

Chris McHugh was also picked up to fill the drummer seat. He became a core member of the band and continued through the rest of White Heart's discography. A few weeks later, Florian came up to Smiley and asked if he could audition for the lead vocalist position, and he was later chosen as Douglas' replacement. In 1985, they were surprised when they saw and heard their stage manager and roadie, Rick Florian, dancing around on the stage and "karaoke" singing along to the song "Every Time You Go Away", which the sound company used to sonically tune the room each night during soundcheck. With Douglas gone, the remaining band members began to audition singers. Eventually, he would join his brother Dann to form the hard rock band Giant. Later, in 1985, David Huff left the band to pursue other interests as well, including touring with Michael W. ĭann Huff left the band shortly after to pursue his dream of being a studio musician, and recommended his high school friend, Gordon Kennedy as his replacement for the WhiteHeart album, Hotline. He was sentenced to prison in March 1986. Douglas was with the band for two years before being charged with aggravated sexual battery on June 30, 1985. The band released its second album, " Vital Signs", in 1984. 1 single, We Are His Hands, with Douglas singing the lead, and Smiley and Green singing the harmonies. Green continued to sing background vocals on Vital Signs, and they had their first No. They went on to tour with David Meece and Farrell and Farrell for the next two years, building their fan base, with Scott Douglas as Green's replacement as lead vocalist. Green left the band, saying that rock was not his style. After their self-titled debut album was released in 1982, the band suffered its first lineup change.

By the time they released their third album, they were selling in excess of 250,000 albums. Whiteheart was pursued by every major Christian label until Chris Christian heard their demo and signed them to Home Sweet Home Records and gave them their first record deal. The original lineup consisted of Billy Smiley (guitar, keyboards, and occasional lead vocals), Mark Gersmehl (keyboards and occasional lead vocals), Steve Green (lead vocals), Gary Lunn (bass), and brothers Dann and David Huff (guitars/vocals & drums respectively). The first two albums were produced by Smiley and Huff, the two friends who formed the group and were listening to groups like Toto, Boz Scaggs, Journey, and Steely Dan at the time. White Heart formed in 1982 with two of its members coming from Bill Gaither's group.
