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Steve Perry Walked Away From Journey. A Promise Finally Ended His Silence.

By Alex Pappademas

• Sept. 5, 2018

MALIBU, Calif. — On the back patio of a Greek restaurant, a white-haired man making his way to the exit paused for a second look at one of his fellow diners, a man with a prominent nose who wore his dark hair in a modest pompadour.

“You look a lot like Steve Perry,” the white-haired man said.

“I used to be Steve Perry,” Steve Perry said.

This is how it goes when you are Steve Perry. Everyone is excited to see you, and no one can quite believe it. Everyone wants to know where you’ve been.

In 1977, an ambitious but middlingly successful San Francisco jazz-rock band called Journey went looking for a new lead singer and found Mr. Perry, then a 28-year-old veteran of many unsigned bands. Mr. Perry and the band’s lead guitarist and co-founder, Neal Schon, began writing concise, uplifting hard rock songs that showcased Mr. Perry’s clean, powerful alto, as operatic an instrument as pop has ever seen. This new incarnation of Journey produced a string of hit singles, released eight multiplatinum albums and toured relentlessly — so relentlessly that in 1987, a road-worn Mr. Perry took a hiatus, effectively dissolving the band he’d helped make famous.

He did not disappear completely — there was a solo album in 1994, followed in 1996 by a Journey reunion album, “Trial by Fire.” But it wasn’t long before Mr. Perry walked away again, from Journey and from the spotlight. With his forthcoming album, “Traces,” due in early October, he’s breaking 20 years of radio silence.

Over the course of a long midafternoon lunch — well-done souvlaki, hold all the starches — Mr. Perry, now 69, explained why he left, and why he’s returned. He spoke of loving, and losing and opening himself to being loved again, including by people he’s never met, who know him only as a voice from the Top 40 past.

And when he detailed the personal tragedy that moved him to make music again, he talked about it in language as earnest and emotional as any Journey song:

“I thought I had a pretty good heart,” he said, “but a heart isn’t really complete until it’s completely broken.”

IN ITS ’80S heyday, Journey was a commercial powerhouse and a critical piñata. With Mr. Perry up front, slinging high notes like Frisbees into the stratosphere, Journey quickly became not just big but huge . When few public figures aside from Pac-Man and Donkey Kong had their own video game, Journey had two. The offices of the group’s management company received 600 pieces of Journey fan mail per day.

The group toured hard for nine years. Gradually, that punishing schedule began to take a toll on Journey’s lead singer.

“I never had any nodules or anything, and I never had polyps,” Mr. Perry said, referring to the state of his vocal cords. He looked around for some wood to knock, then settled for his own skull. The pain, he said, was more spiritual than physical.

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As a vocalist, Mr. Perry explained, “your instrument is you. It’s not just your throat, it’s you . If you’re burnt out, if you’re depressed, if you’re feeling weary and lost and paranoid, you’re a mess.”

“Frankly,” Mr. Schon said in a phone interview, “I don’t know how he lasted as long as he did without feeling burned out. He was so good, doing things that nobody else could do.”

On Feb. 1, 1987, Mr. Perry performed one last show with Journey, in Anchorage. Then he went home.

Mr. Perry was born in Hanford, Calif., in the San Joaquin Valley, about 45 minutes south of Fresno. His parents, who were both Portuguese immigrants, divorced when he was 8, and Mr. Perry and his mother moved in next door to her parents’. “I became invisible, emotionally,” Mr. Perry said. “And there were places I used to hide, to feel comfortable, to protect myself.”

Sometimes he’d crawl into a corner of his grandparents’ garage with a blanket and a flashlight. But he also found refuge in music. “I could get lost in these 45s that I had,” Mr. Perry said. “It turned on a passion for music in me that saved my life.”

As a teen, Mr. Perry moved to Lemoore, Calif., where he enjoyed an archetypally idyllic West Coast adolescence: “A lot of my writing, to this day, is based on my emotional attachment to Lemoore High School.”

There he discovered the Beatles and the Beach Boys, went on parked-car dates by the San Joaquin Valley’s many irrigation canals, and experienced a feeling of “freedom and teenage emotion and contact with the world” that he’s never forgotten. Even a song like “No Erasin’,” the buoyant lead single from his new LP has that down-by-the-old-canal spirit, Mr. Perry said.

And after he left Journey, it was Lemoore that Mr. Perry returned to, hoping to rediscover the person he’d been before subsuming his identity within an internationally famous rock band. In the beginning, he couldn’t even bear to listen to music on the radio: “A little PTSD, I think.”

Eventually, in 1994, he made that solo album, “For the Love of Strange Medicine,” and sported a windblown near-mullet and a dazed expression on the cover. The reviews were respectful, and the album wasn’t a flop. With alternative rock at its cultural peak, Mr. Perry was a man without a context — which suited him just fine.

“I was glad,” he said, “that I was just allowed to step back and go, O.K. — this is a good time to go ride my Harley.”

JOURNEY STAYED REUNITED after Mr. Perry left for the second time in 1997. Since December 2007, its frontman has been Arnel Pineda, a former cover-band vocalist from Manila, Philippines, who Mr. Schon discovered via YouTube . When Journey was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last April, Mr. Pineda sang the 1981 anthem “Don’t Stop Believin’,” not Mr. Perry. “I’m not in the band,” he said flatly, adding, “It’s Arnel’s gig — singers have to stick together.”

Around the time Mr. Pineda joined the band, something strange had happened — after being radioactively unhip for decades, Journey had crept back into the zeitgeist. David Chase used “Don’t Stop Believin’” to nerve-racking effect in the last scene of the 2007 series finale of “The Sopranos” ; when Mr. Perry refused to sign off on the show’s use of the song until he was told how it would be used, he briefly became one of the few people in America who knew in advance how the show ended.

“Don’t Stop Believin’” became a kind of pop standard, covered by everyone from the cast of “Glee” to the avant-shred guitarist Marnie Stern . Decades after they’d gone their separate ways, Journey and Mr. Perry found themselves discovering fans they never knew they had.

Mark Oliver Everett, the Los Angeles singer-songwriter who performs with his band Eels under the stage name E, was not one of them, at first.

“When I was young, living in Virginia,” Mr. Everett said, “Journey was always on the radio, and I wasn’t into it.”

So although Mr. Perry became a regular at Eels shows beginning around 2003, it took Mr. Everett five years to invite him backstage. He’d become acquainted with Patty Jenkins, the film director, who’d befriended Mr. Perry after contacting him for permission to use “Don’t Stop Believin’” in her 2003 film “Monster.” (“When he literally showed up on the mixing stage the next day and pulled up a chair next to me, saying, ‘Hey I really love your movie. How can I help you?’ it was the beginning of one of the greatest friendships of my life,” Ms. Jenkins wrote in an email.) Over lunch, Ms. Jenkins lobbied Mr. Everett to meet Mr. Perry.

They hit it off immediately. “At that time,” Mr. Everett said, “we had a very serious Eels croquet game in my backyard every Sunday.” He invited Mr. Perry to attend that week. Before long, Mr. Perry began showing up — uninvited and unannounced, but not unwelcome — at Eels rehearsals.

“They’d always bust my chops,” Mr. Perry said. “Like, ‘Well? Is this the year you come on and sing a couple songs with us?’”

At one point, the Eels guitarist Jeff Lyster managed to bait Mr. Perry into singing Journey’s “Lights” at one of these rehearsals, which Mr. Everett remembers as “this great moment — a guy who’s become like Howard Hughes, and just walked away from it all 25 years ago, and he’s finally doing it again.”

Eventually Mr. Perry decided to sing a few numbers at an Eels show, which would be his first public performance in decades. He made this decision known to the band, Mr. Everett said, not via phone or email but by showing up to tour rehearsals one day carrying his own microphone. “He moves in mysterious ways,” Mr. Everett observed.

For mysterious Steve Perry reasons, Mr. Perry chose to make his long-awaited return to the stage at a 2014 Eels show at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minn. During a surprise encore, he sang three songs, including one of his favorite Eels tunes, whose profane title is rendered on an edited album as “It’s a Monstertrucker.”

“I walked out with no anticipation and they knew me and they responded, and it was really a thrill,” Mr. Perry said. “I missed it so much. I couldn’t believe it’d been so long.”

“It’s a Monstertrucker” is a spare song about struggling to get through a lonely Sunday in someone’s absence. For Mr. Perry, it was not an out-of-nowhere choice.

In 2011, Ms. Jenkins directed one segment of “Five,” a Lifetime anthology film about women and breast cancer. Mr. Perry visited her one day in the cutting room while she was at work on a scene featuring real cancer patients as extras. A woman named Kellie Nash caught Mr. Perry’s eye. Instantly smitten, he asked Ms. Jenkins if she would introduce them by email.

“And she says ‘O.K., I’ll send the email,’ ” Mr. Perry said, “but there’s one thing I should tell you first. She was in remission, but it came back, and it’s in her bones and her lungs. She’s fighting for her life.”

“My head said, ‘I don’t know,’ ” Mr. Perry remembered, “but my heart said, ‘Send the email.’”

“That was extremely unlike Steve, as he is just not that guy,” Ms. Jenkins said. “I have never seen him hit on, or even show interest in anyone before. He was always so conservative about opening up to anyone.”

A few weeks later, Ms. Nash and Mr. Perry connected by phone and ended up talking for nearly five hours. Their friendship soon blossomed into romance. Mr. Perry described Ms. Nash as the greatest thing that ever happened to him.

“I was loved by a lot of people, but I didn’t really feel it as much as I did when Kellie said it,” he said. “Because she’s got better things to do than waste her time with those words.”

They were together for a year and a half. They made each other laugh and talked each other to sleep at night.

In the fall of 2012, Ms. Nash began experiencing headaches. An MRI revealed that the cancer had spread to her brain. One night not long afterward, Ms. Nash asked Mr. Perry to make her a promise.

“She said, ‘If something were to happen to me, promise me you won’t go back into isolation,’ ” Mr. Perry said, “because that would make this all for naught.”

At this point in the story, Mr. Perry asked for a moment and began to cry.

Ms. Nash died on Dec. 14, 2012, at 40. Two years later, Mr. Perry showed up to Eels rehearsal with his own microphone, ready to make good on a promise.

TIME HAS ADDED a husky edge to Mr. Perry’s angelic voice; on “Traces,” he hits some trembling high notes that bring to mind the otherworldly jazz countertenor “Little” Jimmy Scott. The tone suits the songs, which occasionally rock, but mostly feel close to their origins as solo demos Mr. Perry cut with only loops and click tracks backing him up.

The idea that the album might kick-start a comeback for Mr. Perry is one that its maker inevitably has to hem and haw about.

“I don’t even know if ‘coming back’ is a good word,” he said. “I’m in touch with the honest emotion, the love of the music I’ve just made. And all the neurosis that used to come with it, too. All the fears and joys. I had to put my arms around all of it. And walking back into it has been an experience, of all of the above.”

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'I believed love could cure cancer': how grief sent Steve Perry on a new Journey

The man behind Don’t Stop Believin’ had abandoned music – until he fell in love with a dying woman, who made him promise to return to performing

S teve Perry is explaining all the ways in which Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ can hook a listener. “The quarters on the piano – that intro’s a hook.” He bursts into song, his alto/countertenor still distinctive at 69 years old, and he is so powerful that it is offputting: “‘Just a smalltown girl’ is a hook. ‘Strangers waiting’ is a hook. ‘Up and down the boulevard’ – hook. [His bandmate] Jon Cain thought the ‘streetlights, people’ section was a chorus. Then I turned round and said: ‘Now we need to write the chorus of choruses.’ No one knew what that meant; nor did I. But I knew we had to take it somewhere bigger and never go back to the song again. Because it had done all these things I had mentioned and, in my opinion, it needed to go one more place.”

Don’t Stop Believin’, a monster hit in the US on its release in 1981 and since championed on the TV show Glee, has been so unavoidable in the past few years that you wouldn’t guess Perry has largely been silent for 20 years, since he left Journey once and for all. There were a couple of low-key appearances on other people’s records, the very occasional interview (not a favoured pastime even when he was with Journey) and that was it. But the ubiquity of Don’t Stop Believin’ made it seem as if he was ever-present.

“I would say I was completely burned out, with touring, recording, writing music incessantly,” he says. “I was having an emotional PTSD breakdown in music. I’m not whining, I’m just saying there was a lack of connection to the passion for music I had discovered when I was seven years old. I walked away with no ideas of returning. Then, years later, things started to change.”

Quite how things started to change, leading Perry to record his first album since Journey’s Trial By Fire in 1996, is one of the oddest, saddest stories you will hear a rock star tell.

Perry had never married. “I was too scared of it after what I watched my parents go through,” he says. “And I was around a band that went through several divorces in the course of our success. I saw them lose half of everything multiple times.” He had serious relationships – his 1984 solo hit Oh Sherrie was inspired by his then girlfriend Sherrie Swafford – but he had never been completely swept away by love.

Then, in 2011, his friend Patty Jenkins, the director of Wonder Woman , showed him a cut of her TV film about breast cancer . Perry’s eye was caught by one of the cancer survivors who appeared briefly in the film. The woman was Kellie Nash, a psychologist who had undergone treatment. “I said to Patty: ‘Do you have her email?’ She said: ‘Why?’ Because she knew me. I’m not like that. I said: ‘I don’t know, but there’s something about her smile that’s killing me right now. Would you send her an email saying that your friend Steve would love to take her out to lunch?’ She said: ‘OK, I will, but there’s one thing I should tell you first. She was in remission, but it came back, and it’s in her bones and it’s in her lungs and she’s fighting for her life.’ So I thought: I’m going to forget the whole idea. I thought: you walked away from a career, your mother has passed away, your grandmother and grandfather have gone, your dad’s barely hanging on … Maybe you should just forget the whole thing. But then I thought: bullshit.”

He told Patty to send the email, the pair met for dinner and they ended up together for a year and a half.

Perry entered the relationship knowing that doctors said Nash would die, sooner rather than later. What did he hope to gain from their brief time together? “You want to know the truth? I’ve not said this to anybody yet: I believed our love would cure her cancer. I really did. We sat in our tiny apartment in New York – a very expensive small box – and she said: ‘This might take me, but it’ll never be able to touch our love.’ I never thought about such a truth like that. Not just talking about it, but physically feeling it and emotionally seeing it was new to me.”

Before she died, Nash extracted a commitment from Perry. “She said: ‘Promise me you won’t go back into isolation, because I fear it would make this all for naught.’ I said: ‘OK, I promise.’ I lay in bed thinking about what I’d just promised. She was looking at the arc of her whole life and the possibility that she may not make it had to have some goddamn meaning. She was looking for purpose in all this. I grieved for two years – it was a whole new level of broken heart. It was completely fucking broken. I worked through that and, the next thing I knew, I started writing music.”

Eighteen months after Nash’s death, Perry returned to live performance. He had been a fan of the band Eels , visiting their rehearsals , going to their gigs and joining in with Mark “E” Everett’s weekly croquet game. Finally, Everett asked if Perry might fancy joining Eels on stage. “So, we worked up It’s a Motherfucker – I love singing that – and a couple of Journey songs. And I flew out to St Paul [in Minnesota] when they were at the Fitzgerald theatre in May 2014 and jumped on stage with them . It was really a thrill. I forgot what being in front of people felt like until I went out with the Eels. Looking into the eyes of people and singing for them felt good again.”

Perry had already started writing again before Nash died, but now he started working in earnest: building a studio at his home, fetching co-writers and musicians. “I wasn’t signed to anybody. I had no management. I funded the record entirely out of my own pocket. I built my own studio. I had to have the freedom to suck – nobody was going to put their foot on the back of my neck saying: ‘Is it done yet?’” The result is Traces , an album of slick, album-oriented rock that sounds as if Perry had not taken 20 years off and for which – keeping his promise to Nash – he is putting himself out into the world, doing interviews in numbers he never did with Journey, when he was zealous about guarding his privacy.

So, how does Perry feel about his life now – not only about losing the woman he loved, but also about forcing himself to talk about it to everyone who turns up with a voice recorder? “This has been amazing. Doing this has been cathartic for me. I guess it’s time to talk, it’s time to be open. It’s time to be honest about my feelings. I think I’ve been enjoying it, because it’s been a long time coming.”

Traces is out now on Fantasy

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Journey: The Great Escape

It’s not just the greatest AOR album ever made, Journey’s Escape also flies high outside the genre as one of the greatest albums in rock

Don't Stop Believin' Stone in Love Who's Crying Now Keep On Runnin' Still They Ride" Escape Lay It Down Dead or Alive Mother, Father Open Arms

Almost every album that comes to define its genre feels in a way like it has always existed. It coalesces various elements – a sound, a feeling, a particular moment in time – and makes them solid. Think of Nevermind or Appetite For Destruction or T he Dark Side Of The Moon , and they seem to hold within them the seeds of what the genre is and where it might go. 

It’s the same with Escape . You can argue forever as to whether it is AOR’s greatest album, or even if it’s Journey ’s best ( Raised On Radio is superior in many ways), but it is inarguably the genre’s defining record. Its grip on the culture has grown stronger through the years. 

From the moment that Don’t Stop Believin ’ was used as the final piece of music in The Sopranos to the endless cover versions of Open Arms on American TV talent shows, Escape has become a piece of music that Jonathan Cain said “has lasted somehow. The songs are bigger than we are.” 

Cain, formerly of The Babys, was Journey’s missing piece. When he replaced Greg Rolie, the band left behind their vestigial jazz-rock leanings and refocused on the songs. For a record as apparently seamless as Escape , Journey were an interesting factional mix, cliquey and at times suspicious of one another. 

They were held together by the force of personality of Herbie Herbert, the manager who had brought Steve Perry to the group almost four years before. Ever since, Perry had been engaged in a battle for the spotlight with Neal Schon, around whose guitar playing Journey had originally been built. The addition of Cain, who quickly fell into a writing partnership with Perry, increased the creative tension: “The friction brings the heat,” as Perry described it. 

“When I joined,” Cain said, “I was able to help put the pieces more solidly together. “I think I maybe oiled it and everything flowed better. It was that mix of different personalities – they had a kind of swagger to what they did that I really liked. Neal’s guitar playing was incredible. Perry’s voice was in its prime. Steve Smith and Ross Valory laid it down. They were a machine. 

"I remember they had this rehearsal warehouse they used in Oakland, and the first time I went there all of my gear was set up. I’d never had that before. The band sounded like a rocket taking off.” 

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Cain was a conduit between Schon and Perry. “Neal had a lot of rock’n’roll ideas that I would go through and maybe tweak a little and present them to Steve in a more nuanced way. Neal had a lot of unstructured melody in his head. I could sometimes add to those melodies and all of a sudden Steve would know what to do with them.” 

On their first day of writing together, in the attic of their road manager’s apartment in San Francisco, Perry played the melody for Who’s Crying Now on a cassette he’d been storing his ideas on, and within an afternoon the song was written. 

“We had an instant chemistry,” said Cain. At Perry’s house they came up with Open Arms from a piano part that John Waite had rejected for The Babys. 

“Too bad for John Waite,” Perry remarked after hearing it. 

“I think it was probably emotionally not so comforting for Neal to see us writing together,” says Perry. “But then we wrote with Neal, too. The Don’t Stop Believin ’ stuff we all came up with together. There was a lot of stuff he was involved with co-writing – Stone In Love, with that great guitar riff, that one came from Neal.” 

“Neal brought the fire and attitude,” Cain said. “I wasn’t conscious of just writing with Steve or just with Neal. It was about the three of us. Together we made it Journey.” 

Journey rode their creative high, yet even the most cursory listen to Escape reveals the aural perfectionism that Perry in particular obsessed over. They were all sound freaks, none more so than the singer, whose knowledge of recording techniques and reproduction were matched only by his desire to get down on tape the things he was hearing in his head. 

He recalled spending two days in the studio getting the right ‘A’ sound on the ‘arms’ line of Open Arms , and trying to keep his spectacular longer notes on Don’t Stop Believin’ exactly in tune.

Perry dictated the type of vinyl used for the first pressings of the record, which came out in July 1981, just two weeks after Foreigner’s 4 . Tied by serendipity, those two albums would produce AOR’s high-water mark.

Journey were touring America by private plane and selling out football stadiums years before Bon Jovi and Guns N’ Roses surfed the same wave, and they encountered all of the same rock-star strains and excesses. I once asked Jonathan Cain how Escape had affected them.

“Well,” he said, “I got divorced, Steve broke up with Sherrie [Swafford, the Sherrie of Oh Sherrie ], families started having an impact, people wanted to do different things. Frontiers [released 20 months later] was great – I call Escape and Frontiers ‘the twins’. But it became all-consuming. It couldn’t sustain.”

History has been kind to Escape . As far back as 1988 the readers of Kerrang! voted it AOR’s greatest album, and there it remains, probably in perpetuity. But beyond the confines of genre it has enjoyed an afterlife bathed in nostalgia for the version of American youth that it captured, a time long gone except in the memory.

There, Escape lives.

Jon Hotten is an English author and journalist. He is best known for the books  Muscle: A Writer's Trip Through a Sport with No Boundaries  and  The Years of the Locust . In June 2015 he published a novel,  My Life And The Beautiful Music  (Cape), based on his time in LA in the late 80s reporting on the heavy metal scene. He was a contributor to Kerrang! magazine from 1987–92 and currently contributes to Classic Rock . Hotten is the author of the popular cricket blog, The Old Batsman , and since February 2013 is a frequent contributor to The Cordon cricket blog at Cricinfo. His most recent book, Bat, Ball & Field , was published in 2022. 

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Steve Perry

Who Is Steve Perry?

Steve Perry played in several bands before joining Journey in 1977. The band achieved tremendous pop rock success with its 1981 album Escape , which featured the now-classic "Don't Stop Believin'." As the group's lead singer, Perry became one of the era's most famous singers. He also had some hits on his own, including "Oh Sherrie." Perry left Journey in 1987, and except for a brief reunion, he remains a solo artist.

While attending high school in Lemoore, California, Perry played drums in the marching band. He tried college for a while, performing in the choir, but eventually abandoned school for his musical dreams. Hoping to break into the business, he moved to Los Angeles for a time. There, he worked a number of jobs, including singing on commercials and serving as an engineer in a recording studio. All the while, Perry played with a number of different groups as a vocalist and drummer. He seemed to be on the edge of a breakthrough with the group Alien Project, when it suddenly disbanded — tragically, one of its members was killed in a car crash.

Journey: "Oh Sherrie" and "Don't Stop Believin'"

In 1977, Perry caught his big break, landing a gig as the vocalist for Journey, which began performing as a jazz rock group in the early 1970s, in San Francisco. With Perry on board, the band moved more toward mainstream rock, and began to see some chart success with the first album with Perry, 1978's Infinity . The band's ode to San Francisco, "Lights," became a minor hit as did "Wheel in the Sky" and "Anytime."

Journey broken into the Top 20 with "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" on their next album, Evolution (1979). Buoyed by such hits as "Open Arms," "Who's Crying Now" and "Don't Stop Believin'," Escape (1981) became the band's first No. 1 album, selling more than 7 million copies. While the band was hugely popular with music fans, many critics were less than kind.

By the early 1980s, Journey had emerged as one of rock's top acts. Perry proved that while he may have been short in stature, he possessed one of the era's biggest and most versatile voices. He was equally adept at ballads, such as "Open Arms," and at rock anthems, such as "Any Way You Want It." Behind the scenes, Perry helped write these songs and many of the band's other hits. He penned their most enduring song, "Don't Stop Believin'," with guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain.

Journey continued to be one of the era's top-selling acts, with 1983's Frontiers . The album featured such songs as "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" and "Faithfully." To support the recording, the band undertook an extensive world tour. Around that time, Journey also became the first band to license their music and likenesses for a video game.

With 1986's Raised on Radio , Journey enjoyed another wave of success. However, Perry was ready to part ways with his bandmates. Perry left the band in 1987 after the album tour. In a statement to People magazine, Perry explained: "I had a job burnout after 10 years in Journey. I had to let my feet hit the ground, and I had to find a passion for singing again." Perry was also struggling with some personal issues at the time; his mother had become very sick, and he spent much of his time caring for her before her death.

Perry reunited with Journey in 1996, for the reunion album Trial By Fire , which reached as high as the No. 3 on the album charts. But health problems soon sidelined the famous singer—a hip condition, which led to hip replacement surgery—and his bandmates decided to continue on without him.

Solo Projects

While still with Journey, Perry released his first solo album, Street Talk (1984). The recording sold more than 2 million copies, helped along by the hit single, "Oh Sherrie." Burnt out after splitting with Journey, Perry took some time out before working on his next project.

Nearly a decade later, Perry re-emerged on the pop-rock scene with 1994's For the Love of Strange Medicine . While the album was well-received—one ballad, "You Better Wait," was a Top 10 hit—Perry failed to reach the same level of success that he had previously enjoyed. In 1998, he provided two songs for the soundtrack of Quest for Camelot , an animated film. Perry also released Greatest Hits + Five Unreleased that same year.

Recent Years

While he has largely stayed out of the spotlight, Perry continues to be heard in movies and on television. His songs are often chosen for soundtracks, and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" even played during the closing moments of the hit crime-drama series The Sopranos in 2007. In 2009, a cover version of the song was done for the hit high school musical show Glee , which introduced a new generation to Perry's work.

According to several reports, Perry began working on new material around 2010. He even built a studio in his home, which is located north of San Diego, California. "I'm finishing that room up and I've written a whole bunch of ideas and directions, all over the map, in the last two, three years," Perry told Billboard in 2012.

In 2014, Perry broke from his self-imposed exile from the concert stage. He appeared with the Eels at several of their shows. According to The Hollywood Reporter , Perry explained that "I've done the 20-year hermit thing, and it's overrated." His return to performing "has to do with a lot of changes in my life, including losing my girlfriend a year ago and her wish to hear me sing again" — referring to his romance with Kellie Nash, who died in late 2012 from cancer.

Although Perry and his old bandmates had long since ventured in separate directions, the group did reunite for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2017.

In the meantime, the singer began recording again. On August 15, 2018, he released his first new song in 20 years, the ballad "No Erasin." The track arrived ahead of his new album, Traces , his first full-length studio recording since For the Love of Strange Medicine in 1994.

Regardless of what the future holds, Perry has already earned a place in rock history. Rolling Stone magazine named him one of music's top 100 singers. According to American Idol judge and former Journey bassist, Randy Jackson, Perry's voice is one of kind. "Other than Robert Plant, there's no singer in rock that even came close to Steve Perry," Jackson said. "The power, the range, the tone—he created his own style. He mixed a little Motown, a little Everly Brothers, a little Zeppelin."

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Steve Perry
• Birth Year: 1949
• Birth date: January 22, 1949
• Birth State: California
• Birth City: Hanford
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Steve Perry was the lead singer of pop rock band Journey from 1977 to 1987. He is known for having a wide vocal range, which can be heard on such popular hits as "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Oh Sherrie."
• Astrological Sign: Aquarius

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• Article Title: Steve Perry Biography
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• Last Updated: July 23, 2020
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

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25 Years Ago: Why Steve Perry Left Journey for Good

Journey  lost singer Steve Perry  for a second time on May 7, 1998. The first time, back in the '80s, Perry's exit had been voluntary – the result of recent solo success and growing indifference toward the band.

Left to their own devices at the time, former bandmates Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain formed Bad English with singer  John Waite . (Perry had fired founding bassist Ross Valory and longtime drummer Steve Smith during the sessions for 1986's Raised on Radio .)

A decade mostly gone from bright arena spotlights paved the way for Journey's triumphant mid-'90s reunion. The resulting Top 20 album, 1996's Trial by Fire , swam against the current of the era's reigning alt-rock. Three charting singles, a Grammy nomination and plans for a successful comeback tour made it seem just like the good old days.

Unfortunately, those touring plans were derailed when Perry suffered a hiking accident and refused to undergo the hip surgery necessary to get him back onstage. This opened the door to renewed ill will and undoubtedly dredged up memories of the singer's late-'80s power grab for Journey's fate.

Instead of bending to Perry's whims this time, the other members of Journey banked on their fan base's renewed support and unquenchable hunger for tour dates by recruiting a Perry soundalike Steve Augeri in order to get on with business.

The band's decision appeared to have been vindicated by a successful decade-plus of touring and recording with Augeri and, later, Arnel Pineda. Perry, for his part, maintained a relatively low profile, seemingly satisfied belting out "Don't Stop Believin'" from the bleachers of his hometown San Francisco Giants' baseball stadium, and occasionally showing up as a guest singer. He's only put out one proper solo album since, 2018's Traces . (Perry released a different version of the same LP in 2020, followed by The Season , an album of Christmas standards, in 2021).

Journey joined the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 . Before the ceremony, Schon said he hoped Perry would perform with him again. Instead, Perry ended up taking part only in the acceptance speeches, simply commenting : "I am truly grateful that Journey is being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

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Classic Retro Album Review- Journey, Escape – July 17, 1981

• July 6, 2022
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• by Chris Pamatian Photographer/Writer

When I first learned that our magazine was going to be doing retro record reviews, images of album covers started to flow through my head. As a kid growing up in the late 70s and early 80s, I always had a turntable in my room along with a bunch of cassettes, and even a few 8-track tapes. Choosing one album was going to be an arduous task. That’s when it hit me. I didn’t have to choose just one album as I would be able to eventually review as many as I wanted. I only needed to select one to start with and that narrowed my options significantly. I decided to go with an album that not only had a profound effect on my love of music, but also my addiction to live music. As a freshman in high school, I attended my first concert, Journey ‘s Escape Tour and the rest is history.

As Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees , Journey has cemented their status as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Their music is timeless and people from all generations have heard their songs at one time or another. So, whether you’re a huge Journey fan or only a casual listener, I’m sure this album is for you. With that being said, let’s spin some vinyl!

Journey (Escape Roster):

Neal Schon : Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals

Jonathan Cain : Keyboards, Piano, Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals

Steve Perry : Lead Vocals

Ross Valory : Bass, Backing Vocals

Steve Smith : Drums

1.”Don’t Stop Believin'”

Ok, is there anyone on the planet that hasn’t heard this song? This Journey anthem has appeared in many movies and tv shows including Glee and The Sopranos . Sometimes you have to dig hard to find the meaning behind a song, but Journey did us a favor by making it the title. The is a feel-good song that you can’t help but sing along to and Jonathan Cain’s opening on the piano has got to be one of the most recognizable intros in recent times. When Neal Schon’s searing guitar joins with Cain’s piano at :57 seconds in, it’s like a match made in heaven. The band couldn’t have chosen a better track to start the album off with.

2.”Stone In Love”

While Neal Schon came up with the riffs for the song, it was Steve Perry that drew on memories of an unattainable girl in his youth that created the “blue jean girl” we all sing about today. The song itself is not very complex but it’s relatable. Neal Schon continues to show his mastery on guitar and is even joined by Jonathan Cain on rhythm guitar. Ross Valory’s work on bass is phenomenal and the combined vocal choruses are as smooth as silk.

3.”Who’s Crying Now”

Written by Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain, this was the 1st single that was released from the Escape album and it rocketed all the way up to the 4th spot on the Billboard Hot 100 . Once again, it’s Jonathan Cain on piano starting the song off and he’s quickly joined by Ross Valory on bass. The slow yet melodious rhythm of the song is alluring and begs the question “who’s crying now?” It was common for rock bands to include a ballad on their records, but Journey took it a step further and included multiple on this album. What could have been seen as a gamble definitely paid off.

4.”Keep On Runnin'”

The band kicks things up a notch with the 4th track, “Keep On Runnin’.” This time it’s drummer Steve Smith banging it out along with the tandem of Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain on guitars. Ross Valory’s booming bass complements Neal Schon’s guitar work perfectly on what is one of the most rockin’ songs on the album. 

5.”Still They Ride”

One of my favorite tracks on the album is “Still They Ride,” another ballad that is inspired heavily from Steve Perry’s youth. I haven’t touched that much on Perry’s vocals, but it goes without saying that every track on the record, as with most of their songs, is easily recognizable as a Journey song. A big reason for this is Steve Perry’s voice. I know there have been a lot of debates and discussions, but I firmly believe that Steve Perry is one of the top 5 rock vocalists of all time. His voice is so pure and soulful, plus he is able to deliver top-notch vocals almost effortlessly. I’ve heard people say that they won’t listen to Journey anymore because Steve Perry is no longer in the band. That’s a whole other argument, but the funny thing is that Steve Perry wasn’t Journey’s original singer. I mentioned this to someone at a recent Journey concert and they looked at me as if I had 2 heads. Apparently, they had never heard of Greg Rolie . I was lucky to have seen Rolie perform when he was with the Storm, but now I am really venturing off topic. The point is that I know about the devotion some fans have for Steve Perry and it’s completely understandable. His talent and persona encapsulate the Journey they fell in love with. 

6.”Escape”

The 6th song is also the title track of the album. Neal Schon’s grinding and repetitive riffs start you off in one direction but then almost halfway into the song Steve Smith’s drums signal a change in direction. Jonathan Cain’s piano adds the perfect accent to a song that is deserving of its title track status. Neal Schon’s solo toward the end of the song is the crisp, pulsating style that fans have come to love and expect. 

7.”Lay It Down”

The cohesiveness of Journey really shows on this track. Everyone gets the opportunity to really shine and Perry nails some of his highest notes on the record. Neal Schon is, well Neal Schon, and of course he has some blistering licks on this one. A solid track for sure.

8.”Dead Or Alive”

This might be the most overlooked track on the record but I’m not sure why. “Dead Or Alive” comes out of the gate both hard and fast. The perfect blend of piano, drums and guitars create the ideal platform for Perry to unleash his lyrical display. I love the role that Jonathan Cain’s piano playing has in this song as it is reminiscent of the older rock hits of yesteryear. This is the shortest track on the album.

9.”Mother,Father” 

At a whopping 5:29 “Mother, Father” is not only the longest song on the record, but the 3rd of 4 ballads on the Escape album. The beautiful piano intro sets the tempo and if there were any doubts on the somber nature of this song they are quickly removed as soon as Steve Perry starts to sing:

“She sits alone, an empty stare A mother’s face she wears Where did she go wrong, the fight is gone Lord help this broken home”

This is a powerful ballad and arguably one of Perry’s best vocal performances on the album. Although it’s the vocals that immediately jump out and grab you, it’s the harmonious sound created by the band as a whole that makes this song pop. 

10.”Open Arms”

I know that it’s often fashionable to pick an obscure song or an underdog to select as your favorite, as opposed to going with the mega-hit that everyone knows. Be that as it may, I’m going to side with the masses on this one. “Open Arms” is one of the greatest power ballads ever written, period. The fact that this almost wasn’t a Journey song is crazy. Jonathan Cain had penned the melody for the song while with the Babys but it was not well received. After joining Journey, Cain and Perry collaborated to complete one of the most notable love songs ever. The passion flowing from Cain’s keys on the intro is undeniable and poignant. Ballad or not, everyone contributes to make this work. Steve Smith’s drums, Neal Schon’s guitar and Ross Valory’s bass and backing vocals are instrumental in the creation of the sound that this song achieves. Then along comes Steve Perry who brings it all home with his pure vocal talent and a lot of heart and soul. This song is quintessential Journey.

Track Listing:

1.Don’t Stop Believin’

2.Stone In Love

3.Who’s Crying Now

4.Keep On Runnin’

5.Still They Ride

2.Lay It Down

3.Dead Or Alive

4.Mother,Father

5.Open Arms

So, is this Journey’s best album? Maybe, maybe not. Sometimes timing is everything and that’s why I chose this album to review. It was not only my 1st introduction to a live concert, thanks to my sister and her friends, but it also came out during a very influential time in my life. Trying to find my identity in high school, meeting new friends, girlfriends and everything else going on in a 15-year old’s life was difficult and these were the songs I related to. Aside from that, the musical talent and creative genius that went into creating this album was nothing short of greatness. 

In 1983 my friends and I stood in the rain for close to 8 hours to see Journey on their Frontiers Tour and several years later I would catch Steve Perry on his Street Talk Tour. Fast forward to this year and I was able to see Journey on their Freedom Tour but this time I was actually photographing and reviewing the concert. Surreal doesn’t even begin to explain it. If you’ve never listened to the Escape album do yourself a favor and give it a listen. If you’re like me and loved this record when it came out, treat yourself to a visit with some old friends and good memories. Give it a spin.

Rating: 10/10

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I’ve had a love for photography since I was young. Whether it was a Polaroid or a Kodak 110, I was always the kid with the camera. My love of music goes back even further. Nothing beats being at a show when those lights go down and the crowd goes nuts.

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Steve Perry: ‘My Heart Bleeds Daily to Be in Front of People And to Sing for Them’

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

Steve Perry has kept a low public profile ever since he shared a lockdown rendition of the 1963 Beach Boys classic “In My Room” in April, but he tells Rolling Stone that since that time, he’s been busy creating new music. “I have a studio and I’m always writing and always recording stuff,” he says. “I have lots of music, so much stuff.”

First up is an acoustic version of his 2018 comeback LP Traces that he plans to release on December 4th. “It’s eight songs from the Traces record done acoustically and I’m really proud of it,” he says. “It’s called Traces Alternate Versions and Sketches . I cut the vinyl in Abbey Road. I’m really pleased with the sonics and I’m really pleased with the simplicity of the song and the lyric and the chords, which is basically what it’s stripped down to.”

Perry dropped out of the public eye in 1998 when he was sidelined by a hip injury and Journey opted to hire a new vocalist to take his place. “I had my time,” he says, “and I was very pleased with all the history I was fortunate to be around and I was proud of my musical contributions to any of it.”

He was drawn back to music after losing girlfriend Kelly Nash to breast cancer in 2012. “I made a promise to her that I would not go back into hibernation,” he says. “If something was going to happen to her, she asked that I wouldn’t do that because she felt it would make everything for naught. Those were her words. I kept that promise.”

He released Traces in 2018 and went on an extensive media tour to support it, but he didn’t play any live shows. Perry last toured in 1995 and the only time he’s played to a live audience since then took place in 2014 when he joined the band Eels at three shows.

“E [Eels frontman Mark Oliver Everett] and I became friends and he kept busting my balls saying, ‘When are you going to come out and just sing a couple of songs on our little tour?'” Perry recalls. “We’d always laugh, but I’d always go to his rehearsals because I love the band. He said, ‘Is this the year you’re going to do it?’ I said, ‘OK, what do you want to do?’ We worked up a bunch of songs and lowered the keys so I’d feel comfortable.”

The first appearance took place May 25th, 2014, at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota. Perry joined Eels for their original tune “It’s a Motherfucker” before closing the show with the Journey tunes “Open Arms” and “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’.”

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“Oh, my God,” Perry says as he thinks back to that night. “I forgot what it was like to be in front of people. I had forgotten that this voice [I have onstage] doesn’t belong to me. In a studio, I can probably get 80 or 90 percent of it. But that extra 10 or 20 percent only happens in front of a crowd.”

The three Eels appearances raised fan expectations that Perry might finally return to the road. It hasn’t happened so far, but the singer says that a tour remains a real possibility. “It’s always been on my mind,” he says. “My heart bleeds daily to be in front of people and to sing for them.”

One thing holding him back is the physical toll any tour would take on his body. “I’ve got some physical injuries from touring,” he says. “It’s a tough thing, touring. People don’t realize. It’s like sports. I’m watching baseball these days and there’s injuries. People’s backs and necks start to go out. It’s a young man’s game, but I do miss it.”

During Perry’s long absence from the road, Journey reinvented themselves as a touring powerhouse, especially after Arnel Pineda took over on vocals in 2008. But it’s been a contentious journey marked by persistent band infighting. Earlier this year, the band parted ways with drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory after a business dispute over the band’s copyright.

“I have no clue what that’s all about,” Perry says when the matter comes up. “I’ve been out of that band since May of 1998.”

When told that fans continue to fixate on his tenure in the band and pray for some sort of reconciliation, he laughs. “I don’t know what people think rock & roll is about,” he says. “Are we supposed to be like Bo Peep, sheep herders that are kind and loving? No. We bump heads like motherfuckers. But from that comes beautiful music like ‘Open Arms’ and other songs.”

Still, fans will likely never let go of the fantasy that everything can go back to the way it was in 1981 when it seemed like the band was in harmony and singing “Kumbaya” together offstage. “I don’t understand what these people base their thinking on,” he says. “There never was any ‘Kumbaya’ with us. But were the Chicago Bulls singing ‘Kumbaya’? How about the [San Francisco] 49ers with Bill Walsh? What are we talking about here?”

For now, Perry is focusing strictly on his own career, far away from the battles of Journey. “The acoustic Traces is going to close the Traces chapter,” he says. “Then I’m opening up another chapter next year at some point.”

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50 Years Of Journey: How Former Lead Singer Steve Perry, 74, Fought Dangerous Skin Cancer After Losing Love of His Life to Breast Cancer SHARE

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50 Years Of Journey: How Former Lead Singer Steve Perry, 74, Fought Dangerous Skin Cancer After Losing Love of His Life to Breast Cancer

• Save This Video

Losing a Loved One to Cancer

• The American rock band journey recently celebrated 50 years since its formation.
• The band’s former frontman, Steve Perry, is a survivor of melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer.
• Melanoma is a kind of skin cancer that can develop from an existing mole or appear as a dark or pink growth on the skin even in places on the body that never see the sun.
• Perry fought the disease after losing the love of his life to breast cancer in 2012.
• Though he was only with Kellie Nash for a year and a half, he’s said “it was a lifetime of love packed into every moment.”

Journey is a classic American rock group that first formed in 1973. Current members of the band include Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, and Arnel Pineda, according to the group’s website , but Perry was the lead singer during their height of commercial success in the late ’70s and ’80s.

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Steve Perry’s Cancer Battle

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Steve Perry (@steveperrymusic)

“Three weeks ago a routine mole was taken off my face and the lab report came back Melanoma skin cancer,” he wrote.

Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer, and it originates in the same cells that give your skin, hair and eyes their color. It can develop from an existing mole or appear as a dark or pink growth on the skin even in places on the body that never or rarely see the sun. This disease accounts for about 1% of all skin cancers , but it can be very dangerous if left untreated.

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"Melanomas are the deadliest type of skin cancer because they have a tendency to spread to other parts of the body," Dr. Anna Pavlick , medical oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, previously told SurvivorNet.

It’s unclear exactly what stage of melanoma Perry had, but treating stage 1 melanoma usually consists of a simple, in-office surgical removal by a dermatologist. When the cancer has spread beyond .08 mm in thickness , patients need an operation that is more involved.

“I’ve had two surgeries in two weeks to remove all the cancer cells and I’ve been told they think they got it all and no other treatments are required,” Perry wrote.

Although his cancer news was positive overall, Steve Perry’s 2013 post also included a heart-wrenching story about his late partner and her cancer battle.

When Perry first saw Kellie Nash, it was love at first sight. He was sitting in an editing room with a friend, Patty Jenkins, as she worked on a Lifetime breast cancer special when Perry noticed the Ph.D. psychologist in the opening scene.

The Toughest Conversations: Losing a Partner to Cancer

“When the scene was over I said to Patty, ‘Can you roll to the top of that opening scene for me?’ Patty asked, ‘Is something wrong?’ I said, ‘No. I want to see something,'” Perry wrote.

“As the camera again crossed Kellie’s smile I asked her to freeze right there.……. I asked Patty who that was. She said, ‘That’s Kellie Nash, a PHD Psychologist who was diagnosed with breast cancer, had a double mastectomy and she’s doing a cameo appearance.'”

That’s when Perry asked Jenkins to send Nash an email asking if she’d like to go on a date. Jenkins agreed but told Perry about the reality of Nash’s situation: She was currently fighting breast cancer that had returned as stage 4 and spread to her lungs and bones after eight months of remission.

“I was frozen……. I didn’t know what to do…….. I had lost my mom, dad, grandparents that raised me and I was an only child so my first thought was to maybe not send the email; then my heart said, Maybe we could be friends or maybe she could be my shrink,” he explained. “So I said, ‘Please send it.'”

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Nash happily obliged and gave Perry a call. In a couple weeks, they were on their first date, and the rest was history.

“I never felt like this before……. I had finally found her. She’s real and she’s right in front of me,” Perry wrote. “We started seeing each other and Yes, we both knew that we were meant to be together.

“My life was forever changed in ways I will explain at another time but it was all because of my Kellie.”

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Nash went courageously in and out of treatments, but she eventually passed away from the disease on Dec. 14, 2012. Although the two were together for just 1.5 years, Perry said “it was a lifetime of love packed into every moment.”

“She was so strong, so courageous and we really loved each other so very much,” he wrote. “I’ve been trying to grieve and not run from this loss so for the last 5 months that’s what I’ve been doing along with recalling everything being in Love with Kellie taught me.”

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Steve Perry Explains Why He Disappeared After Leaving Journey

By Andrew Magnotta

August 26, 2018

Former Journey frontman Steve Perry has been something of a white whale in the world of classic rock for the last 20 or so years.

While Perry hasn't necessarily been avoiding the public eye, he hasn't sought it out either. Since leaving Journey officially in 1996 due to a crippling hip injury that prevented him from touring, Perry has been surprisingly absent from music.

His lack of creative output was a stark change from his time in Journey, a band that was seemingly either on tour or in the studio for the entirety of the 1980s. 

Perry has done few interviews over the last 24 years, but as the singer prepares to revamp his career with, Traces , his first solo album since 1994, he's taken the added step of explaining himself — he was physically unwell and burnt out.

“The truth is, that I thought music had run its course in my heart,” Perry explains in a statement on his website . “I’d had an amazing time in an amazing band, and then the chance to express myself as a solo artist too. But I had to be honest with myself, and in my heart, I knew I just wasn’t feeling it anymore.”

Just hearing music brought back the feelings of exhaustion and lack of control he felt at the end of his tenure in Journey, Perry says. 

"For a long time, I could barely even listen to music," he said. "My last show with Journey was February of 1987. Then one day, it hit me that I couldn't do this anymore. I felt as if I had to jump off this merry-go-round — this big beautiful mothership that we had all worked so hard together to build."

But his love for music has returned as strong as ever. Perry says Traces is the last "30 years into 10 songs," and he began writing with no expectations. 

"I   started writing and recording these songs with the creative freedom that I was the only one who would ever hear them," he says. "Along the way, I rediscovered my love for music. Each track represents traces of my past, but is also a hopeful look into the future. I invite you to listen with an open heart.” 

Nine of the songs on Traces are originals. The tenth track is Perry's reimagined cover of The Beatles ' "I Need You."

The album is due out October 5. Fans can pre-order it   here .

Listen to the lead single, "No Erasin'" below.

The singer has yet to announce a tour or any live performances. But after so many years off the road, you can't blame him for dipping his toes in the water before diving in. 

Photo: Getty Images

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Former Journey frontman Steve Perry reveals why he left band at its height

Former Journey frontman, Steve Perry, reveals why he left the rock band and how he has rebuilt his life post-rock-and-roll. (CBS)

Former Journey frontman Steve Perry revealed in a new interview why he left the iconic band in the late '90s.

The rock 'n' roll star, who is set to appear Sunday on "CBS This Morning" in an interview with Tracy Smith, said he made the decision to leave the band after he fell out of love with music and wanted to embark on a new life journey.

The singer, who is known as the voice behind one of the band's biggest hits, “Don’t Stop Believin’,” also said that he was nursing a bad hip during the time he was considering leaving the band. Despite his bandmates urging him to fix his hip so they could continue rocking, Perry ultimately realized that it wasn't just his hip in the wrong place.

“It was really your heart, not your hip,” Smith says during the interview.

“It was really my heart,” Perry responds.

After leaving the band, Perry returned home to Hanford, Calif., and started a new life not centered on music.

“I stopped singing,” Perry tells Smith. “Completely, Tracy, I swear.”

And moving forward, the once-rocker found love with psychologist Kellie Nash.

Perry shared that the pair were connected through mutual friends, but at the time, sadly, Nash was battling late-stage breast cancer. Nash died in October 2012 and Perry credits her for inspiring him to make music again.

After mourning her death for two years, the former Journey member returned to the studio.

Though the singer has rediscovered his love for music, don't expect Perry to take a step back and reunite with his former bandmates. The 69-year-old told Smith that he plans to keep moving forward.

“I can only answer that question with the truth: that I love going forward. I love going to the edge of what’s next,” he says.

Perry's new album, “Traces,” is out now.

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journey lead singer dies – Steve Perry

TRIDIP BOR BORUAH

Updated on: June 6, 2023

The world of music mourns the demise of a real legend as the news is announced of the death of Steve Perry, the renowned lead singer of the legendary rock group Journey. But this not true, its a fake rumour flowing all over the media. In this piece, we pay homage to Steve Perry and explore the remarkable Journey through his life and music career, beginning with his rise to fame through his Journey to his legacy in the world of rock.

Steve Perry’s Journey with Journey

Table of Contents

The Journey of Steve Perry with Journey began in the group’s initial days. With his impressive vocal range and captivating stage presence Perry quickly became an integral member of Journey’s group. Perry’s contributions to the sound of the band and songwriting were instrumental in bringing Journey to new successes. Together, they created an array of chart-topping songs and anthems, which have become a part of Journey’s name.

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Personal Life and Challenges

Beyond his accomplishments in the field of music, Steve Perry’s personal life has shaped his career in significant ways. Growing up in an upper-middle-class family, Perry’s childhood gave him a solid determination and work ethic. He also had the drive to pursue his love of music. However, he was also confronted with personal difficulties and hurdles in the process. These experiences tested his endurance and ultimately influenced the emotion and depth that defined his music.

Departure from Journey

In a pivotal time for the band as well as Steve Perry, he made the difficult decision of separating from Journey . The reasons for the decision were complex and multifaceted, from artistic differences to personal issues. The news of his departure shocked people around the globe who longed for the powerful voice and heartfelt performances that shaped his role in the group.

Solo Career and Return

After the breakup of Journey, Steve Perry embarked on his own solo career , which showcased his talent and versatility as a musician. He released several critically-acclaimed albums, showing the ability of his music to reach his fans at a personal level. Despite the popularity of his solo projects, the fans were begging for an opportunity to reunite with Journey. After a long absence, Perry made a triumphant return to the scene in the form of a rousing performance, sparking excitement and reviving the magic of his work with Journey.

Legacy and Influence

The legacy of Steve Perry goes far over his years with Journey. Perry’s unbeatable voice, soulful delivery, and lyrical sensitivity created a lasting impression on the rock scene. Perry’s ability to express the rawness and vulnerability of his music was a hit with his fans on an emotional scale, which made Perry an iconic figure in the category. Perry’s influence can be seen through the works of many artists who were influenced by his distinctive style and unwavering enthusiasm.

Discography and Achievements

Journey’s discography speaks to their musical talent and their lead singer’s unquestionable talent. The band’s catalog includes several multi-platinum releases and chart-topping songs that have evolved into rock classics. Their accomplishments include numerous awards, sold-out tours, and loyal fans that span generations.

Solo Projects and Collaborations

Beyond Journey, The lead singer began solo projects and collaborations that demonstrated their plethora of talents as artists. They could experiment with different music styles and test their creative expression. Their work as a duo and in collaboration also helped establish their reputation as a major influence in the world of music.

Impact on Rock Music

The impact of the lead singer’s voice on rock music goes beyond the time of Journey. Their strong vocals, emotional delivery, and captivating stage presence were the norm for rock singers who wanted to become a part of the band. Their ability to communicate emotions and connect with the audience helped create a new style of rock and influenced many musicians who followed the same path.

Is the original lead singer of Journey, Gregg Rolie, still alive?

Yes, Gregg Rolie, the first lead singer of Journey, is alive and well . Gregg was born on the 17th of June 1947 and is now 75. older. He has been a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. He was inducted as a part of Santana in 1998 and an artist of Journey in 2017.

Rolie left Journey when he left Journey in 1987; however, he continues to record and tour with his group, The Gregg Rolie Band. He also played the keyboard and sang backup vocals with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band between 2012 and 2021.

In recent times, Rolie has also been involved in various initiatives with fellow musicians. One of them was an album collaboration with the former Journey guitarist Neal Schon on the album “Space Between” in 2015. The singer also released a self-titled album by himself, “Sonic Ranch,” in 2019.

Rolie is still in the music world and continues to record and tour. He is a well-known artist and musician who made important contributions to the genre of rock and roll.

Did Gregg Rolie leave because of Steve Perry?

The truth is that Gregg Rolie did not leave Journey due to Steve Perry. He stated that he was pleased when Perry joined the group. Due to personal reasons, Rolie quit Journey in 1980, just three months after Perry joined the band. Rolie has stated that he was unhappy about his current situation and determined to have the family. He also claimed he consumed too often and needed to feel more inspired.

It is widely believed that Rolie has left Journey due to discontent with how Perry was treated in the group. This isn’t the case. Perry was a great addition to the band, and Rolie claims he enjoyed working alongside Perry. The reason for Rolie’s departure was personal and unrelated to Perry.

Did any of the Other lead singers of Journey die?

None of the vocalists other from Journey have passed away. The group has had three singers as lead performers: Steve Perry, Steve Augeri, and Arnel Pineda. Perry led the band from 1977 until 1987. Augeri was the singer in charge from 1998 until 2006. Then Pineda was the lead singer from 2007 onwards. Augeri quit Journey at the end of 2006 because of vocal cord issues. Pineda is the main singer for Journey, who has been for the last time since 2007.

Here are a few additional pieces of information on the Journey’s singers Steve Augeri and Arnel Pineda who are the mainstays of Journey:

• Steve Augeri: Augeri was born in New Jersey in 1959. The singer became a part of Journey in 1998 , following Perry quit the group. Augeri made two recordings together with Journey, “Trial by Fire” (1998) and “Arrival” (2001). Augeri was forced to leave Journey at the end of 2006 because of problems with his vocal cords. He’s since released two solo albums, “Covers” (2009) and “Sing for You” (2013).
• Arnel Pineda: Pineda was born in the Philippines in the year 1967. He gained fame in 2007 after he was found through Neal Schon, the guitarist for Journey . Pineda was picked for the position of the new lead vocalist of Journey after Schon watched the video featuring Pineda singing Journey songs on YouTube. Pineda has been the main singer in Journey since 2007 and has released three studio albums for the group, “Revelation” (2008), “Eclipse” (2011)”Eclipse” (2011), as well as “Freedom” (2015). Pineda has been the only Filipino to lead a major rock group.

Steve Perry’s tragic rumour of passing has left a gap in the world of music and in the heart of his fans. His incredible path from his fame-making debut through his Journey through his own solo work and eventually return to the stage is an example of his talents, perseverance, and unflinching dedication to his work. As we commemorate and remember Steve Perry’s legacy and life in music, his songs will remain in the hearts of those who listen and inspire generations to come.

What are some of Journey’s most popular songs featuring Steve Perry?

Some of Journey’s most popular songs featuring Steve Perry include “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart),” “Open Arms,” “Faithfully,” and “Wheel in the Sky.” These timeless classics have become anthems of the rock music genre.

Did Steve Perry ever reunite with Journey after his departure?

Yes, Steve Perry reunited with Journey several times after his departure. However, these reunions were sporadic and often temporary. Nonetheless, the moments when Perry joined his former bandmates on stage were highly anticipated and cherished by fans.

How did Steve Perry’s solo career fare compare to his time with Journey?

Steve Perry’s solo career showcased his musical range and creativity. While he enjoyed success with his solo albums, including the critically acclaimed “Street Talk,” his time with Journey remains the pinnacle of his commercial success and recognition.

What is Steve Perry’s lasting impact on rock music?

Steve Perry’s impact on rock music is immeasurable. His distinctive voice, emotional performances, and heartfelt lyrics set a new standard for vocalists in the genre. His ability to connect with audiences on an emotional level continues to inspire and influence musicians across generations.

How can fans honor Steve Perry’s memory?

Fans can honor Steve Perry’s memory by celebrating his music, sharing fond memories and stories, and continuing to appreciate his impact on their lives. Keeping his music alive and passing it on to future generations ensures his legacy will endure.

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STEVE PERRY Records New Version Of JOURNEY's 'It Could Have Been You' With THE EFFECT

Former JOURNEY singer Steve Perry has recorded a new version of the band's song "It Could Have Been You" with THE EFFECT , the group featuring Trevor "Trev" Lukather (son of TOTO 's Steve Lukather ) on guitars, Nic Collins (son of Phil Collins ) on drums and Steve Maggiora ( TOTO ) on keyboards.

Perry announced his collaboration with THE EFFECT in a social media post on Tuesday (April 30). He wrote: "In 1986 the JOURNEY 'Raised On Radio' record was released and in it was a song I've always felt was a diamond in the rough.

"I've known Trevor Lukather since he was 9 years old and he is a very gifted musician. One day we were talking about his new band, THE EFFECT … He surprisingly mentioned 'It Could Have Been You' is one of his favorite tracks from that record, I told him I felt the same. I then said, why don't you record it? He asked if I would sing on it if they did, I said... 'Of course my most precious!'

"I must say, singing on their powerful track brought out a vocal experience in me from years ago ! So now... Releasing on May 7th on all socials and streaming is a very powerful reimagined version of, 'It Could Have Been You' by... THE EFFECT . Have a listen!"

In the fall of 2018, Perry made his long-awaited return with the release of "Traces" , the legendary musician's first new album in 25 years. The LP's personal expression of love, inspiration and renewal resonated with both critics and fans around the world, thrilled to have their "voice of a generation" making new music once again.

Two years later, Steve released "Traces (Alternative Versions & Sketches)" via Fantasy Records . On that LP, Perry revisited several of his favorite tracks, stripping away the grand production touches, taking the songs down to their essence. Presented acoustic and raw (including some in sketch form),tracks like "Sun Shines Gray" , "No Erasin'" , "No More Cryin'" and "Most Of All" took on new and richer meaning.

Perry 's first solo album in more than two decades, "Traces" , was released in October 2018 via Fantasy Records (a division of Concord Records / UMG ). He credited his late girlfriend, psychologist Kellie Nash , who died more than 11 years ago, with helping him want to sing again; she'd made him promise he wouldn't go back into isolation when she passed.

In 2019, Perry told "The Jim Brickman Show" that the response to "Traces" had been "really great. It's been an interesting experience to release a record in this age that we live in. Meaning, it's such a different landscape… Now we're streaming, now we've got everything… all this stuff. And so it's been such an interesting experience to release music into the new landscape of what it all means. We're streaming, we're still selling some on iTunes …. Nobody sells records anymore; everybody's streaming. But I didn't do this to sell records. If people wanna own it and take it with them, then that's beautiful. But if you wanna listen to it, that's also beautiful, 'cause all I wanted to do — and I said this to many of my friends… The reason I make music again was, number one, to keep a promise that I wouldn't go back into isolation. And number two, I wanted to just see if I was viable as a songwriter, singer, arranger, mixer, producer. I wanted to see if I could even remotely do some sort of creative involvement with all that. And in the beginning, it was challenging, because of the new technologies. But now I've embraced the living crap out of all of it. I have a great studio."

Perry dated Nash for nearly two years before she died in December 2012 after being diagnosed with breast cancer. He mourned for two years, and then began recording again.

Upon its release, "Traces" was met with wide acclaim and tremendous excitement from fans and critics all over the world. The album entered the Billboard 200 Albums chart at No. 6, Perry 's highest debut as a solo artist and earned the Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer his best-ever chart entries in the U.K., Germany, Canada and Japan.

Perry reunited with JOURNEY for the first time in years as they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in April 2017. The iconic singer appeared onstage with his former bandmates as they each gave speeches, but did not perform with the group later in the event.

In 1986 the Journey “Raised on Radio” record was released and in it was a song I’ve always felt was a diamond in the... Posted by Steve Perry on  Tuesday, April 30, 2024

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Steve Perry Has Recorded a Deep Cut Journey Cover with the Sons of Toto and Genesis Members

J ourney fans soon will get the chance to hear an updated version of one of the band’s deep cuts sung by none other than Steve Perry himself! The ex-Journey frontman has revealed that he’s recorded a new rendition of his old group’s 1986 song “It Could Have Been You” with the new group The Effect.

The track will be released as a digital single on Tuesday, May 7, and can be pre-saved now. The Effect is band that features guitarist Trevor Lukather, son of Toto’s Steve Lukather, as well as Phil Collins’ son Nic on drums, Toto keyboardist Steve Maggiora, and vocalist Emmett Stang.

[RELATED: The Effect Featuring Sons of Phil Collins and Toto’s Steve Lukather Come Closer to Releasing Debut Album]

Perry explained in a social media post how the collaboration came to be.

“In 1986 the Journey Raised on Radio record was released and in it was a song I’ve always felt was a diamond in the rough,” he noted. “I’ve known Trevor Lukather since he was 9 years old and he is a very gifted musician. One day we were talking about his new band, The Effect… He surprisingly mentioned ‘It Could Have Been You’ is one of his favorite tracks from that record, I told him I felt the same.”

Perry continued, “I then said, why don’t you record it? He asked if I would sing on it if they did, I said… ‘Of course my most precious!’ I must say, singing on their powerful track brought out a vocal experience in me from years ago!”

[RELATED: Former Journey Singer Steve Perry Shocked by Recent “Don’t Stop Believin” Milestone]

The legendary singer then noted that the “very powerful reimagined version” of “It Could Have Been You” will be available on May 7 via “all [socials] and streaming.”

Trevor Lukather Also Posted About the Collaboration

Trevor Lukather also told the story about how his band came to work with Perry on the track in his own social media post .

“Steve and I go way back. Other than my Pop, SP has been a mentor to me,” Trevor wrote. “When he heard The Effect, he called me and expressed how much he really loved what we were doing. It meant the world. On that same call, I started raving about a deep cut Journey tune ‘It Could Have Been You.’”

Lukather then explained that he asked Perry if he would sing on a version of the song if The Effect recorded it, “and he said yes.” The guitarist said the band then hit the studio to record the track with Stang laying down a lead vocal to “present to [Perry] our vision of what we had in mind.”

Lukather said he was thrilled at Perry’s enthusiastic reaction to hearing the playback of the track.

“His excitement that we could resurrect an overlooked Journey song with new life obviously connected to the pipes because Steve came in the next day and shook the house with his vocal performance,” he shared. “I think our neighbors thought it was the Northridge earthquake all over again.”

Lukather added, “The power of Steve’s vocals is on another level. One of a kind. That’s why he’s the GOAT.”

He concluded his note by thanking Perry “for not only for the honor, but for your belief in us and what we do. That is never taken for granted!”

Incidentally, Lukather also has a familial connection to Journey—he’s married to Jonathan Cain’s daughter Madison.

More About The Effect

The Effect has already released a few singles, and are in the process of preparing its debut album. The band will be opening a series of U.S. concerts for Billy Idol in May, and also will be supporting Toto for a run of European shows in June and July.

Tickets for The Effect’s concerts are available now via various outlets, including StubHub.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The post Steve Perry Has Recorded a Deep Cut Journey Cover with the Sons of Toto and Genesis Members appeared first on American Songwriter .

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