Bad English guitarist Neal Schon recently joined an interview with Vulture and talked about his music career with the rock band Journey. During the interview, Schon revealed the performance that the lead vocalist Steve Perry refused to be a part of when reminiscing their memories together.
Journey gained massive recognition in the music scene when Steve Perry was the lead singer between the late ’70s and the late ’80s. The seventh studio album, ‘Escape,’ was released in 1981 and became the band’s most successful record by reaching the top of the US Billboard chart. The singles such as ‘Don’t Stop Believin” and ‘Who’s Crying Now’ became hits.
The group’s massive success continued with the ‘Frontiers,’ which came out in 1983. While it was number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, it reached six on the UK Albums Chart. Songs like ‘Faithfully’ and ‘After the Fall’ became among the top 40 singles. In 1987, the band and the manager began to have disagreements. Perry was exhausted from the arguments and busy touring schedules. After completing the ‘Raised on Radio’ tour, the band went on a hiatus in 1987.
In 1995, they decided to make a reunion and released the successful album ‘Trial by Fire.’ However, Perry parted ways with the band following the record by choosing to semi-retire from the music industry. The band currently has continued with Arnel Pineda as the lead vocalist.
Perry attended the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in January 2005 with Journey members. His most recent appearance with his former bandmates was the ceremony of Journey’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2017. In a recent interview, his former bandmate Neal Schon recalled this ceremony where the singer refused to perform.
Schon stated they had many great memories with Perry, who had been like brothers since they first met. As the guitarist mentioned, the vocalist was a person he enjoyed spending time with during their tenure together. The guitarist recalled the time Perry attended the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in 2017.
The rocker stated that Perry agreed to make the acceptance speech but did not want to perform. He remembered posting photos of them talking and laughing silently at each other while the people were having their long speeches. Schon noted that he wanted to be closer with Perry in the future.
Neal Schon recalled his memory with Steve Perry:
“I have great memories of when Steve and I first met. We hung out all the time, man. We were like brothers. We were crazy. We spent a lot of nights out way too late doing things we shouldn’t be doing, drinking and whatnot. We overindulged in a lot of stuff. But bottom line, we had a really good time for many years. Lots of enduring moments onstage and offstage.
He was a really funny guy. I saw a fraction of a moment of it when we got together before the Rock Hall of Fame induction. I managed to get into his room, which was locked down like Fort Knox. We had a good hang in there. I felt like I still knew this guy, and we were still really great friends.”
He added:
“I felt good about what was going to partake on the stage. He was always invited to come and perform at the ceremony, but he declined to do anything besides a speech. I understood why. During that induction, when certain individuals went up and took a long time with their speeches, there are a few pictures that you can find where I’m talking into Steve’s ears, and he’s laughing like hell.
Some people like to feel like they’re more important because they have to talk longer. Or they feel like they don’t get the attention they need, so they want to talk longer. So, that’s my long way of saying that. I hope that we can become even better friends in the future.“
Steve Perry was happy to participate in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2017. However, he did not prefer to perform with the Journey members and only made the acceptance speech. During the speech, the musician presented his respects to his former bandmates and the current vocalist Arnel Pineda.
You can watch Steve Perry’s speech below.
