I'm going to, hopefully, answer a few questions or impressions about Steve and Journey. BTW, I am not associated with Steve Perry, Journey or any of the group members. I am just a longtime fan. Specifically of Steve Perry. You probably don't want my opinion of Neal Schon.
Santana
1970 Album Abraxis
Neal Schon did not play on this album and (1969) he was not at Woodstock with them
Neal Schon did not join Santana until 1971. He only played for them for two years - 1971 and 1972. No other years.
Journey as it was when Steve joined them (Their current ages are after the birthdates)
Greg Rolie, June 17, 1947 (age 67)
Ross Vallory February 2, 1949 (age 65)
Ainsley Dunbar 10 January 1946 (age 68)
Neal Schon February 27, 1954 (age 60)
Robert Fleischman (Front man)
Steve Perry was born January 22, 1949 (age 65)
Steve Perry joined Journey October 28, 1977. His first public appearance was in San Francisco. CA He was 29 years old. He had been in bands before, among them Ice, Pieces, and Alien Project.
The album, Infinity, was released in January of 1978. It is the first album that has Steve on it.
I was 19 when Infinity was released. It was a very meaningful point in my life. Before Infinity, all I had purchased were 45's, not album. With Infinity, I bought my first album. Followed by Van Halen's debut album. It was a very good year for music.
If you look at what Steve has been doing in the last 10 years, you'll see that while he has not been on stage, or in front of an audience, he has been busy. Very busy.
This year, 2014, he has appeared on three different locations with Eel's, with whom he is friends. On 11 Jun 2014, he appeared at the ,L.A.'s Orpheum Theater. It is a great performance and I urge you to search it out on YouTube and watch it.
TLG
Shawn and Jason's Mom

Congrats to all of you youngsters for recognizing true talent and a heck of a man! He is one of few celebrities that I would ever try to approach if I were to see him in public. I remember the awkward, shy, 12 year old girl that I used to be in the 80s, hoping that some boy would ask me to dance while "Open Arms" or "Faithfully" played at our middle school parties.
I now live in The Republic of Georgia and I always play Journey/Steve Perry songs for my friends over here who missed out on such good music in the 80s while they were living behind the Iron Curtain. He is so hot in the close-ups of the Separate Ways video! And knowing that he is such a kind and sensitive guy makes him even more attractive. As someone else said- "God Bless Youtube" for posting all of these videos allowing us to time travel and introducing the youngsters to such a phenomenal artist. I will keep pushing his music on my friends and1c84 ESL lesson. "Oh Sherry" was one of my lessons for the grammar concept "should have been gone"! Love him! He will be immortal!

Because he has an amazing voice and sings with such emotion, and on top of that seems like a really nice guy.

Steve Perry is the greatest singer of all time. Simple as that

Steve Perry's voice is the "VOICE" of Rock & Roll. He was also an excellent performer, and (in interviews, articles, and when performing) he's always appeared to have a great attitude.
And, he's cute. How can you not love him5b4!
What, just for once in your life can't you be serious?

In 1981, I stood a few places behind Steve Perry as we waited to disembark from a plane in Minneapolis. I was 28 years ago and on a business trip. He must have been seated in first class and was patiently waiting like everybody else. His shoulder-length, black, glossy hair contrasted with the look of the other passengers.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

I am 36 years old. I loved Journey since 1977 when the Infinity album came out. I used to sneak in my brothers room just to listen to the album and YES I SAID Album not cassette, cd, ipod or anything like that. Steve Perry has a angel voice. Even in 2009 NO ONE AND I MEAN NO ONE HAS "THE VOICE" like Steve Perry. The only other singer that is equal to Steve Perry is(drum roll please)..FREDDY MERCURY from Queen. These 2 singers will always be the best. No one will ever come close ever again. Steve, if you read these blogs or whatever they are called, you have to Tour again. At least a Final Tour! I never had the opportunity to see you live and sing. Please for the fans!!! Come back. Whether its solo or back with Journey!!! G2000od bless Steve. Happy 60th!!

SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
You are a lucky lady. That was a great story. I imagine what I would do/how I would react to meeting him. I go back and forth between crying and passing out. Sure would like to find out some day heh.

I met Steve Perry standing outside his mother's house in Lemoore, CA in the fall of 1979, I believe. Sorry, it's been awhile, but anywaywhat was I sayin'?
OK here's the story: I had just recently moved to Lemoore from Hanford, CA (Yes, I'm from Steve's hometown) and had just started my sophomore year at Lemoore High School. My mom had a fender-bender car accident with someone who lived in the same neighborhood as Steve's mother and stepfather. So my mom decides she's going to go check out home of the driver of the car that hit her. Don't ask me why. So, my younger brother and I pile into my mom's yellow Toyota Corolla and we drive over to that neighborhood. My mom is driving slowly down a street when I happen to look over and see a familiar looking guy standing next to the mailbox in front of his house talking to the mailman. And then it dawns on me: it's Steve Perry.
"OHMYGAWD IT'S STEVE PERRY!" I scream. My mother immediately slams on the brakes. Right in front of the aformentioned rock star and his mailman. They both look up. Holy crap.
"DRIVE MOM, DRIVE!!!" I say, now clearly panicked. So my mom obliges, laying a little rubber because apparently, panic is contagious. As we drive away from the semi-startled mailman and Steve Perry, my mom says, "WHO was THAT??" I look at her like she has three heads. My brother is looking out the back window at Steve. I smack the back of his head so he'll stop. I can't believe my mom DOESN'T KNOW WHO STEVE PERRY IS!
I attempt to explain. "You know that album I bought not too long ago, the one with that song "Lovin, Touchin', Squeezin' on it?" She thinks for a second and then says, "ohyou mean that 'nah nah nah nah' song, the one you play all the time?"
I roll my eyes. "Yes, MOM." I reply in typical teenage fashion. So she says, "Well, why don't you let me take you back to where he was so you can meet him?" I am instantly mortified. I mean, I WANTED to meet him, sure, but I was scared to death. Remember, I was just a naive, young 14 year old girl at the time. So I consider my mother's suggestion for a fraction of a second and, unable to make up my mind, ask her what she thinks I should do. Without hesitating she said, "Hey, if that was ELVIS standing back there, believe me, I'd have jumped outta the car already."
That settled it. My mom raced back to our house so I could run in and grab my beloved "Evolution" LP and a pen. She then raced back to Steve's mother's neighborhood and I was praying that he hadn't gone inside the house, because there was no way in hell I would knock on his door. Just as she turned the corner, I saw that my prayers had been answered: there he stood, still talking to the mailman. (and you wonder why your mail takes forever to get delivered sometimes; the postal workers are all standing around talking to rock stars!)
So my mom parks the car across the street from Steve's mother's house and I get out, clutching my Journey a238lbum and the pen I grabbed from the desk in the living room to my chest. I'm too scared to move, so I just stand there. Steve sees me and waves me over and the mailman takes off. On legs that threaten to buckle underneath me, I walk across the street towards him. He's smiling at me. (!!!) He says "Hi!" as I approach, as if I were an old friend. I can't remember saying much more than, "Are you Steve Perry?" (he smiled even bigger and said "yes"), answering "All of 'em", when he asked me which song was my favorite on t16d0he album (he laughed) and of course telling him my name when he asked for it so he could personalize the autograph he was about to put on my album cover.
He couldn't have been sweeter to me, a star-struck young fangirl from way back in the day. I only stayed a short while, just long enough for him to talk to me for a couple of minutes and sign my album and wave to my mom and brother in the car across the street, LOL. I've been a fan for years and I have run into him a time or two when he used to come back to Hanford/Lemoore and visit his old favorite haunts. I haven't seen or heard of him being back in town for a long time now. It would be nice to run into him again, and perhaps buy him a drink and speak to him without panicking. I'd really try to talk him into singing again. I wonder what he'd think of my mom's comparison of him to 'The King'?

Oh, yes. If there is a video of him to be seen, chances are I've seen it. And if not, I need to know about it!! I have seen the Walk of Fame video. He is an incredibly gracious and humble man. Still is today. Last week he called into a radio station because the DJ has been singing Steve's praises all day. He called to thank the DJ for saying such kind words about him and basically said he wasn't worthy of so much praise!! Completely inaccurate in any fan's eyes of course. He is amazingly talented. A true gift to this world, and I hope the rumors of new music coming are true!!
If you couldn't tell, I'm obsessed. I freaking love him. sigh

"I could have written your post nearly word for word."
Great minds think alike I guess
But I think it's just that he had such a way of bringing his very heart and soul out, which in turn did the same to everyone who listened to him sing and watched him perform. Didn't matter whether you were male or femaleI happen to be a guybut he just connected on such an emotional level.
And I agree. God bless youtube. Did you happen to see that2000 clip from the day Journey got their star on the Walk of Fame? Where he was surrounded by adoring female fans and he gave a hug to every one of them? I think he knows how much love he has inspired, and no matter what your age or sex it's something you don't forget.

I could have written your post nearly word for word!!
I was born in 1982 and am slightly obsessed with Steve Perry lol.
And I DID squeal when I watched "We Are The World" a few months back (I hadn't heard it since I was a kid!). My husband looked at me like I had 2 heads lol!!
I, too, want to give him a great big hug. Okay, maybe a kiss too.
Anyway, God bless YouTube. I have found SO many videos of him on there. Just fuel for my Steve Perry addiction.

Not only is his voice the most unique and powerful in rock, but his live performances are as full of passion and energy as his songs are. His stage presence was second to none. No other performer ever demonstrated such love for what they were doing. It's a pity that he burned himself out at such a relatively young age. The music world is all the poorer for his absence.

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LOL! that would be sweet :)))
His fantastic voice! and his charisma
~Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life~

you want Steve Perry to be your husband and sing in your ear DONT STOP BELIEVIN' etc ?

Simple answer: Because he freakin awesome!
But seriously, he has a great voice and many great songs both solo and with Journey. WHile I don't find him physically attractive (I don't think he's ugly either), I still find him attractive due to his voice. He could be very ugly and still be attactive because he is such a great artist. Most of the pretty boy singers don't have half the talent he does.
He doesn't speak your language dickweed.

"I remember feeling my entire body shake each time he hit a high note."
That happens to me! I just melt when he does that!
My boyfriend and I don't know how he did it, and every time my brother and I listen to Journey (or any Steve songs), he's like "how does he DO that?!"
Hehe
Aurelie, and all you girls in their 20's, I'm so glad I'm not the only twentysomething to feel this way :D.
-Amanda
"She will remember your heart when men are fairy tales in storybooks written by rabbits"

I'm from '86 and just discovered him today, but damn what an amazing voice. He makes great music.

a buglet, you and I both have a big crush on him! Im a little older hough (b. in 1979). His eyes are deep and thoughtful and his voice is puhh..-fect!!!
..and every one of them words rang true and glowed like burnin' coal..

Steve does sound with a lot of emotion and watching him sing fills me with the emotion because of it. He is a true talent. He is what America is really starting to lack in. The new bands on the most part stink

Steve Perry was the the defintive of the male voice perfected. I think the universe gave him the best set of pipes for siniging his genre of music. To this day, he still remains the benchmark for me and there are many great male singers out there. I was about 20 when Journey was in the limelight. I saw them in concert in LA and found Steve to be this cute skinny bean pole full of life and energy, but when his mouth opened, it brought down the house! I remember feeling my entire body shake each time he hit a high note. Twenty Five years later I saw him walk by me at the airport in NYC. I saw he had aged and I began to cry to myself with a smile on my face. I was overwhelmed it was him and that so many years had gone by and this young vibrant boy was now a mature older man and how grateful I was for the joy that hi2000s voice and songs gave me during my youth. It made me think of the young girl inside me that had this sweet crush on him for all his incredible talent. I will always appreciate this man and am so thankful that he has been placed on this planet. His songs and voice gave me so much happiness. Only if he would perform again.

I remember when Journey became popular - not just popular, but WILDLY popular. The guys all went nuts over them. Their music was played all the time. There was even - I saw this for myself, on Pier 39 in San Francisco - a Journey video game. Really.
I just bought their greatest hits CD, and it just blew me away. I'd forgotten how good they were. I can't imagine going to a Journey concert without Steve Perry; it's just not Journey without him. If you want to see something REALLY stunning, catch the "Stone in Love" footage on YouTube; you probably have already, but if not, you'll see him sustaining one note PERFECTLY for several seconds. I've listened to it over5b4 and over.
Steve Perry was one of the defining voices of the '80s. I only wish he were still recording.

Yeah! I was watching a Journey concert on t.v from 1981..I wasn't even born then! Bb68ut i got so in tuned with it i almost cried!! I saw him sing with such emotion..I could really feel the music in my soul!!
Journey Forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~Britty~
I would rather be hated for who i am, Rather than be loved for whom i am not!!