Former JOURNEY Singer STEVE PERRY Is Putting Finishing Touches On New Solo Album

Former JOURNEY singer Steve Perry has confirmed that he is putting the finishing touches on a new solo album for a tentative 2016 release. The legendary vocalist revealed the news during a call-in to the "Mark In The Morning" show on KSWD-FM in Los Angeles. He said: I'm in the studio, actually. I started… There's been so many rumors going around that I'm in the studio, I've been there for years. The truth is, I finally went into the studio in March, and I've been in there ever since, just trying to finish this record."

Asked when fans can expect to hear the album, Perry joked: "Well, I've asked myself that today." He then added: "I mean, I certainly am looking forward to finishing it, put it that way. I wanna get it done probably in the early part of this coming year."

Perry last released a solo album in 1994. That effort, "For The Love Of Strange Medicine", was certified gold in the U.S. for sales in excess of half a million copies.

Perry made three surprise guest appearances with EELS last year, prompting JOURNEY's current frontman, Arnel Pineda, to write in a tweet that Perry would be welcome to reclaim "his righteous place."

Perry — whose rumored return to JOURNEY has been the cause of rock gossip and band denials for several years — performed two JOURNEY classics with EELS — 1981's "Escape" power ballad "Open Arms" and 1979's "Departure" album standout "Lovin,' Touchin', Squeezin'" — but didn't attempt to hit the highest notes, telling Classic Rock magazine, "I sounded more like Otis Redding than I did in JOURNEY; and I love Otis, so that's not a bad thing. But after twenty years, wherever you hit that golf ball is where it lands. I just wanted to go out there and hit the ball. I was pretty pleased with what I pulled off."

Perry's unannounced appearance with EELS in Saint Paul marked his first relatively high-profile public performance since his last solo tour in 1995.

The singer told The Pulse Of Radio that the passage of time only further solidified his opinion of how incredible JOURNEY was during its heyday. "What a great band we once were," he said. "What a great band. I think the older I get, the more I'm able to look back at the forest now, 'cause I certainly walked out of the trees. I think everybody was just following their heart and their nose and following that lead. Just doing what we do. We're a band. We record, we rock, we instinctually reach for what we believe's a good idea — and argue about stuff, agree, disagree and move forward. And we were just crankin'."