records went bankrupt.
In 1986, White Lion, with a fictitious "female" member, had a brief part in the Tom Hanks/ Shelley Long movie The Money Pit. Early in 1987, the band was signed by Atlantic Records. By then, their debut album was out of print in the United States and extremely hard to find.
On June 21, 1987, their second album, Pride, was released (the same day as Keel's Keel album, and Helix's Wild in The Streets) The first single from Pride was "Wait"/"Don't Give Up", released on June 1, 1987. However, it took seven months before the song became a hit.
The Pride tour started in July 1987 as White Lion opened for Ace Frehley's 80s band Frehley's Comet. In September 1987, White Lion became the opening band for KISS (who had just started their Crazy Nights tour).