As the founder and singer of Ratt, Stephen Pearcy was front and center for the group’s hair metal heights in the 1980s.
Thanks to their massive debut album Out of the Cellar (1984) and its hit single “Round and Round,” Ratt was quickly anointed as one of rock’s premiere acts. However, by the early ‘90s, things had fallen apart for the band.
During a recent appearance on Billy Corgan‘s The Magnificent Others podcast, Pearcy admitted he would do things differently if he could go back in time.
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“One thousand percent I would’ve done it differently,” the rocker confessed. “Because when I created the band Ratt… I didn’t have all the answers. I just created the thing. And there was a lot of my songs. The whole [first Ratt] EP is all me. I wrote the whole EP except for ‘[You Think You’re] Tough’. I give Robbin [Crosby, guitarist] credit because he was my right-hand man.”
Pearcy went on to explain that Ratt’s downfall was a case of “too many cooks,” with egos and conflicts exploding with the band’s success.
“It was cool the first few years, with Robbin and me directing the madness,” he recalled. “Because I followed the Van Halen schematic. Blame it on them. My work ethic was, ‘We’re gonna kick ass. We’re gonna look great. We’re gonna do this.’ It was like, ‘Just go for it.’ Then it wasn’t that anymore.”
How Did Ratt Fall Apart?
By 1992, Crosby was consumed by heroin addiction. Meanwhile, Pearcy regularly clashed with the band’s other members over creative control. Ratt broke up, but drummer Bobby Blotzer and guitarist Warren DeMartini later continued with other musicians.
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“When you start wanting to do things against the grain… you’ve got like, mutiny on the bounty,” Pearcy recalled, thinking back to the split. “They all went after me and then they all fell. So, you know, I’m the last man standing.”
Pearcy still performs Ratt’s classic material, and he’s been joined in recent years by DeMartini, with whom he is now on good terms. The frontman admits he’s happy with Ratt’s legacy, especially considering how their music’s popularity has endured.
“I’m proud of what we did,” Pearcy affirmed. “It was crazy, but it was a beautiful thing.”