Table of Biography
Steve Perry is a well-famed American singer and songwriter. Steve Perry is the frontman and the lead singer of the rock band names ‘Journey.’ Meanwhile, the band achieved a huge success with its 1981 album Escape, which featured the now-classic “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Additionally, he is considered one of the era’s most famous singers.
Early Life
Steve Perry was born on the 22nd of January 1949, in Hanford, California, the United States. He holds American citizenship and belongs to Portuguese ethnicity.
Meanwhile, he can speak bother English and Portuguese fluently. According to the astrological chart, he has a birth sign of Aquarius and is currently 75 years old as of 2024. His full name is Stephen Ray Perry and practices Christianity religion.
Caption: Steve Perry with his parents (Source: Reddit)
The name of his parents is Ray Perry (father) and Mary Perry (mother). Additionally, his father was a vocalist and owner of the radio station KNGS. His parents divorced a few years after his birth, and he moved in with his mother and grandparents. He was 14 years old when his mother met and married Marv, who encouraged him to pursue his musical career. His parents relocated to Lemoore, California.
Education
Perry attended the local high school and actively participated in the school’s marching band as well as other bands. In the beginning, he pursued his musical ambitions by forming groups with similar interests and performing in a local barbershop quartet. ‘The Sullies,’ in which he played drums and sang, was the most fulfilling of them all. It won the Calaveras Battle of the Bands, beating out 80 other bands.
He attended College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California, and was the choir’s first tenor. Even though he did not complete his formal schooling, the musician within him overwhelmed his other qualities.
Professional Career
Steve Perry formed a band named Allen Project along with Craig Krampf in 1977, which earned them a recording contract with Chrysalis and Columbia Records, right away after their first performance. Sadly, the band’s bassist Richard Michaels died in a car accident on 4th July of the same year.
As a result of this unfortunate experience, he returned to Lemoore and chose to discontinue his singing career. But his mother’s encouragement and support convinced him not to give up.
Joining the rock band “Journey”
Fortunately, he received a call soon after from Walter ‘Herbie’ Herbert, the manager of a San Francisco-based band called ‘Journey,’ who had discovered his Alien Project demo cassette.
In San Francisco, he made his public debut with ‘Journey’ on October 28, 1977. With Perry on board, the band quickly transitioned to popular rock and released their first album with him, “Infinity,” which resulted in a significant rise in sales. It featured his self-written song “Lights,” which became an instant chartbuster.
Caption: Steve Perry performing with his rock band, Journey in the concert (Source: Facebook)
“Evolution,” the band’s follow-up album, was likewise a hit, with the popular songs “Lovin,” “Touchin,” and “Squeezin.” However, Journey’s 1981 album “Escape” pushed the band to international stardom. The album included chart-topping singles such as “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Open Arms,” and “Who’s Crying Now,” all of which became timeless classics.
In 1996, he released “Trial by Fire” as his final album with Journey. He left the band after the album’s release for personal reasons. Moreover, he had a musical break for several years until returning with a solo album, “For the Love of Strange Medicine,” in 1994.
Although he has not formally rejoined Journey, he has appeared with the band on occasion over the years, including their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
Steve Perry – Awards
As an individual, he has not won any kind of awards or recognition. On the other hand his band ‘Journey’ was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for recording at 6750 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Similarly, he was included in one of the music’s top 100 singers list by the Rolling Stones magazine.
Net Worth 2024
Throughout his musical career as a singer, songwriter, and musician, he has earned a huge sum of money in his career. As of 2023, his net worth is estimated at around $70 million. He is best known as the lead singer of the rock band Journey. Perry has had a great solo career outside of ‘Journey,’ and is widely regarded as having one of the best voices in music history.
Relationship Status
In terms of his personal life, Steve Perry has never married til now. But, he has been in a couple of relationships. He dated Sherrie Swafford, whom he met in the early 1980s, first. They dated for several years before splitting up in the late 1990s.
In 2011, Perry started dating psychologist Kellie Nash. He stood by Nash’s side as she faced a relapse of cancer, and she died in December 2012. In an interview with Dan Rather in 2019, he revealed that he has a daughter and grandchildren.
Health Issues
Throughout his career, he has had various health issues. He had hip surgery in the late 1990s and suffered from a degenerative bone ailment that forced him to walk with a cane for several years.
Moreover, he was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2013 and received treatment. In a 2018 interview, he also stated that he had undergone surgery to remove a cancerous mole from his face.
Steve Perry – Body Measurements
Caption: Steve Perry posing for a photo (Source: Louder Sound)
This American singer stands 5 feet 7 inches tall (1.71 m) and weighs around 80 kg (176 lbs). In addition, he has a pair of black eyes with black hair color.
Social Media
On his Instagram page ‘@steveperrymusic’ there are over 173k followers. Likewise, there are over 61.5k followers on his Twitter page ‘@StevePerryMusic’ and over 416k followers on his Facebook page. In addition, he has a self-titled YouTube channel, there are over 295k subscribers as of writing this content.