Stephen Pearcy

Stephen Eric Pearcy (born July 3, 1956)[1] is an American musician. He is best known as the founder, singer, songwriter and sole remaining original member of the heavy metal band Ratt. He has also created the bands Firedome, Crystal Pystal, Mickey Ratt and Ratt Arcade, Vicious Delite, Vertex. He has also recorded five records as a solo artist.

For the American attorney, see Stephen Pearcy (activist).
Stephen Pearcy
Pearcy in 2008
Background information
Birth nameStephen Eric Pearcy
Born (1956-07-03) July 3, 1956
Long Beach, California, U.S.
GenresHeavy metal, hard rock, alternative metal, industrial
Occupation(s)Musician, singer, songwriter, Producer, Author, actor
InstrumentsVocals, guitar
Years active1970–present
LabelsTop Fuel Records
Associated actsMickey Ratt, Ratt, Arcade, Vertex, Vicious Delite
Websitewww.officialstephenpearcy.com

Pearcy has also worked as an actor, playing a killer hippie, Timothy Bach, in the horror film Camp Utopia.[2]

Career

In his early teens, Pearcy aspired to be a top fuel race car driver and expressed no desire to pursue a career in music.[3] He listened to music and occasionally went to concerts in the 1970s; however he had not so much as played a note in his whole life. Fate intervened in the form of a hit-and-run driver who struck Pearcy while he was riding his bike one night during the summer of 1970. While he was in the hospital for six months recovering from his accident, somebody gave him an acoustic guitar. After fiddling around with the guitar for a short time, Pearcy decided to shift his vocational focus from driving race cars to playing music, while never losing his love for the sport. He created the bands Firedome and Crystal Pystal until creating and writing original music for a band that he named Mickey Ratt (created in San Diego in 1977). Pearcy moved his band to Los Angeles in 1980 after seeing a local band, Van Halen, at The Whisky a Go Go.

After Pearcy and the band moved to Los Angeles in 1980, the band's name was shortened to Ratt in 1981 and the original lineup was solidified in 1983. Playing clubs like The Troubadour, The Roxy and The Whisky, Ratt amassed a large local following. After releasing an eponymous six-song EP in 1983 that sold 200,000 copies, Ratt released its breakthrough album, Out of the Cellar, on Atlantic Records in 1984. The band opened arena shows and tours for ZZ Top, Ozzy Osbourne and Billy Squier. "Out of the Cellar" went five times multi-platinum, and the band headed its own arena tours around the world for the next ten years. After releasing four multi-platinum records and three gold albums with Ratt, Pearcy left the band in February 1992.

Pearcy and former Cinderella drummer Fred Coury formed the band Arcade in 1992. Arcade released a self-titled album in 1993 and another album the following year. In 1996, Pearcy dabbled in an industrial metal band called Vertex (with Megadeth's Al Pitrelli and drummer / electronic producer Hiro Kuretani). Pearcy reunited with Ratt in 1996 only to leave the band for a second time in 2000 on the eve of a tour due to differences over financial allocation amongst band members.

Pearcy has recorded four solo records under his own indie label Top Fuel Records. The latest, "View to a Thrill", was released on Frontiers Music/Top Fuel Records in November 2018; the music from the album was written by Pearcy and guitarist Erik Ferentinos.

On April 24, 2014 it was announced that Pearcy had quit Ratt to work on his label Top Fuel Records and other music activities. His first book, "Sex, Drugs & Ratt n' Roll", was published in 2014.

A new lineup including Jordan Ziff (lead guitars) and drummer Pete Holmes (from the band Black and Blue) performed a handful of shows in late 2018 and embarked on a world tour starting in May 2019. Pearcy and bassist-singer Juan Croucier begin writing new Ratt music for the tour in 2019. The band is scheduled to headline a tour beginning in August 2020.

In April 2020, Pearcy and his band appeared in a GEICO insurance commercial where new homeowners lament that they "have a Ratt problem."[4]

Personal life

Pearcy is divorced, and lives with his girlfriend Kristi Adair. He has a daughter from his first marriage.

Stephen Pearcy solo band members

Discography
With Year Title Label US Billboard Peak US sales
Ratt 1983 Ratt Time Coast / Atlantic 133 150,000
1984 Out of the Cellar Atlantic 7 5 million
1985 Invasion of Your Privacy 7 3 million
1986 Dancing Undercover 26 Platinum+
1988 Reach for the Sky 17 Platinum+
1990 Detonator 23 750,000
1991 Ratt & Roll 81-91 57 Platinum
Arcade 1993 Arcade Sony 133 100,000+
1994 A/2 40,000+

(Epic/Sony Records)

Vicious Delite 1995 Vicious Delite Top Fuel Records
Vertex 1996 Vertex Blue Dolphin
Ratt 1997 Collage RATT Records
1999 Ratt Portrait Records 169 Estimated 200,000 worldwide

I

 Before and Laughter by Stephen Pearcy (CD, Aug-2000, Triple X Entertainment)- Solo 2002 Social Intercourse Top Fuel Records
2006 Fueler Top Fuel Records
Stripped Sidewinder Records
2008 Under My Skin Top Fuel Records
Ratt 2010 Infestation Loud & Proud / Roadrunner Records/WEA 30 150,000+
Solo 2017 Smash Frontiers Music SRL / Top Fuel Records
Solo 2018 View to a Thrill Frontiers Music SRL / Top Fuel Records
gollark: Looks pretty alive, he appears to be around in the 6th October one (I scrolled back lots).
gollark: #ThatClarifiesItSomewhat
gollark: I mean, you still have to conduct experiments, and there's a lot of stuff to test.
gollark: What's `tachydidaxis` exactly?
gollark: This seems poorly thought out.

References
  1. "STEPHEN PEARCY on CBI". caiforniabirthindex.org. 2019.
  2. "STEPHEN PEARCY on IMDB". imdb.com. 2002.
  3. "Behind the Behind the Music: RATT". All Access Magazine. 2006.
  4. https://ultimateclassicrock.com/ratt-geico-commercial/
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