Steve Perry Working On a Solo Album

Share This:

Some random SF Giants fan

Here’s some news sure to get the rumor mill churning – former Journey vocalist Steve Perry has just announced that he’s working on his first solo album in over 20 years. On December 10th, he called in to the “Mark in the Morning” show on KSWD-FM in Los Angeles to wish radio personality “Uncle” Joe Benson a happy birthday, and volunteered that he’s in the studio as we speak. “There’s been so many rumors going around that I’m in the studio, that I’ve been there for years,” he said. “The truth is, I finally went into the studio in March, and I’ve been in there ever since, just trying to finish this record.”

Perry effectively retired from music in the mid-’90s, citing health problems like arthritis and a bad hip as the primary reasons. Last year, however, he ended his 19-year absence from the stage with a surprise appearance at an Eels concert in St. Paul, Minnesota. And as always, there’s been plenty of talk of a Journey reunion. “The door has always been open, like I’ve said a zillion times,” Journey guitarist Neal Schon told ABC News Radio. “People ask me every day, ‘Are you reuniting?’ Steve says, ‘No,’ and I say, ‘You never know.’”

Perry’s new solo release would be his first since 1994’s For the Love of Strange Medicine, which was certified gold in the U.S. for selling over half a million copies. No concrete info has been released yet about when the album will arrive, but the rocker seems optimistic that it’ll be sooner rather than later. “I’m looking forward to finishing it, put it that way,” he said. “I want to get it done probably in the early part of this coming year.”