He\u2019s gotten into spiritual matters, gets the same enjoyment from baseball that he used to get from music and almost didn\u2019t let The Sopranos use \u2018Don\u2019t Stop Believin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a punishingly hot August day and\u00a0Steve Perry<\/a>\u00a0is tucked into a corner table at a Lower Manhattan Italian spot taking a quick breather between a long round of radio interviews promoting\u00a0Traces<\/em>, his new comeback album that he spent the last five years recording in such secrecy that he made everyone on his team sign strict NDAs. He\u2019s no more than two minutes into our conversation, barely enough time to dip a single piece of bread into olive oil and take a bite, when he stands up and announces he has to leave at once. There\u2019s loud dance pop playing on the radio and it\u2019s driving him crazy.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is\u00a0very\u00a0<\/i>distracting,\u201d he says, as a large, tattooed bodyguard and two publicists perched near the bar look on. \u201cI\u2019m hearing drums and rhythm. I have a very ADD, multi-track mind and I can\u2019t listen to two things at once. I just hear these electronic drums. Let\u2019s go outside even though it\u2019s going to be a little sticky.\u201d<\/p>\n With the bodyguard in tow, we head onto the street towards a park overlooking the Hudson River. It\u2019s a complete shift from our plan for the afternoon, but Perry has never been one to stick to a script. Ignoring the desperate pleas of his bandmates, management team and fans, he walked away from\u00a0Journey<\/a>\u00a0near the pinnacle of their success in 1987 to live a quiet life free from screaming crowds and record executers thirsty for another hit. And even when Journey-mania returned again in the mid-2000s and \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin’\u201d became absolutely inescapable \u2014 used everywhere from the\u00a0The Sopranos<\/em>\u00a0finale to\u00a0Glee<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 he refused to emerge from hiding in any way, allowing his former bandmates to reap the hefty rewards by playing about 70 shows a year with a soundalike they plucked from YouTube.<\/p>\n Dressed head-to-toe in black, Perry walks down the city streets, past throngs of tourists that don\u2019t give him a second look, and attempts to explain why he turned in his rock star card over 30 years ago. \u201cIt seemed like the only thing I could do to stop some of the badness in my heart and the lack of passion for singing,\u201d he says. \u201cI just had to stop. I was feeling like a forced version of myself, getting into some bad habits and not connecting to my heart. I was completely deep-fried.\u201d<\/p>\n