Great White Reach Settlement In Nightclub Fire Case

Great White have reached a settlement with the families of victims and survivors of the 2003 Station nightclub fire that claimed 100 lives. The band agreed to pay a combined $1,000,000 to the more than 300 defendants. As part of the settlement, the band deny any wrong doing in the February 2003 fire, which was the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history and took the life of guitartist Ty Longley when pyrotechnics ignited cheap soundproofing foam. While band members were never charged with any crimes, Great White manager Daniel Biechele served half of a four-year jail sentence after pleading guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter. The state of Rhode Island and town of Warwick also settled with defendants last month for $10 million. Chris Fontaine, whose son was killed in the fire, said she thought the band was "getting off easy" with the $1 million settlement and said the band faced a much steeper verdict had the case gone to trial. No settlement money has been distributed yet, with a Duke University law professor placed in charge of deciding how to properly dole out the money to each defendant.

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Song Stories

“Push It”

Salt-N-Pepa | 1987

Originating as a B side to their cover of the Stax classic “Tramp,” Cheryl “Salt” James, Sandi “Pepa” Denton and Dee Dee “DJ Spinderella” Roper came up with the goods on this career-making, Grammy-nominated platinum single about working it on the dancefloor. “Push It” has been sampled and spliced to death since it debuted in 1987, yet the original track is as fresh and fly as when SNP — among the few original women of hip-hop — debuted it. “Most men will never believe ‘Push It’ was never about sex,” said James. “And that’s why the record went to Number One,” said Denton. “Everybody thought it was about sex.”

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