What Makes This Singer Great? Steve Perry – Journey

Steve Perry’s road to greatness is another awesome example of overcoming adversity.

Steve had a difficult childhood with his parents separating when he was 8, an event that he still cannot talk about. Perry has stated, “There was nowhere to talk it out, so I got to sing it out instead.” This was the beginning of his singing career and on his 12th birthday, his mother presented him with a gold eighth note pendant which Perry wears to this day.

In his early 20s, Perry moved to Sacramento to start a band with 16-year-old future music producer Scott Mathews, who co-wrote, played drums and guitar and sang. The band was named Ice and was poised to “make it” in the music business. In 1972 they recorded at the Record Plant studios in Los Angeles by day while Stevie Wonder recorded his Talking Book album by night. However upon returning to Sacramento, Ice disbanded as the band had no management and Mathews was still in high school. As a result, the recordings went virtually unheard.

After several failed music acts, Perry returned to his mom’s farm and decided not to continue his singing career. Fortunately, at the urging of his mother, Perry answered a call from Walter “Herbie” Herbert, manager of struggling San Francisco-based band Journey. Hebert had been given a demo of one of his songs and thanks to Perry’s mother’s advice, he ended up being hired as the frontman of the band.

I’ll be looking at a little montage of some classic Perry performances and sharing my feedback on what I think distinguishes his singing. I want to hear from you all too so let me know what you thought made Steve great!

Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy – Where The PROOF Is In The Singing!