Mike Tramp recently chatted with Metal Edge and disclosed why he had lots of regrets about the way White Lion ended while also recalling what led to this bitter decision and the backlash he received at the time.
The singer was quite candid while answering the questions, so when the host asked whether he had any regrets about White Lion, Tramp didn’t hesitate to say he had many of them. He continued by recalling which elements led him to disband the act and what went down right after.
Although White Lion was once among the major players in the rock scene, the spotlight slowly drifted to other new genres and acts. Even when the act still performed sold-out shows in vast venues, it was obvious they weren’t the ‘it’ band anymore; and that became apparent to Mike when he realized that nobody from their label record appeared at a sold-out show in Ritz.
MTV also decided to go with the flow, broadcasting whatever was popular then, which made the ’80s rock bands, whose popularity was deteriorating, take a step back. So, as people started not to be as excited about the name White Lion anymore, and after having many doors shut, Tramp decided to disband the act and carry on.
However, it felt to him that the whole world was against him after the decision to go on their separate ways, though things were much calmer within the band. He and his bandmate, Vito Bratta, never argued about the creative breakup, and the guitarist never complained about Mike’s wish to end things.
Tramp on whether he has any regrets about the band’s disbandment:
“Oh, yeah. I have a lot of regrets, no question. But you have to remember, the decision to end White Lion wasn’t really thought out, you know? It was really this very gung-ho thing that I did in the moment without thinking too much about it. I felt like I was Superman, and then suddenly, the whole world was against me.
We hit some adversity, and we brought in a new rhythm section after the big European tour that we did. And then, Vito and I went out on a small club and theater tour of the northeast to test the new version of the band out. It went okay, but what got me was when we sold out the Ritz, nobody from our record label showed up.”
The rocker continued recalling the era with the following:
“I saw that as a big sign, and I’ll admit that I took offense to it. At the same time, as you know, this was in ’91, which is the time when MTV was starting to turn its back on ’80s rock bands. So, I felt like we were getting the cold shoulder from everyone and having a lot of doors slammed in our faces.
So, I got to the point where I laid it all on the table with Vito, and I said, ‘Look, we play Boston next week; once that show is over, so is White Lion. I’m done.’ I said that, and Vito just looked at me and said, ‘Okay…’ There was no fight or disagreement; we just ended. And if we go deeper, no one said a word about it for 20 years after that. We just ended.”
After witnessing White Lion’s popularity drastically fading, Mike decided to end things for good, and as Neil Young once wisely said, it is better to ‘burn out rather than fade away.’ However, it seemed like he had many regrets about the act’s dissolution, as he realized it only later that he could’ve had a different path.
