Ratt’s Stephen Pearcy ‘Indirectly’ Reached Out to Warren DeMartini – ‘Everybody’s Talking About a Reunion’
Despite a legal battle a few years back over the rights to perform under the Ratt name, there at least appears to be a possibility of the classic Ratt lineup reuniting. Singer Stephen Pearcy elaborated on the band's inner workings during a recent interview with Waste Some Time With Jason Green (as seen below).
Pearcy has gone on record in the past about his desire to reunite the classic Ratt lineup to record new music and he recently played a livestream concert with drummer Bobby Blotzer, who was the primary member at odds with the rest of the band over usage of the Ratt name a few years back.
"Look, all of us had our rounds — everyone. It just wasn't me against whoever. We all had our rounds, as most bands do. That's how you get longevity. We've always gotten back together because it's the music. And that's my main concern," stated Pearcy. "The bands that have had this kind of longevity — and thank God for that, because there are bands that never got the time of day in the '80s that are getting more airplay and notice than ever before…"
"We're not the most dysfunctional. I'll tell you, there's bands who don't see each other; they just get onstage to take care of business," adds the singer. "There is a still a business in the music business, if you want it there to be."
He continued, "It's not just Bob — we all had our rounds. I mean, that's just the way it works. You've been a band of brothers for so many years, you piss on each other and shit happens. But I did state I see no reason doing a Ratt record unless it's all the original members; there's no reason. I can just write songs and do what I do because it makes me happy. I can do it whenever I want."
Guitarist Warren DeMartini exited Ratt not too long after siding with the reunion plans of Pearcy and bassist Juan Croucier in the battle over the name usage with Blotzer. When asked by Green about DeMartini, Pearcy stated, "Indirectly, [I contacted Warren] probably a couple of weeks ago."
He then clarified that while they hadn't connected through e-mail, messages were passed "through sources." The singer then added, "Put it this way: Everybody's talking about a reunion and this. Hey, look, life's short. I can sit around and do nothing, but that's not the kind of person I am, whether it's in the music business or anything else. I just move forward. If something goes down with the original members, that would be great. If it doesn't, c'est la vie."
In 2019, Croucier stated in an interview that after getting the new lineup up to speed on the road, he felt it was "natural, obviously, for us to record." Pearcy revealed later that year that he had "about 15 songs" to offer when the band got together in 2020 to record new music and an October 2020 update showed the group had indeed entered the studio. But in January of 2021, Pearcy shared his desire to only put out a new record with the original lineup.
In recent years, Pearcy and Croucier have remained the lone original members still in the current Ratt lineup, with a group that's currently filled out with Pete Holmes, Jordan Ziff and Frankie Lindia. The group enjoyed an extra boost in their profile in 2020 when they appeared in a Geico commercial.