Guitarist Brian May claimed his voice is “one in a million. Jon Bon Jovi gave him the nickname "the voice" and Randy Jackson noted that he had a "golden voice".
(Photo: Michael Ochs Archive)
He is a singer with a tremendous vocal range and a unique voice and his name is Steve Perry. So let's give him great respect and tell you some interesting facts about him:
1. He was born Stephen Ray Perry on January 22, 1949, in California.
2. Steve was the only son of his parents of Portuguese descent.
3. He was interested in music from an early age.
4. His father Raymond Perry, was a singer and co-owner of the "KNGS" radio station, in Hanford, California.
5. At the age of 12 he heard the song "Cupid" performed by Sam Cooke on the radio and this influenced him to become a singer.
6. Before joining "Journey" he contributed his voice to commercials.
7. In 1972 he began his musical career and among others was a member of the bands "Ice" and "Alien Project", the latter even won a promising recording contract.
8. "Alien Project" disbanded after the band's bassist died in a car accident. Perry was heartbroken and considered leaving the music world.
9. He joined "Journey" only on their fourth album - "Infinity" in 1978. The band was looking to add a dominant singer to lead it, so they enlisted up Perry.
10. Until then, "Journey" included four members and the singing roles were divided between keyboardist Gregg Rolie and guitarist Neal Schon.
11. Right when Perry joined the band he was a part of writing their first hit - "Lights".
12. The song was written by Perry as a tribute to the city of Los Angeles, even before he joined the band. However, after joining the band he slightly changed the opening line of the song and replaced the word "LA" with the word "The Bay", which refers to San Francisco, as the origins of the band.
(Photo: Fanart.TV)
13. Steve Perry served as Journey's lead singer for nine albums, until 1996, seven of which earned platinum status and above.
14. Perry contributed quite a bit to the meteoric success of "Journey" with hits like: "Open Arms", "Don't Stop Believin'", "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)", "Faithfully", "Any Way You Want It" and more and more.
15. He was also a part of Journey's best-selling album "Escape" from 1981, which sold over 10 million copies.
16. In 1985, Perry was one of 21 singers on the All-Star team of American singers, who sang "We Are the World" on the "USA for Africa" project.
17. He released his first solo album "Street Talk" in 1984, while still with "Journey". The album was a great commercial success.
18. Immediately afterward he began work on another solo album, which was to be called "Against The Wall", but it is not clear why it was not released and what happened to the materials from it.
19. Eventually he released his second solo album "For the Love of Strange Medicine" in 1994. The song "Young Hearts Forever" from the album, was written by him as a tribute to Phil Lynott - bassist of "Thin Lizzy", after he passed away.
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20. In 1986 he released his last album with "Journey", until the reunion of the band's classic lineup on the album "Trial by Fire", which was released in 1996. This album was a huge success.
21. Unfortunately after the release of the album he suffered a serious hip injury, while on a trip to Hawaii, in a way that prevented him from performing.
22. The band waited for him for 17 months, but for fear of missing out on the tremendous momentum following the reunion, they put in an ultimatum. Either Perry performs hip surgery that will allow him to return to the stage, or they will look for a new singer.
23. Perry who was very apprehensive about the surgery had to make a painful decision and announced his retirement from the band.
24. He eventually underwent surgery in 1998, however by this point the band had already found a replacement - singer Steve Augeri, who filled his place. Later he too will be replaced by Filipino singer and band fan Arnel Pineda.
25. Since then, Perry has not been able to return to substantial musical activity. In 2013, he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor and had to undergo surgery to remove it, as well as a series of treatments.
26. In 2017 Steve was honored and inducted into the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" with “Journey”.
27. In 2018 he released his third solo album, after 24 years of silence.
28. In 2021 he released an album of Christmas songs called "The Season".
29. Over the years Perry has collaborated with many artists in various music styles, including: Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins, "America", Sheena Easton, "Clannad", Jason Becker, and more
30. Perry is ranked 76th on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.