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Ranking All 81 Steve Perry Journey Songs

Journey had never gotten higher than No. 85 on the Billboard album chart when new frontman Steve Perry walked in the door in 1977.

They went on to sell an astonishing nine million albums in the U.S. alone before Jonathan Cain joined in 1980, and Journey somehow got even bigger. Their next four albums were all Top 5 smashes, and they were all platinum or multi-platinum. Perry's first record with Cain sold more than 10 million copies.

Journey had also never had a charting single before Perry arrived. By the time he split with the group in the late '90s, they'd racked up 16 Top 25 singles – including seven Top 10 smashes. "Open Arms" remained at No. 2 for an astonishing six weeks. "When You Love a Woman" was nominated for a Grammy. "Don't Stop Believin'" became a timeless classic.

READ MORE: Why Journey Stopped Making Videos

Which one was best? Our ranking of all 81 Steve Perry Journey songs counts them down, leaving out instrumentals (since those were showcases for Neal Schon ) as well as early-era Journey duets with Gregg Rolie or Schon where Perry wasn't the focus.

Steve Perry changed the band forever, setting them on a course to superstardom that Schon, Rolie and then Cain bolstered and enriched. As such, these rankings may differ slightly from lists devoted to Journey's larger catalog. For example, some of their ballads creep up higher – simply because they remain quintessential examples of Perry's genius. No. 81. "Back Talk" From: Frontiers (1983)

Drummer Steve Smith earned a songwriting co-credit on "Back Talk," and it's easy to see why as this Side 2 skip loudly rumbles along. There were much better songs left on the cutting room floor. No. 80. "Can Do" From: Infinity (1978)

Actually, can't. No. 79. "Baby I'm a Leavin' You" From: Trial By Fire (1996)

If you were wondering what Journey would sound like as a reggae band. No. 78. "I'm Cryin'" From: Departure (1980)

Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon do their best to prop up this draggy, frankly mawkish song, adding sharp gurgles of organ and knifing riffs. But it's no use. No. 77. "Positive Touch" From: Raised on Radio (1986)

Journey had always made music in a room together – until this album. Instead, initial demos for Raised on Radio were constructed with a click track, which Perry then asked Steve Smith to mimic. He succeeded all too well on this boringly metronomic song, before splitting with the group in frustration. No. 76. "La Do Da" From: Infinity (1978)

Perry's initial collaborations with Schon were a revelation. So many of the group's foundational songs emerged from those initial writing sessions. And then there was this.

No. 75. "Liberty" From: Time3 (1992)

If you were wondering what Journey would sound like as a country band. No. 74. "Troubled Child" From: Frontiers (1983)

They had "Only the Young." They had "Only Solutions." They even had "Ask the Lonely." Instead, for some reason, they chose this instead. No. 73. "Lady Luck" From: Evolution (1979)

Journey isn't the only act with a song called "Lady Luck," joining Rod Stewart , Deep Purple and David Lee Roth . Come to think of it, none of those are really any good either. No. 72. "Happy to Give" From: Raised on Radio (1986)

Cain's initial idea had the feel of a soundtrack, recalling too-atmospheric Vangelis, and "Happy to Give" never recovered. It's certainly not Perry's fault. He tried cutting the vocal so many times that Cain started calling it Perry's "pet song." No. 71. "La Raza Del Sol" From: B-side of "Still They Ride" (1981)

Always in touch with the common man, Cain became inspired by the plight of migrant farm workers in California. But his new bandmates were still in '70s jam-band mode, surrounding it all with a meandering music bed that felt like a leftover from the pre-Perry days.

No. 70. "Mother, Father" From: Escape (1981)

Another song with its heart in the right place, "Mother, Father" gave Neal Schon one more chance to work with his talented dad. The results were stitched together with ideas from both Perry and Schon, however, and became rather disjointed along the way. No. 69. "Colors of the Spirit" From: Trial By Fire (1996)

This seemed like it was going to be more intriguing. They begin (and end) with a vague world-music feel, but return to expected '80s-era Journey-isms in between. No. 68. "Homemade Love" From: Departure (1980)

They'd finally cracked the code for pop chart success with "Any Way You Want It," but Journey was still down for a few musical excesses of old. The worst part was placing the sludgy, clumsily salacious "Homemade Love" at the end of this album. Departure suddenly seemed to be looking backward instead of ahead. No. 67. "One More" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

The first in a number of Trial by Fire songs that made overt faith references. That became an underlying theme on the album, sparked when Perry arrived at the sessions carrying a Bible. No. 66. "Dixie Highway" From: Captured (1981)

"Dixie Highway" sounds like what it was: a throwaway track written on Journey's tour bus while traveling the eponymous interstate into Detroit. It was perhaps interesting enough to be tried out live, but not interesting enough to make it onto a studio album.

No. 65. "It's Just the Rain" From: Trial By Fire (1996)

Perry achieves a sweet sense of reverie, his most favored place, but the surroundings owe too much to rather boring solo forays into smooth jazz by Cain and Schon. No. 64. "Keep On Runnin'" From: Escape (1981)

A pedestrian rocker, "Keep on Runnin'" is the only stumble on Side One of Journey's biggest selling LP. No. 63. "Trial by Fire" From Trial by Fire (1996)

This made direct reference to verses in 2 Corinthians, underscoring again how Cain's long-dormant songwriting partnership with Perry was reborn through a shared interest in scripture. Cain's solo career returned to this theme as he began delving into faith-based songs with 2016's What God Wants to Hear . No. 62. "Still She Cries" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

See "It's Just the Rain." No. 61. "Dead or Alive" From: Escape (1981)

The second of two throwback-style songs on Escape that seek to approximate Journey's more rugged, fusion-leaning '70s-era, and the lesser of the pair. That "Dead or Alive" came directly after the too-similar "Lay It Down" also didn't do the song any favors.

No. 60. "City of the Angels" From: Evolution (1979)

"Lights," found later on this list of Steve Perry Journey songs, was originally about Los Angeles , before Perry shifted its locale to his new home base in San Francisco. He later returned to the idea of paying tribute to L.A., with much poorer results. No. 59. "I Can See It in Your Eyes" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

The obvious goal of getting the early-'80s lineup back together was to recreate the sound of that era – and they did that here. Unfortunately, it was the sound of their throwaway stuff on Side Two of Frontiers . No. 58. "Can't Tame the Lion" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

See "I Can See It in Your Eyes." No. 57. "Escape" From: Escape (1981)

Cain and Perry are credited as co-composers, but the title track from Escape still feels like the first of what became a series of not-always-successful attempts by Neal Schon to balance Journey's new knack for balladry with ballsier rock songs. It certainly served that purpose in later-era concerts. No. 56. "Winds of March" From: Infinity (1978)

Credited to a crowd including Matt and his son Neal Schon, Robert Fleischman, Gregg Rolie and Steve Perry, "Winds of March" actually sounds like a meeting of two minds: Perry, who deftly croons his way through the first two minutes, and his new bandmates – who absolutely tear through the remaining three.

No. 55. "Line of Fire" From: Departure (1980)

A perfunctory rocker best remembered for a rather on-the-nose sound effect at roughly the 2:10 mark that Perry cribbed from Junior Walker's chart-topping 1965 R&B hit "Shotgun ." No. 54. "Precious Time" From: Departure (1980)

Rolie adds a muscular harp squall, but not much else stands out. No. 53. "Lay It Down" From: Escape (1981)

One of two songs from Escape that could have seamlessly fit into a Rolie-era album. Steve Smith approximates co-founding drummer Aynsley Dunbar's thudding, heavy-rock approach while Schon swirls into the stratosphere. No. 52. "Chain Reaction" From: Frontiers (1983)

Schon finds a fusible groove, then joins Perry for a gutty vocal interplay. But "Chain Reaction" ends up getting lost somewhere along the way. No. 51. "Once You Love Somebody" From: Raised on Radio (1986)

They tried for a bluesy feel on a song echoing the relationship troubles that both Perry and Cain were then experiencing, but there's simply not enough grit to this.

No. 50. "Natural Thing" From: B-side of "Don't Stop Believin'" (1981)

Your average classic rock radio-loving fan might not peg Steve Perry as a died-in-the-wool R&B guy who can totally pull off this sometimes very un-Journey style. Tell them to start here. No. 49. "Easy to Fall" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

Presented in their classic arena-ballad style, but without much to differentiate it from other, better, more popular iterations, "Easy to Fall" is the sound of Journey trying to sound like Journey. There's a lot of that on Trial by Fire – and on every LP that followed it. No. 48. "Rubicon" From: Frontiers (1983)

This song drove a seemingly permanent wedge in the band. Schon was reportedly playing "Rubicon" when Perry came over and turned down his amplifiers. "They want to hear the voice," Schon remembered Perry saying . Perry and Schon put out only two more albums together, and it took them 13 years to do it. No. 47. "When I Think of You" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

"When I Think of You" appeared on Journey's Perry-curated Greatest Hits 2 not because of its chart history, but because of what it meant to him. Perry wrote this little-known deep cut after his late mother appeared, happy and healthy, in a particularly vivid dream . He told Cain he wanted to write create a song around the dream, and they finished the touching "When I Think of You" together. No. 46. "Frontiers" From: Frontiers (1983)

The second-best song on this album's deflating flip side. Singing in a clipped, coolly detached tone, Perry offers a great put-down for warmongers: "War is for fools; crisis is cool."

No. 45. "It Could Have Been You" From: Raised on Radio (1986)

Schon's riffy contributions work in brilliant counterpoint to Perry's inherent poignancy, underscoring why this partnership meshed so easily – and so well. No. 44. "Sweet and Simple" From: Evolution (1979)

Perry brought this dream-like song with him, having written it years before while looking out over Lake Tahoe. Journey completed it with a quickly ascending final segment that matched now-patented multi-tracked vocals with Schon's typical pyro. No. 43. "Where Were You" From: Departure (1980)

There's a reason Journey opened their concerts with "Where Were You" for so long. They were just coming off an opening gig with AC/DC at this point, and clearly the headliner's knack for outsized, riffy rockers rubbed off. No. 42. "Castles Burning" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

A badly needed rocker on an album that too often played down to their ballad- and mid-tempo-loving fan base. No. 41. "Little Girl" From: Dream After Dream (1981)

Dream After Dream , the last Journey album to feature contributions from Gregg Rolie, isn't really part of the band's catalog since it's otherwise filled with incidental music for a now-forgotten foreign film. Mostly, they dig back into the prog and fusion that defined their earliest era – except for "Little Girl," where Perry is showcased. This too-often-overlooked song later became known — if it was known at all — simply as a B-side to the "Open Arms" single.

No. 40. "Raised on Radio" From: Raised on Radio (1986)

Radio holds a talismanic place in Perry's imagination for two reasons. His dad owned a station and radio was a constant presence in the youthful places where Perry returns, time and time again, for creative sustenance. If things had gone another way, he's said he could see himself as a DJ, rather than a huge pop star. No. 39. "Message of Love" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

A continuation of the untroubled sleekness of Raised on Radio -era Journey, this could have easily passed as a Steve Perry solo track. No. 38. "Ask the Lonely" From: Two of a Kind (1983)

Jonathan Cain once said Perry could write songs like this in his sleep . Unfortunately, this only-okay leftover is an example of that assembly line-type approach. That said, "Ask the Lonely" is still better than most of the stuff on the back end of Frontiers . No. 37. "Lovin' You Is Easy" From: Evolution (1979)

Starts out as another cookie-cutter '70s-era Journey song, then Perry gets to the ear-worm title lyric and everything changes. No. 36. "When You Love a Woman" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

Featuring a saccharine sentiment with a too-sweet string section to match, this is Journey balladry at its limpest. Still, "When You Love a Woman" became a gold-selling No. 12 smash. Because, Steve Perry.

No. 35. "Don't Be Down on Me Baby" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

Again, nobody aches like Steve Perry. No. 34. "Why Can't This Night Go on Forever" From: Raised on Radio (1986)

Written in tribute to their fans, "Why Can't This Night Go on Forever" moved past its quite overt "Open Arms" / "Faithfully"-style ambitions on the strength of performances by Schon and Perry. No. 33. "Patiently" From: Infinity (1978)

Schon memorably gave Perry a ride home after sitting in with Azteca in San Francisco, but had no idea his passenger was a singer. Five years later, Perry finally got the chance to make an impression. He stopped by Schon's hotel the day after a Journey show in Denver, and they wrote this song. No. 32. "The Eyes of a Woman" From: Raised on Radio (1986)

Steve Smith only appeared on three Raised on Radio tracks, but that doesn't mean he didn't have an undeniable impact. His anticipatory rhythm builds a smart tension on the underrated "The Eyes of a Woman," as Schon's echoing chords surround the vocal. Perry has called this one of his favorite Journey songs, and that might be because "The Eyes of a Woman" is one of the very few here that fully recalls their Escape / Frontiers sound. No. 31. "Suzanne" From: Raised on Radio (1986)

If Steve Perry sounds a little overwhelmed on the second single from this album, there's a reason for that. This No. 17 hit was written as a fantasy encounter with an actual crush. Perry never revealed who she was, other than to call her a "film star who also had a vocal artist career ." No. 30. "Somethin' to Hide" From: Infinity (1978)

Journey's first attempt at a power ballad was devastatingly effective, though it arrived years before "Open Arms." Perry's final cry is simply astonishing.

No. 29. "Edge of the Blade" From: Frontiers (1983)

Disappointments loom but, boy, does Side Two of Frontiers get off to a roaring start.

No. 28. "Be Good to Yourself" From: Raised on Radio (1986)

A throwback rocker, "Be Good to Yourself" had little in common with the sleeker, more adult-contemporary feel found elsewhere on Raised on Radio . It didn't make for the most representative lead single either, but manager Herbie Herbert smartly prevailed . Journey returned to the Top 10.

No. 27. "If He Should Break Your Heart" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

One of the best-ever meldings of Solo Steve (verses) and Journey Steve (the rest).

No. 26. "Girl Can't Help It" From: Raised on Radio (1986)

Perry essentially took control of Journey in the run-up to this album, switching out band members for sidemen with whom he'd worked before then serving as the project's de facto producer. That led them to some song treatments that moved well away from anything Journey had done before, or since. "Girl Can't Help It," one of three Top 40 singles from Raised on Radio , was the exception. This was classic Journey, spit-shined up for a new era.

No. 25. "Only Solutions" From: Tron (1982)

Unjustly forgotten, and barely used in the film at all, the hooky "Only Solutions" would have greatly enlivened what turned out to be a letdown on Side Two of Frontiers .

No. 24. "Opened the Door" From: Infinity (1978)

The last song on the first album to feature Perry, "Open the Door" begins like every gorgeous, ear-wormy love song they ever hit with a few years later — but after Perry's initial three minutes, Rolie joins in a huge vocal bridge ( "Yeah, you opened ..." ), and from there Schon and company are loosened from those binding conventions. Drummer Aynsley Dunbar, on his final recording date with Journey, sets a thunderous cadence, and Schon powers the song — and this career-turning album — to its quickly elevating conclusion.

No. 23. "Faithfully" From: Frontiers (1983)

Cain said this No. 14 power-ballad smash, written in tribute to a happily married musician's life on the road, came to him in a dream. He wrote it in his own key, and that allowed Perry to explore a different vocal timbre. They finished the song with a memorable back-and-forth between Perry and Schon, also completely unrehearsed.

No. 22. "When You're Alone (It Ain't Easy)" From: Evolution (1979)

Perry chirps and coos his way through this winking tease of a song – that is, until about a third of the way through, when Schon provides a huge moment of release.

No. 21. "Forever in Blue" From: Trial by Fire (1996)

As with "Girl Can't Help It," found later on our list, "Forever in Blue" represents that rare moment when the latter-day edition puts it all together again.

No. 20. "Wheel in the Sky" From: Infinity (1978)

The ubiquitous "Wheel in the Sky" spent eight weeks on the Billboard chart, but somehow only got to No. 57. Journey was probably too busy touring to notice: They played more than 170 cities in North America and Europe on an accompanying tour. For Perry, it an unvarnished thrill to see "Wheel in the Sky" inside a jukebox. (It was a sign back then that any up-and-comer had finally made it.) He found the single at a pizza place he was visiting with Schon in 1978, put two quarters in, and then sat back down to see the look on his bandmate's face when their music filled the dining area. Schon didn't get it at first. When he did, Perry remembered Schon quipping, "I love this song," amid an uproar of laughter.

No. 19. "Walks Like a Lady" From: Departure (1980)

A great example of the way Journey songs evolved in the studio. Perry brought in a rough sketch, Schon added a blues-inspired riff, then Steve Smith picked up his brushes. All that was left to complete things was Rolie's greasy Hammond B3 groove, reportedly one of his favorites.

No. 18. "Too Late" From: Evolution (1979)

A delicate, beautifully conveyed song of encouragement, "Too Late" was aimed at a friend of Perry's who had fallen into drug abuse.

No. 17. "Daydream" From: Evolution (1979)

An episodic triumph, "Daydream" is defined by dreamy, Jon Anderson -esque verses, rangy guitar riffs and forward-thinking keyboard asides – very much in keeping with the prog-rock pretensions of the '70s. Unfortunately for Journey, that sound had already become decidedly passe.

No. 16. "I'll Be Alright Without You" From: Raised on Radio (1986)

Schon, who earned a co-writing credit with Cain and Perry, tried out a then-new guitar in search of a distinct sound for this song. Best known for using a 1963 Fender Stratocaster, Schon experimented with a graphite Roland 707 to see if he could get a different, more even tone. It worked: "I'll Be Alright Without You" remains Journey's penultimate Top 20 hit, followed by 1996's "When You Love a Woman." Cain, like Perry, was going through a breakup and called this track the other half of the emotions expressed in "Once You Love Somebody."

No. 15. "Good Morning Girl" / "Stay Awhile" From: Departure (1980)

Inextricably linked by their successive appearances on Departure , these two songs showcased Perry's dual gifts: "Good Morning Girl" was a fragile, impossibly beautiful ballad that emerged from a jam session with Schon, while "Stay Awhile" showed off his R&B chops.

No. 14. "Do You Recall" From: Evolution (1979)

Maybe the perfect blending of Journey's tough early sound and Perry's sun-flecked sense of reminiscence. Roy Thomas Baker's familiar stacked vocals propel the bridge to untold heights.

No. 13. "Open Arms" From: Escape (1981)

If you dislike power ballads, blame Jonathan Cain. He brought this seminal example of the genre to Journey after John Waite , the frontman in Cain's former band the Babys , rejected an early version. Schon didn't really want "Open Arms," either. But Perry intervened, and they turned it into a soaring paean to renewal. Oh, and Journey's highest-charting single ever.

No. 12. "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" From: 'Evolution' (1979)

A song with a real-life storyline, "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" came to life in another Journey jam session, then went on to become their very first Top 20 hit. Rolie's Nicky Hopkins-esque honky tonk piano rides atop a stuttering, 12/8 rhythm, building inexorably toward a cloud-bursting nah-nah-nah conclusion. Steve Smith has compared that blues shuffle to "Nothing Can Change This Love" by key Perry influence Sam Cooke. The heartbroken Perry, who's described the writing of this song as "love justice," again played the bass on the initial sessions. The results opened the pop-chart floodgates.

No. 11. "The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love)" From: Captured (1981)

Journey's transformation into sleek hitmakers is typically associated with Cain's entry into the lineup, but it actually started with this song. "The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love)," a studio song Journey tacked onto a live record Cain became a member, boasts every element of the new sound that would define their '80s era. The song came together as Perry ruminated on bass backstage at Cobo Hall in Detroit. He already had Schon's guitar line in his head, so he sang it to him. The ideas from this rough demo where completed with an accompanying narrative that Perry described as a "situation where a person is waiting for a phone call." The keyboard turn came courtesy of their friend Stevie "Keys" Roseman, a Bay Area musician who was working in an adjacent space at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley.

No. 10. "Stone in Love" From: Escape (1981)

Schon had a tape recorder going while he fooled around with the guitar during a party at his house in San Rafael. Perry and Cain did the rest.

No. 9. "After the Fall" From: Frontiers (1983)

Perry began this song on the bass, perhaps an early indication of the changes in store for Journey. By the time they released 1986's Raised on Radio , Ross Valory had been replaced by Randy Jackson, later of American Idol fame. Smith departed too, but not before proving himself utterly invaluable here.

No. 8. "Only the Young" From: Vision Quest (1985)

Another song that, had it been included, might have pushed Frontiers past Escape as Journey's best Cain-era album. Instead, "Only the Young" appeared much later on this soundtrack, and by then Kenny Sykaluk – a 16-year-old fan suffering from cystic fibrosis – had already died after becoming the first person to hear it . "Only the Young," which opened every concert on Journey's subsequent tour, will be forever associated with his brave fight.

No. 7. "Still They Ride" From: Escape (1981)

Cain and Schon earned co-songwriting credits on "Still They Ride," and Steve Smith showed off an accomplished dexterity. But the final charting single from Escape , released the following year, belonged in no small part to Steve Perry. The song's main character, Jesse, never left the town of his youth, and still drives through its darkening streets looking for some connection. If you had found yourself in mid-century Hanford, California, you might have seen a young Steve Perry doing the same thing. Of course, he'd long since left, but Hanford – where a plaque in his honor rests at Civic Park – never left him. Jesse, this dreamer who refuses to give up on his youthful reverie, was Perry's ultimate metaphoric character.

No. 6. "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" From: Frontiers (1983)

The subject of lingering ridicule because of a misguided video, "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" struggles to find its true voice today. But the lead single from Frontiers was a multi-week Top 10 smash in early 1983, and the perfect example of how Journey could mix in elements of R&B and blues without sacrificing modernity. "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" came together while they toured behind Escape and revolved around a backstage melody Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain developed on bass and keys, respectively. Such was its immediate power that the band quickly began playing "Separate Ways" on stage – even before Perry had completely learned the words.

No. 5. "Any Way You Want It" From: Departure (1980)

Steve Perry and Neal Schon were in Miami for a May opening date with Thin Lizzy , when they started a rhythm-scheme exercise based on the headliner’s unique musical interplay. They had been knocked out by how the guitar and vocals went back and forth on front man Phil Lynott 's songs. So, Perry sang, “she loves to laugh,” and Schon responded with a riff. Perry sang, “she loves to sing,” and Schon responded again. Then, “she does everything” led into another guitar riff — just like Thin Lizzy might have. They had the makings of “Any Way You Want It,” a single that just missed the Top 20 after its release in February 1980 then gained new life that summer as part of a Rodney Dangerfield gag in the golf parody film Caddyshack .

No. 4. "Who's Crying Now" From: Escape (1981)

The initial single from Escape , a No. 4 hit, perfectly illustrates how Jonathan Cain's new presence changed Perry's writing style, then forever changed Journey. The first inklings of the track came to Perry as he was driving up to San Francisco on Route 99. But "Who's Crying Now" was a song with no real direction until Cain suggested the title. They worked out a cool b-section featuring only voice and keyboard, and their very first co-written composition was completed. Inspired, Perry also fought to keep Schon's extended guitar solo on the single.

No. 3. "Lights" From: Infinity (1978)

Steve Perry was trying to write an ode to Los Angeles but couldn't quite coax "Lights" into existence. Something just did not feel right about singing " When the lights go down in the city, and the sun shines on L.A ." So, he stuck the song in his back pocket. Then an opportunity to join Journey changed his life and changed the song. Perry previewed "Lights" for the others in August 1977 in San Bernardino, during a period when he was on the road with Journey but not yet an official member. Perry's new adopted hometown of San Francisco led to a crucial lyrical update: "L.A." became "the bay," as "Lights" paved the way for a collaborative relationship that would take Perry and Schon to once-unimaginable heights.

No. 2. "Send Her My Love" From: Frontiers (1983)

The title belonged to Jonathan Cain, who'd held tight to a single line that resonated with Perry as something said when communication completely breaks down after the end of a relationship. Schon achieved a guitar sound that Perry later described as "huge, across-the-Grand Canyon dreamy" by utilizing a Lexicon 480L echo unit. The rhythm, based on a performance by Tony Williams on an old Miles Davis record, was uniquely Steve Smith's. But the last of four Top 40 hit from this album could only be voiced by Perry, who latched onto its theme and pushed it to a lonesome zenith.

No. 1. "Don't Stop Believin'" From: Escape (1981)

In one sense, this song will always be associated with Jonathan Cain. After all, Cain had been carrying it around as a song scrap for years before joining the band. His father said "don't stop believin'" back in the '70s, during a down-and-out phase after Cain lost his first record deal. He wrote the words down, finally returning to them during sessions for his first album with Journey. But Perry is the one who latched onto the idea, the one who coined the indelible phrase about "streetlight people," the one who demanded they wait – and wait – to go into that huge chorus. He's also the one who sang it into the hearts of generation after generation.

Nick DeRiso is author of the Amazon best-selling rock band bio 'Journey: Worlds Apart,' available now at all major bookseller's websites .

Journey Albums Ranked

Gallery Credit: UCR Staff

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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.

[ Never miss a pop music story: Sign up for our weekly newsletter, Louder. ]

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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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

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Steve Perry Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/steve-perry
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: July 23, 2020
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

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Journey's Neal Schon says he and Steve Perry are 'in a good place' before band's 50th anniversary

On the cusp of turning 50, the band that etched “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” and “Faithfully” into lighters-up lore is entering “a cleaned-up chapter of Journey.”

That’s according to Neal Schon, the band’s ace guitarist, lone original constant and de facto CEO.

Despite decades of fluctuating lineups and  snarly lawsuits among band members , Journey endures.

On July 8, the band released “Freedom,” its first new album in 11 years that also presents the return of Randy Jackson (as in "American Idol") on bass. The 15-song collection is steeped with vintage-sounding ballads (“Still Believe in Love,” “Live to Love Again”) and soaring melodic rockers (“United We Stand,” “You Got the Best of Me”).

Journey – including longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain,  peppy singer Arnel Pineda , drummer Deen Castronovo and keyboardist Jason Derlatka, adding bassist Todd Jensen for live shows – will hit Resorts World Las Vegas  this month for shows backed by a symphony orchestra before rolling through more arena dates this summer and in early 2023, the band’s official 50th year.

Journey in pop culture: Quarantined family perfectly re-creates 'Separate Ways' music video at home

Regular road warriors who consistently pack arenas and stadiums – their 27 shows this year grossed $28 million, according to Billboard Boxscore – Journey relies on a solid catalog of mega-hits and a devoted fan base that appreciates the familiarity.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers also received a boost from Netflix’s ’80s-centered “Stranger Things” when the show used “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” in the trailer for the just-ended season, launching the song onto Billboard’s Rock Digital Songs chart. The affable Schon, 68, talked with USA TODAY about the band’s complicated legacy, his relationship with former frontman Steve Perry and plans for Journey's golden anniversary.

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Question: Are you amazed at how the Journey train keeps rolling after almost 50 years?

Neal Schon: It’s quite an accomplishment and I’m very proud of what we’ve done and how we’ve gotten through emotional and personnel changes and survived. It’s pretty mind-boggling but also a lot of hard work.

Q: Does the title “Freedom” refer to anything specifically?

Schon: Our ex-manager Herbie Herbert  wanted to call the (1986) “Raised on Radio” album “Freedom” because he always came up with these one-word titles. Steve (Perry) fought him on that and got his way, so we sat on it for many years. When we got through the lawsuit with the ex-bandmates, we made the new LLC Freedom (JN) and when we were tossing around album titles said, why not just call the whole thing “Freedom?" It's for the times right now.

Q: There’s been a bit of a revolving door in the rhythm section. Deen Castronovo is back for the live shows, but Narada Michael Walden played drums on the album, and Randy Jackson is back in the band, at least on record?

Schon: Deen is singing and playing his butt off. He’s such a musical sponge, this guy. He’s been like my little brother for close to three decades and is such a joy to work with. Randy, he’d been working with me diligently this whole time. He’s so many things beyond being an amazing musician and bass player.

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Q: Will Randy play at any of the upcoming live shows or is Todd Jensen handling those duties?

Schon: Randy is still recovering from some surgery and he stays very busy and Todd fits like a glove. Having said that, I think with our 50th anniversary next year, there’s room for everybody to jump in if they want to participate. We did go through an ugly divorce with (Steve Smith and Ross Valory) with the court proceedings (in 2021, Schon and Cain settled a $10 million trademark lawsuit with the band’s former drummer and bassist). But definitely, if Steve Perry wanted to come on and sing a song, yes. If (original Journey singer) Gregg Rolie wanted to come sing a couple of songs, yes. Randy Jackson (can) come sit in on some of the material – he played on a lot of hits on “Raised on Radio.”

Q: Do you talk much with Steve Perry?

Schon: We are in contact. It’s not about him coming out with us, but we’re speaking on different levels. That’s a start, even if it’s all business. And I’m not having to go through his attorney! We’ve been texting and emailing. He’s a real private guy and he wants to keep it that way. We’re in a good place.

Q: Do you think, after 15 years, that people have accepted Arnel?

Schon: I was diligent in that I wanted to show the massive size of our audience, so I hired photogs to come out every show and shoot the audience and show the size of the crowd to make everybody see, what am I missing? From putting up the different photos every night and the reviews from the fans online, I saw very little of “This is not Journey, man.” I think we just shut everybody up.

Latest Release

• OCT 27, 2023
• Only the Young (Steve Perry & Bryce Miller Remix) - EP
• Don't Stop Believin' (2024 Remaster)
• Greatest Hits (2024 Remaster) · 1981
• Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) [2024 Remaster]
• Greatest Hits (2024 Remaster) · 1983
• Any Way You Want It
• Departure (Bonus Track Version) · 1980
• Faithfully (2024 Remaster)
• Wheel In the Sky (2024 Remaster)
• Greatest Hits (2024 Remaster) · 1978
• Who's Crying Now (2024 Remaster)
• Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' (2024 Remaster)
• Greatest Hits (2024 Remaster) · 1979
• Open Arms (2024 Remaster)
• Lights (2024 Remaster)
• I'll Be Alright Without You (2024 Remaster)
• Greatest Hits (2024 Remaster) · 1986

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About journey.

The epitome of all that is big, bold, and exhilarating about arena rock of the ‘70s and ‘80s, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” feels both iconic and indestructible. A Top 10 single from the band’s 1981 juggernaut Escape, it has yet to lose its power despite its countless TV and film appearances, never mind all the attempts by karaoke singers. That’s a testament to the craftsmanship that was always at the core of Journey’s formula of pop hooks, heart-tugging sentiments, and go-for-broke bravado. Journey had even more flash when they formed in 1973 as a jazz-rock showcase for ex-Santana guitarist Neal Schon and other musicians from Bay Area bands. By the time they added vocalist Steve Perry in 1977, Journey had honed their sound into something more immediate while retaining their displays of prowess. Between “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’” in 1977 and their commercial peak with Escape and 1983’s Frontiers, Journey seemed unbeatable, thanks to Perry’s precise vocals and Schon’s guitar heroics. They remained a major live draw until health issues prompted Perry’s departure and a nine-year band hiatus in 1998. Then in 2007, with “Don’t Stop Believin’” resurging thanks to the finale of The Sopranos, the band found a fresh frontman in Arnel Pineda, a Filipino singer Schon discovered on YouTube. Pineda’s Cinderella story and Journey’s revitalization on albums like 2011’s Eclipse showed a new generation what can happen when you keep believin’.

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Journey: Greatest Hits 1978-1997

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Product description.

A compilation of the band's top music videos, also including live footage.

But even if sweaty guys running around in tight jeans and no underwear isn't really your thing, the disc has its treats. There's MTV nostalgia, pure and simple--"Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)," with its mimed quayside performance and strutting high-heeled model, is perhaps the quintessential "What were they thinking?" video. We also get exciting glimpses of the early band (with keyboardist Gregg Rolie passing the lead-vocal torch to newcomer Steve Perry) kicking out classics like "Feeling That Way," "Lights," and "Just the Same Way." Many of the songs feature live audio as well as video, and it's here, most notably in "Who's Crying Now" and "Stone in Love," that lead guitarist Neal Schon cuts loose with some extended licks. An unexpected pleasure is 1996's heartfelt ballad "When You Love a Woman." The guys are aging gracefully, Steve Smith's drumming is better than ever, and the video itself boasts the most tasteful production of the bunch. --Michael Mikesell

Product details

• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ Unrated (Not Rated)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.32 x 7.71 x 1.92 inches; 1.44 ounces
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ 2230859
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, NTSC, Color
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 16 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ November 25, 2003
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Journey, Steve Perry
• Language ‏ : ‎ English (Stereo), Unqualified
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Sony Legacy
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0000TGADW
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• #63 in Music Videos & Concerts (Movies & TV)
• #106 in Arena Rock (CDs & Vinyl)
• #125 in Soft Rock (CDs & Vinyl)

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Steve Perry

Charismatic, powerhouse lead singer of Journey who launched a solo career in 1984.

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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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The Real Reason Steve Perry Left Journey

For years, Journey singer Steve Perry used to wear a necklace of a gold musical eighth-note. In 2018, he explained to Rolling Stone it was a gift he received from his mom when he was 12 years old.

"She always believed in me. I wore it for years and years, but hung it up in May of 1998, just after the band and I legally split and I had a complete contractual release from all my obligations to the band and label."

Perry fronted Journey to its greatest commercial success in the '80s, catapulting the band to arena rock stardom through the likes of "Open Arms" and "Don't Stop Believin'." However , by 1987, even with the triumph of Raised by Radio tour, the band was greatly fractured and went on hiatus for nearly ten years. 

As time heals all wounds, Perry reunited in the mid-90s with bandmates Jonathan Cain, Ross Valory, and Steve Smith. Now under the management of Irving Azoff, Journey released Trial by Fire. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the album platinum and the Recording Academy nominated one of its hit singles, "When You Love a Woman," for a Grammy.

Through pain, Steve Perry came back to music

Just before tour arrangements could be made, Perry collapsed while on a hike. He learned he needed hip surgery due to a degenerative bone condition. The band could not wait for Perry to heal, and so he was replaced by Steve Augeri and later Arnel Pineda .

For years, Perry's surgery explained his reason for officially leaving Journey. But in 2018, he made a revelation. Ahead of the release of his solo album Traces , Perry admitted his actual motive.

"The truth is, that I thought music had run its course in my heart," Perry said. "I had to be honest with myself, and in my heart, I knew I just wasn't feeling it anymore."

Perry , in soul and spirit, was tired. But like any true rockstar, he could not be away from the limelight too long. Traces allowed Perry to find music again. In a promise to his late girlfriend Kellie Nash, who died in 2012 from breast cancer, this was the moment he stopped isolating himself from the world. 

"I found myself with not only just a broken heart but an open heart," Perry told Billboard . "And from that came rock and roll."

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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STEVE PERRY Re-Records JOURNEY's "It Could Have Been You" With THE EFFECT

May 1, 2024, a day ago

news hard rock steve perry journey the effect

Former Journey singer, Steve Perry, has revealed that he has re-recorded Journey's Raised On Radio album track, "It Could Have Been You", with Los Angeles quartet The Effect, the band featuring Trev Lukather (son of Toto’s Steve Lukather) on guitars, Nic Collins (son of Phil Collins) on drums, Steve Maggiora (Toto) on keyboards.

Perry shared the following message:

"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 social’s and streaming is a very powerful reimagined version of 'It Could Have Been You' by... The Effect. Have a listen! Sincerely, Steve Perry."

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13 Things We Learned Hanging Out With Steve Perry

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

It’s a punishingly hot August day and Steve Perry is tucked into a corner table at a Lower Manhattan Italian spot taking a quick breather between a long round of radio interviews promoting Traces , his new comeback album that he spent the last five years recording in such secrecy that he made everyone on his team sign strict NDAs. He’s no more than two minutes into our conversation, barely enough time to dip a single piece of bread into olive oil and take a bite, when he stands up and announces he has to leave at once. There’s loud dance pop playing on the radio and it’s driving him crazy.

“This is very distracting,” he says, as a large, tattooed bodyguard and two publicists perched near the bar look on. “I’m hearing drums and rhythm. I have a very ADD, multi-track mind and I can’t listen to two things at once. I just hear these electronic drums. Let’s go outside even though it’s going to be a little sticky.”

With the bodyguard in tow, we head onto the street towards a park overlooking the Hudson River. It’s a complete shift from our plan for the afternoon, but Perry has never been one to stick to a script. Ignoring the desperate pleas of his bandmates, management team and fans, he walked away from Journey near the pinnacle of their success in 1987 to live a quiet life free from screaming crowds and record executives thirsty for another hit. And even when Journey-mania returned again in the mid-2000s and “Don’t Stop Believin'” became absolutely inescapable — used everywhere from the The Sopranos finale to Glee  — he refused to emerge from hiding in any way, allowing his former bandmates to reap the hefty rewards by playing about 70 shows a year with a soundalike they plucked from YouTube.

Dressed head-to-toe in black, Perry walks down the city streets, past throngs of tourists that don’t give him a second look, and attempts to explain why he turned in his rock star card over 30 years ago. “It seemed like the only thing I could do to stop some of the badness in my heart and the lack of passion for singing,” he says. “I just had to stop. I was feeling like a forced version of myself, getting into some bad habits and not connecting to my heart. I was completely deep-fried.”

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Rolling Stone published an extensive feature on Perry’s life earlier this month, but there was still a lot we learned that didn’t fit into the piece. Here are 13 of them.

1. He became interested in spiritual matters during his lost years. “I don’t attend any religious practices and I’m not religious,” he explains. “But I’ve devoted a lot of time to people like Joseph Campbell who opened the doors to all the theologists that I have opinions about now. It took a lot of open-mindedness to rewire my thinking about so many things. It needed to happen. They say that every seven years your body completely changes, that every cell in your body is no longer the same. There’s a metamorphoses. And right now, I’m more open-minded to the idea of not knowing the answers to all things.”

2. He has a crystal-clear memory of the moment they wrote “Don’t Stop Believin.'” “I know everyone has their own opinion about this,” he says. “I don’t know what Jonathan [Cain] thinks, but I remember it starting out in a warehouse in Oakland where we had a rehearsal space. I suggested we needed something with eighths on the piano because I always liked songs that began like that. It flowed from there. We were all in the room. It was me, Jonathan and Neal [Schon]. It was a true group effort. Then I went to Jonathan’s house and we wrote the lyrics together. There’s no one genius to any one moment. If you’re in a band, what you do is a group effort.”

3. Contrary to widespread rumor, he’s never suffered any vocal issues. “I have my vocal box checked all the time,” he says. “I have no nodules on it. I have a really good doctor. She sticks a camera down my nose. I call it the garden hose. It goes down to the vocal chords and then she grabs my tongue and I have to go, ‘Eeeeeee.’ She’s really able to see them well and, knock on wood, nothing wrong with my voice. The only thing is I didn’t really use if for a while, but it’s like working out when you begin using it again.”

4. His mother pushed him return to Journey in 1985 after he’d taken a long break to focus on his solo career. “I was ready to leave the group because she was so sick,” he says. “She couldn’t speak because she’d had so many strokes. She was also pretty quadriplegic at that point, but she loved my music. I asked her what she thought about it, whether I should make another solo record or go back to Journey. She said one word: ‘Journey.’ I went, ‘Are you sure? Mom, this means I won’t be around you much. Again she just said, ‘Journey.’ Then she died during the making of the record. I dedicated it to her.”

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Watch miley cyrus cover journey's hit '80s anthem 'faithfully'.

5. The “corporate rock” label that Journey was stuck with still baffles him. “That was amazing to me,” he says. “Any band that came to America, whether it was Led Zeppelin or anybody, would incorporate in order to create a tax shelter and not leave penniless. The way to do that legally is to form a corporation. Everybody did that, but we got stuck with the label. Isn’t that fascinating?”

6. He enjoyed meeting Arnel Pineda at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2017. “He’s a sweet kid,” he says. “We talked for a while backstage. It was really fun.”

7. But he never even considered singing with Journey at the Hall of Fame. “I heard a rumor that the invitation was open,” he says. “But I’m not the singer in the band anymore. Arnel is. He’s been in the band for ten years. I just wanted to come and thank everybody for everything, including Arnel.”

8. He was the last one in Journey to give his approval for The Sopranos to use “Don’t Stop Believin.'” “I wasn’t too excited by the possibility that it might be used when someone is whacked,” he says. “Everyone else was okay with it, but I wanted to know more. So the girl who sub-licenses my music kept on asking David Chase’s people if they could tell us a little more. But since it was the last sequence in the entire show, they were a little tight with information. I told them I wouldn’t say yes unless they told me that nobody got whacked, which is how [Martin] Scorsese would have used it. So I just waited and Thursday afternoon my girl calls and says she just spoke to David Chase’s people and they told me how it ends, but I couldn’t tell anybody. They didn’t tell me the screen turns to black, but they told me everything else. And I said okay that Thursday and it aired on Sunday.”

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9. Baseball gives him the same sort of satisfaction today that he used to get from music. “The electronic aspect of music just started wearing me out,” he says. “There’s not a lot of live musicians being played on the radio anymore. But when I’m watching baseball, these guys walk out there and hit, play, catch, run…I mean, they’re just killing it. There’s no auto-tune for baseball. They have to play. The musicianship of the music industry used to be that way.”

10. If he does tour, expect to hear a lot of Journey songs. “I don’t know if a tour will happen,” he says. “Right now it’s premature to even guess. But there would be no way in the world I’d go out there and not sing Journey music too. It would be solo and Journey together. But those songs are vocally challenging. They’re challenging for Arnel and everyone else. They’re not easy. They were challenging for me when I wrote the damn melodies, but back then I was young and in my olympic singer mode. [Barbra] Streisand lowers the keys when she does her old songs. There’s nothing wrong with lowering a key We’re not spring chickens.”

11. His time out of the spotlight after he left Journey in 1987 reinvigorated him . “I went back to my hometown and reconnected with old friends,” he says. “I bought a Harley Davidson and rode it around the country roads of my youth. I let the wind hit my face and my hair blowed behind me. There were no helmet laws back then. I disappeared. I went to the fair in the summer. I went to movies. I had dinner with friends. I had relationships. I lived.”

12. Money was never really an issue after he left the band. “I wrote every single song with members of the band with the exception, I think, of one,” he says. “And those songs kept selling. I don’t eat out a lot. I only drive one car a time. I live kind of small, so financially I never really had to work. There were certainly some sweet [royalty] checks as the years went by, but I’ll tell you something else: I was probably one of the only guys who saved his money. A lot of people were living very extravagant lifestyles. I was not raised that way. My grandfather said to me when I was very young, ‘It’s not how much you make, it’s how much you save.’ So I lived small and saved my money.”

13. When pushed, he refuses to make a Shermanesque statement that he’ll never, under any circumstances, return to Journey, even though it’s highly unlikely. “The only thing I’m willing to be definitive about is that at this age I am right now, I have to do things that I feel really great about, that feel life-sustaining and give me passion,” he says. “I really want to continue to move forward. I’m not too excited about going backwards. I’m more excited about moving forward to what is next. I’ve already written a lot more new material, in fact.”

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Steve Perry Reimagines Journey Classic With The Effect

Steve Perry Reimagines Journey Classic With The Effect- Ritchie Blackmore Tributes Guitar Pioneer Duane Eddy- more

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Steve Perry has rerecorded Journey’s “It Could Have Been You” with The Effect

Steve Perry is singing Journey again — just not with Journey.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer announced on Instagram that he has rerecorded the Raised on Radio track “It Could Have Been You” with The Effect , the band made up of  Trevor Lukather — son of Toto ‘s  Steve Lukather —  Phil Collins ‘ son  Nic Collins ,  Steve Maggiora and Emmett Sans .  

“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 shared. “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 !” he adds, noting that he always considered the song a “diamond in the rough.”  

The reimagined version of “It Could Have Been You” will be released May 7 on all streaming services .

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