What Is Steve Perry's Net Worth? How Much Did He Make in Journey?

Publish date: 2024-09-17

Music

Steve Perry is making a comeback -- but probably not for the money. Discover the Journey frontman's net worth, and learn what he made as part of the iconic rock band.

Published on October 7, 2018

2 min read

Steve Perry is making a comeback, but he’s probably not recording again just for the paycheck. CBS reports that with Perry out front, Journey had numerous top 40 hits in the 1980s, and the band was “on a commercial roll” in the 1990s, when Perry decided to leave it all behind. He already has an impressive net worth, but he recently released his first new studio album in 20 years, Traces.

Ahead, discover everything you need to know Steve Perry’s net worth and what he made during his years with Journey.

Steve Perry got his big break with Journey

Biography reports that Steve Perry was born in 1949 and played with several bands before he joined Journey in 1977. “The band achieved tremendous pop rock success with its 1981 album Escape, which featured the now-classic ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,'” the publication explains. Journey emerged as one of the top acts of the 1980s, but Biography notes that “While the band was hugely popular with music fans, many critics were less than kind.”

But he got burnt out after 10 years with the band

Biography reports that Journey saw another wave of success with 1986’s Raised on Radio, but Steve Perry was ready to part ways with the band. In a statement to People magazine, Perry explained, “I had a job burnout after 10 years in Journey. I had to let my feet hit the ground, and I had to find a passion for singing again.” His mother’s health and his own — including a hip condition that led to hip replacement surgery — soon sidelined Perry, and the band went on without him.

Steve Perry’s net worth is impressive

Celebrity Net Worth estimates Steve Perry’s net worth at $45 million, reporting that Perry contributed “to the most commercially successful years of Journey’s history.” Perry sang lead vocals on nine of Journey’s albums, and on hits such as “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Open Arms,” and “Wheel in the Sky.” The publication reports that Perry “also had a successful solo career from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.” Perry re-emerged on the pop-rock scene with 1994’s For the Love of Strange Medicine, but didn’t reach the same level of success he’d previously enjoyed.

He made millions of dollars as part of Journey

The Richest reports that Steve Perry was making millions of dollars per year in the late 1970s and the 1980s. According to the numbers obtained by the publication, Perry’s earnings during his Journey days peaked in 1981, when he made $15.8 million from record sales of Escape and $2.6 million from record sales of Captured. But Perry made even more than that in 2011, when he earned $21 million from ticket sales of Journey’s The Eclipse Tour.

Perry says, ‘I don’t need any money’

Steve Perry’s net worth is enough to make it obvious that he isn’t back in the recording studio because of his finances. And Perry told CBS that he’s happy to be making music again, even if he’s doing it alone. “Look, I’m not doing this for money, honey,” he explained. “I don’t need any money. I eat too much already! I can only drive one car at a time. This is about the passion. But maybe it took a broken heart to get there, a completely broken heart,” referring to the loss of his girlfriend, Kellie Nash, to cancer in late 2012.

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