Glamour: On a personal note, my condolences because I know you recently lost a very important person in your life to cancer, and I know you had skin cancer earlier this year. So because of Rob Light, people took a chance on me. He convinced a bunch of people to take a chance, and they did. Steve: When I did my solo album, Rob Light was the one person who stood by me and convinced promoters that Steve Perry's solo album/solo tour is something they want to embark on.
Tell me about your relationship with Rob Light and your involvement with the organization. One thing about life that I realize more and more is you can never say never, although it's probably better to say no. Steve: It's too hard to even talk about to be honest with you. Glamour: With all respect to Arnel, would you ever consider down the line any type of reunion or is it too hard to even think of? Glamour: I know the band has Arnel now, and he's great, but there is no one like Steve Perry. Steve: Jonathan Cain wrote that song all by himself, which you can tell by the lyrics is very emotional because he was going through a tough time with his wife, and they ended up breaking up. Glamour: "Faithfully" is one of my absolute favorites. It went from that to "that song really kicks ass," even though it was a ballad! I said, "We gotta play it." So we played it, and as soon as Neal played the opening notes, the whole place screamed. "Open Arms".I remember the first time we played "Open Arms," and Neal won't remember this, but he didn't want to play the song because it was a ballad and it was going to be our fifth single. I loved "Send Her My Love." That had some vibes to it. I would say that "Separate Ways" was a strong song I liked doing. Steve: They were all some of my favorites, they really were. Glamour: Was there a favorite song that you loved to perform live? The management kept on booking us, and I had to get off.
The beautiful thing about this business is if you're fortunate enough to get in it, it's amazing, but it's a choke chain if you don't know how to put the brakes on for yourself because it keeps rolling like crazy. There's more to life than singing and touring. There's a whole thing called life, and it's not just about the entertainment industry. My mother had passed away the year before and family stuff was going on, and I just didn't want to miss life.
I was fortunate to have had an amazing career. I've been telling people, half-jokingly now for years, that Steve Perry is going to sing at my wedding one day-he just doesn't know it yet.īut here's the thing: I'm not engaged or even dating anyone seriously right now! But I always thought no pressure because honestly, when was I going to meet Steve Perry anyway? Funny how life catches you off-guard when you least expect it. (Oh, did I forget to mention that Stevie Wonder would be performing and classic musicians like Heart, Michael Bolton, and others were attending?)īut aside from being a huge admirer of Journey and Steve Perry, I've also had another reason to want to meet the "The Voice," as he's called. So you can only imagine when I saw his name on the tip sheet for the City of Hope Gala. This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.īut since Steve Perry decided to take a break from the music industry-he recorded such hits like "Oh, Sherrie" and "Foolish Hearts" as a solo artist post-Journey-he's stayed out of the limelight. I remember being so happy that The O.C.'s Ryan Atwood loved them just as much as I did. My parents were never die-hard Journey fans. I never even saw him in concert, and I think I was all of seven when he left the band.
I don't remember exactly when I became so obsessed with Journey and Steve Perry. The story ends well: Me with Steve Perry, and Heart's Nancy and Ann Wilson. No, in this case, it would be because without him being one of the most powerful and respected men in the industry (he's head of music and a managing partner at CAA), I wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet and interview the one person I honestly never thought I would-former Journey frontman Steve Perry. But now I consider him one of the coolest people in the world (and not just because he managed to raise over $5.5 million for City of Hope this year, which is the leading research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases). Before last night, I didn't even know Rob Light.