Smooth, sleek and beautiful, cats are the ultimate predator. It’s no wonder why so many musicians and bands took their namesake from felines. While many acts named themselves after the domesticated Felis Catus (i.e., Pussycat Dolls, Stray Cats), I’m more interested in Felis Panthera: The kind of cats you see David Attenborough narrating; The kind you see in a zoo and thank the heavens there’s thick glass separating you from such a killing machine; The kind of cat you have on your Trapper Keeper with lasers in the background. As such, here are five musical acts from the 80s and 90s named after BIG CATS, along with some interesting facts about the musicians and the animals of their appellation.

Glass Tiger

Among Canada’s most successful acts, this streak of Glass Tigers hit their streak with the 1988 album “Thin Red Line” which went platinum in Canada, Gold in the United States and earned them a Grammy nomination. If you are unaware of Glass Tiger, listen to their hit single, “Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)” and you will at least know that, as it reached the Top 10 on the U.S. charts. The band was formed in Ontario in 1983 with the original name “Tokyo” and has gone on to produce six albums, their most recent in 2020. They’ve performed with the likes of Cheap Trick, Journey, Bryan Adams, Tina Turner and Rod Stewart. Glass Tiger still performs today throughout Canada.

The tiger itself is the largest of all big cats. Bigger males can weigh in excess of 650 pounds! Despite their enormity, tigers are fast. They can sprint up around 35 miles per hour. The tiger’s stripes, their most beautiful and distinguished feature, are not just colored fur. Their stripes are also on their skin and, like human fingerprints, are unique to each tiger. Also, while your house cat may shriek at even the site of standing water, tigers actually enjoy swimming and playing in water.

Bonus Facts: Glass. Did you know glass is not considered a solid? Cooled glass is classified as an “amorphous solid” because glass molecules are still in translational motion. Also, glass can be formed naturally when lightning hits sand. It would be kind of badass if lightning struck a beach and formed a glass tiger while the band was playing. Just sayin’.

White Lion

Mike Tramp was a Danish, teen idol singer for a pop band called “Mabel” in the late 70s. The act was quite popular in Denmark and Spain, even competing in Eurovision in 1978. Wanting to shed their teenybopper status and enter the glam metal scene, the group moved to New York as “Danish Lions”. Having failed to take off, all but Mike returned to Denmark. Mike then met guitarist Vito Bratta to form White Lion in 1983. The band took off in 1987 with their singles “Wait” and “When the Children Cry” months after their initial release thanks to significant MTV airtime and popularity. Alas, the mighty White Lion would surrender to Grunge and break up in 1992. Tramp attempted many times to revamp the band with all new members but met legal opposition from Vitta. Tramp established in 2014 that attempts to revamp White Lion would be no more and continued his solo career.

There are real white lions that are known as “leucistic”. That is, these lions have less melanin than other lions due to a rare, recessive gene. Often mistaken as albinos, which have no pigmentation, white lions have very light pigment. In many African countries, white lions are considered a sign of regality and pride.

Bonus Fact: Kimba. “Kimba the White Lion”, also called “Jungle Emperor”, is a Japanese manga, anime series and film franchise dating way back to 1950. There was controversy upon the release of The Lion King in 1994 due to the various similarities of the properties. In fact, 488 Japanese animation artists signed a petition to have Walt Disney grant them credit. However, citing that many of the likenesses were of a natural world in origin, the creators’ family estate did not pursue the matter further to protect the legacy of Japan’s beloved Kimba.

It is this humble writer’s opinion that there are too many artistic and plotline semblances to ignore, and that Disney should publicly concede this fact. As the80sand90s.com is an independent property, I can write this freely without fear of cancelation.

Def Leppard

Def Leppard was among the bands that spearheaded British heavy metal in the 1980s. They were the first heavy rock band to have a video played on MTV with “Photograph”, which actually received more play requests than Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. Their melodic, harmonious style rock facilitated them to become one of the top selling musical artists in history with over 100 million records sold. In fact, they are one of only five rock bands to have sold over 10 million albums in the U.S. and they did it twice with ‘Pyromania” in 1983 and “Hysteria” in 1987. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. Originally called “Atomic Mass” when they were formed in 1977, band member Joe Elliot nominated the name "Deaf Leopard" based on a band poster he did in an art class. In typical 80s rock band fasion, they went with their own sensational spelling of “Def Leppard”. They are still rocking and are on the popular Stadium Tour with Mötley Crüe, Poison and Joan Jett.

Hearing impaired or not, leopards are fascinating creatures. Growing to up to 200 pounds, Leopards are the “smallest” of the big cats. However, with their stealth, camouflage, strength and climbing ability, they are often considered the most effective hunters. Leopards are able to stalk and capture prey, then drag even large catches up trees for safety. They can thrive in many types of habitats from the Savanah grassland of Africa to dense rain forests of India and Southeast Asia. Probably the most amusing fact though is that a group of leopards are called a “leap”. However, one might not have the opportunity to use the phrase “leap of leopards” often as the animals are quite solitary.

Bonus Fact: Drums. Def Leppard’s drummer, Rick Allen, had his arm amputated in 1985 following a bad car accident in the English countryside. You’d think a drummer without an arm would have to call it quits right? Wrong! Rock must rock, so the band took a break from live performances in 1985 while Rick healed, and they worked to develop a custom drum set with Whirlwind that allowed Rick to play more parts of the drum with his feet. He and his bandmates returned to live performances in the summer of 1986 and rocked as hard as ever since.

John Cougar Mellencamp

John Mellencamp started his music career in the late 70s with the stage name “John Cougar” as his managers thought his proper surname was not salable. However, in 1983, John added his surname to his stage name, releasing records as “John Cougar Mellencamp”. The record company couldn’t argue because John’s snappy heartland rock was appealing to more than just the Midwest working class. In 1991, “Cougar” was dropped for good, and John’s been going by his God given name ever since. John Mellencamp can call himself whatever he wants because he’s sold over 60 million records, has been nominated for 12 Grammys of which he won one of. He’s also the cofounder of Farm Aid, an organization that raises funds for small family farms in destress. If that isn’t down-home, folk enough for you, John Mellencamp still lives primarily in his home state of Indianna (although, unsurprisingly, his place is really nice and on the lake shore. He also has other nice properties elsewhere).

John Mellencamp may have dropped the “Cougar” name, but that doesn’t stop the actual cougar from having a number of names of its own. In fact, the cougar has more names than any other animal. Other monikers include puma, mountain lion, catamount, and ghost cat to name just a few. Cougars have the most varied habitat of any big cat thriving throughout the continental Americas. They also don’t roar like other big cats. They sometimes emit a screaming noise, earning them yet another name, “mountain screamer”.

Bonus Fact. Mascot. The cougar is revered among American university sports teams. The cougar is tied with the bulldog as the 5th most common college team name with 58 schools including Houston, Washington State and Brigham Young.

Also, according to my younger friends, you’re not allowed to call women “cougars” if they are around your age. Who knew?

Pantera

Formed in 1981 originally as “Gemeni”, then “Eternity”, the band finally settled on the name Pantera, which is the word for “panther” in a number of Romance languages. Information on why they chose the name is difficult to come by but, despite often credited as being from Arlington, Texas, they are actually from neighboring Pantego, which is Spanish for “tambourine” and isn’t very heavy metal. Modify the name of their hometown to “Pantera”, and you have a band name that is very heavy metal. Pantera started as a glam rock band but later became pioneers in the groove metal and thrash metal genres. They sold 20 million records and were nominated for four Grammys. The band started having interpersonal and drug issues in the late 90s and would break up in 2003 to pursue their own projects. Tragically, band member Dimebag Darrell was shot to death on stage by a deranged fan in Columbus, Ohio. The remaining bandmembers brought back the Pantera name with new bandmates in 2022 and will start touring again in 2023!

The panther itself has a lot in common with the aforementioned leopard… because they are essentially the same animal! A panther is a leopard with a genetic mutation that turns its skin and fur black. However, if you look closely at a panther, you can see faint spots like a leopard has. Panthers are quite rare because the gene that makes their black coat is recessive. Sadly, they are also losing much of their habitat to human encroachment.

Bonus Fact: Comics. We all know Marvel’s Black Panther now, but did you know T’Challa was the first black superhero in the mainstream comic world? He debuted in Fantastic Four #52 in 1966. Incidentally, in an effort to distance itself from the militant Black Panthers organization, Marvel briefly changed his name to “Black Leopard” in 1972.

What is your favorite music act on this list? What is your favorite big cat? Did I miss any of your favorite big cat musicians? Let me know in the comments or get with me on Twitter. With that, I leave you with this quote: