The One Off Series: Behind the Music: Journey

Hey SGT Rock Army, headbangers, servicemembers, and patriots and everyone else not sitting in a diamond castle! Welcome to The One Off Series where we here at Hill 30 for SGT Rock's Headbangers Ball bring you the best rockumentaries you may have yet seen out on interwebby and build the Rock and Mental communities even more on Rumble. On this episode of The One Off Series: Behind the Music: Journey

Hey SGT Rock Army, headbangers, servicemembers, and patriots and everyone else not sitting in a diamond castle! Welcome to The One Off Series where we here at Hill 30 for SGT Rock's Headbangers Ball bring you the best rockumentaries you may have yet seen out on interwebby and build the Rock and Mental communities even more on Rumble. On this episode of Behind the Music, one of our all-time favorite bands, Journey was formed in San Francisco in 1973 by former members of Santana—guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Gregg Rolie—along with bassist Ross Valory and drummer Aynsley Dunbar, initially as a progressive-jazz fusion outfit meant to back Santana on tour. After manager Herbie Herbert convinced them to become a proper band with a dedicated frontman, they recruited Steve Perry in 1977, whose soaring, soulful voice instantly transformed their sound. Their first album with Perry, Infinity (1978), went platinum on the strength of hits like “Wheel in the Sky” and “Lights,” but it was the 1981 album Escape—featuring the iconic “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Who’s Crying Now,” and “Open Arms”—that catapulted them to superstardom, becoming the best-selling catalog album in history and cementing Journey as the undisputed kings of arena rock in the early ’80s. Behind the massive success lay years of tension, ego clashes, and burnout. Perry’s vocal struggles and desire for creative control led to bitter departures and reunions, with the band cycling through singers (Steve Augeri and later Arnel Pineda, discovered on YouTube) while Perry became a reclusive figure. Legal battles over the band name, Valory and original drummer Steve Smith’s contentious 2020 firing, and decades of bad blood among members painted a classic rock & roll saga of triumph and turmoil. Yet “Don’t Stop Believin’” endured as a cultural juggernaut—revived by The Sopranos finale, Glee, and countless sports arenas—proving that, even as the classic lineup fractured forever, Journey’s music became one of the most unbreakable anthems in rock history.

And on that note. Take it away, Slick…roll Tape!

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