Steve Perry Makes Another Surprise Performance, Could Signal Official Comeback

Steve Perry gave some music fans in Washington, D.C., a huge surprise on Saturday — and given all of his fans hope of an official comeback to the stage.

The Journey rocker, who had been away from music for nearly 19 years, made a surprise appearance last week with the indie rock band the Eels. Then on Saturday he followed it up with another unannounced appearance with the band, this time at Washington’s Lincoln Theatre.

Perry even performed a few Journey hits, the Washington Post noted:

Perry, looking the part of the rocker-aged-well in a tie and sport coat with jeans, released his last album in the late ’90s and hadn’t performed in public for nearly two decades — until he made a surprise reappearance at an Eels show in St. Paul last week. He reprised that act Saturday, joining the band again (again, unannounced) for its encore and singing the Eels ‘It’s a Motherf***er,’ Sam Cooke’s ‘Only Sixteen,’ and Journey hits ‘Loving Touching Squeezing’ and ‘Open Arms.’

The songs were identical to the ones Perry performed at the e Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota earlier in the week. During the initial performance Perry told the crowd that he was eager to tackle the Eels’ song “It’s a Motherf***er” for some time.

“I love that song… When I first met [Everett], I said someday I wanted to sing that song. And tonight is the first time I’ve ever sang it,” Perry explained to the crowd.

Steve Perry had stopped performing with Journey in 1991, and after a few years of playing solo he gave up live performances in 1995.

The two appearances make something of a comeback for Steve Perry. He has endured a number of hardships since stepping away from performing, including a cancer scare and the death of his girlfriend.

In a heartfelt blog post last year, Perry wrote about falling in love with psychologist and breast cancer survivor Kellie Nash after seeing her on television. Though Nash had already been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer when they met, Steve said the two spent all their time together. Perry said they “had the most magical summer of our lives together.” Nash died a few months later.

“Though Kellie and I were only together for one-and-a-half years, it was a lifetime of love packed into every moment,” he wrote.

Steve Perry hasn’t indicated if his comeback to the stage will extend any further, but fans of the Eels might want to keep their eyes peeled. The band is slated to perform six more times on their tour before jetting off to the UK.