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 1984 by Denmark-born vocalist Mike Tramp . After moving from Denmark, Mike met guitarist Vito Bratta , forming a band.

Later, the band grew to include drummer Nicki Capozzi and bassist Felix Robinson . The band 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 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 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).

White Lion spent the rest of 1987 on tour with KISS. In January 1988 started opening for AC/DC on their Blow Up Your Video tour.

While opening for AC/DC, the Pride album and Wait single finally charted. Wait hit #8 on the singles chart, while Pride stalled at #11 on the album chart.

In August 1988, the album's second single Tell Me stopped at #58. Around the time this single was released, White Lion played at the Ritz club in New York City. Like Guns N' Roses, White Lion's show at the Ritz was filmed and later aired on MTV.

White Lion concluded the Pride tour by opening for Stryper from September 1988 to February 1989 during Stryper's In God We Trust tour. The Pride album's third single When The Children Cry made it to #3, making Pride one of about 18 hard rock albums to ever have multiple top 10 hits.

In August 1989, White Lion released their third album Big Game. This was followed, in 1991, by Mane Attraction . Unfortunately, by the end of 1991, White Lion had broken up.

As an afterthought, Atlantic Records released the Best of White Lion compilation album in 1992. It must be noted that the song "Radar Love" was included in this album, a cover considered by many, one of the best ever made.

In 1993, bassist James Lomenzo joined former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde in a band called Pride and Glory, while vocalist Mike Tramp started a solo career.

Towards the end of 2003, Mike Tramp said that White Lion was planning to reunite. This statement was quickly denied by the other members.