White Heart, also listed as Whiteheart, was formed in 1982 by Billy Smiley and Dann Huff coming from Bill Gaither’s group. The first two albums were produced by Smiley and Huff, who were listening to groups like Toto, Boz Scaggs, Journey, and Steely Dan at the time. 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).

White Heart 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. By the time they released their third album, they were selling in excess of 250,000 albums. After their self-titled debut album was released in 1982, the band suffered its first lineup change. Green left the band, saying that rock was not his style. Scott Douglas replaced Green as lead vocalist. Green continued to sing background vocals on Vital Signs. They had their first No. 1 single, We Are His Hands, with Douglas singing the lead, and Smiley and Green singing the harmonies.

The band released its second album, Vital Signs, in 1984. Douglas was with the band for two years before being charged with aggravated sexual battery on June 30, 1985. He was sentenced to prison in March 1986.

Dann Huff left the band shortly after to pursue his dream of being a studio musician. He recommended his high school friend, Gordon Kennedy as his replacement for the White Heart album, Hotline. Later, in 1985, David Huff left the band to pursue other interests as well, including touring with Michael W. Smith. Eventually, he would join his brother Dann to form the hard rock band Giant.

With Douglas gone, the remaining band members began to audition singers. 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”. A few weeks later, Florian came up to Smiley and asked if he could audition for the lead vocalist position. He was later chosen as Douglas’ replacement. He became a core member of the band and continued through the rest of White Heart’s discography. Chris McHugh was also picked up to fill the drummer seat.

White Heart’s 1986 release, Don’t Wait for the Movie, was one of the band’s most successful selling albums with three No. 1 songs, and breaking all previous album sales. The band kept on touring and recording. Gary Lunn left the band to become a studio musician and was replaced with Tommy Sims.

The band’s album, 1989’s Freedom, has been hailed as one of White Heart’s best ever. Songs like ”The River Will Flow”, ”Let The Kingdom Come”, ”Over Me”, ”Bye Bye Babylon”, and ”Sing Your Freedom” would become live fan favorites for years to come. But stability remained elusive. Also, Chris McHugh, Gordon Kennedy, and Tommy Sims left the band to become studio musicians.

White Heart signed on with Star Song Records, and hired Brian Wooten (guitars), Anthony Sallee (bass), and Mark Nemer (drums) to fill the spots. With these pieces in place, the band released one of its best-known albums, Powerhouse, in 1990. ”Desert Rose”, ”Independence Day”, and ”Powerhouse” were No. 1 songs, and ”Desert Rose” became one of their biggest anthems and career songs to date.

White Heart’s discography includes thirteen albums, the most recent of which was released in 1997. They were inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame on November 6, 2010.