Ratt Presented With ‘Lucrative’ Offer for Classic Lineup to Reunite
Ratt's lineup has been a source of contention amongst the original members in recent years, but during a chat with Eddie Trunk on his SiriusXM Trunk Nation show, Ratt vocalist Stephen Pearcy offered an update on how things stand and revealed that they had a "lucrative" offer on the table.
When asked about the state of the band, Pearcy offered (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), "Well, I will give you a bit of something. There was an opportunity presented to all of us. Besides [it being] a lucrative thing, it would be amazing."
The singer then elaborated, "I mean, I will not do another Ratt record unless it's all of us. There's no reason; you won't get the Ratt sound. We got close. And people, I think, got a little pissy at me for saying that about [2010's] Infestation [album], [that] I really didn't think we hit a home run. Warren [DeMartini] and I basically handled that record, but [Carlos] Cavazo was [also] involved."
The singer continued to explain, "To me, you can put a label on it, but it's not Ratt. It's identifiable to the guitars and the whatever sound. We didn't get there. And also it had to do with… The mind that all of us were in at the time wasn't so together doing that record. But we did the best we could. So, for everybody who gets pissy about Infestation, I love that record… But you put a label on it, just because a label's on it doesn't mean it's Ratt."
As for his desire to reconnect only with the classic era lineup, Pearcy offered, "If the fucking components don't work, I'm not going out there with broken parts, nor am I gonna go out there and mislead my audience or our audience and rip 'em off of the true legacy of the band. Granted, no disrespect, [we've had] great players [in the band over the years], great humans and all this and that, but business aside… You've got it right here. You've got four of the original guys. I'm not wanting to go, 'Hey, guys. Come on.' Whatever. If it happens, it happens. I don't give a shit. And I can go out [with my solo band] and deliver the goods."
Pearcy says things got "a little convoluted" when the band started adding different players over the years, and while he offers no disrespect to those who have been part of the lineup during those times, he says he feels it's gotta stop and that the presentation should reflect the legacy.
That said, an offer was supposedly on the table but things still haven't come to fruition. "Out of the blue, we were presented with this opportunity recently, and I'm thinking, 'Wow. Maybe this might… For shits and giggles, the guys might dig it, besides lucratively,'" explained the singer, who added, "But it just ain't gonna fly. And that's where you just leave it alone — leave it alone. Sorry. But that's life, man."
When asked by Trunk if there was a "lack of communication" amongst the members, Pearcy added, "There's a lack of something, but it has nothing to do... If it had to do with business, I'm in. If it has to do with, 'Hey, you're copacetic and you just wanna kick back now and enjoy your life or what legacy you have,' well, that's all bitchin' too. So I have no qualms either way. I keep moving."
When asked to speculate if certain members had "checked out," Pearcy added, "It could be that. All I can do is make my own assessment of the situation. When you make a phone call and you get no response — and I won't say with who or what or where or when or why — fuck it. I don't care. We're all alive. We're all healthy. We're all groovy. I don't know. I hope everybody's cool. But I just got tired of people coming and going, and 'this is Ratt' and 'that's not Ratt.' Because we have a whole new audience — every day all these young people — and they see that marquee or they see that brand and they think, 'Oh, it's those five guys with that blond dude and that Warren DeMartini guy,' and then you pull in and you're, like, 'What the fuck? That's the singer guy.' So I just stepped out for a bit. And hey, it's nobody's fault but the way things just happened."
He adds, "A tour didn't go down [because of] COVID, this, that. And I went, 'I have no time for this' to start up again, to rehash or do something. So be it. Make whatever assessment you can. But I love that the opportunity was presented. And hey, let's hope. 'Cause I will not let there be another Ratt record unless all of us are involved, so you probably will never get one. All I can do is give you some of the archives, which will happen soon enough."
The classic lineup of Ratt consisted of Stephen Pearcy on vocals, Warren DeMartini and Robbin Crosby on guitar, Juan Croucier on bass and Bobby Blotzer on drums. Crosby died in 2002, but the other members remain and have been in and out of the lineup over the years. After a legal battle with Blotzer over use of using the band name, Pearcy and Croucier were the lone original members to have played with the most recent version of the band. That said, some peace appeared to have been made with Blotzer joining Pearcy during his solo 2021 livestream concert at the Whisky-a-Go-Go.
In August of 2021, Pearcy revealed that he had "indirectly" reached out to DeMartini, who had exited the group not long after the legal battle with Blotzer. 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.