“You know what? When it first pretty much started, [they] were starting to introduce our bunch of bands as that, I thought it was funny. Everybody’s all uptight. And I’m, like, ‘It’s kind of cool.’“
— Stephen Pearcy on RATT being labeled ‘Hair Metal‘

MUSIC NEWS — The term Hair Metal has been floating around for several decades and it’s apparent that while some hate it, there are many others who like it.

There are various labels that have been used for years describing the 80’s era of hard rock music that may have been a bit heavier on the image factor and they are; Glam Metal, Glam Rock or Glam Band, along with the terms Hair Band and Hair Metal.

RATT frontman Stephen Pearcy recently appeared on WOKW 102.9 FM‘s “Back To The 80s” with host Dennis Wood and was asked about the label.

The following excerpts are courtesy of Blabbermouth: “Forty-plus years later, I call it the ‘Sunset Strip Experience’. It was so new, refreshing and it was open to anybody — DURAN DURAN, VAN HALEN, MÖTLEYs [CRÜE], RATTs — and anything went. And there was no discrimination, there was nothing. It was just pure color. Everything was new. Everybody got a shot at it. But it wasn’t even just the decade of decadence. It was a decade of color, excitement, danger.”

That decade is — it was just so colorful and new. And that’s what I think people are discovering now, the new generations, the new, whatever you wanna call it. It’s not just this angst and this bummer stuff that everybody had to deal with in the ’90s. Granted, there were great bands that came out of that whole, what they call the Seattle scene. Well, let me tell you, the Sunset Strip Experience scene will never go down. It’s more alive than ever before.”

Pearcy continued: “It’s a decade that’ll never be repeated. The ’80s were a very special, special thing. A time, a place — it was just an era that it’ll never be duplicated. So, of course, everybody wants to relive it. It was a great thing. It was a good feeling. So everybody’s embracing it. And it’s good to see. For me, seeing my peers who were starting to fall victim to, like, ‘Ah, we can’t do this.’ ‘Ah, we don’t wanna do that.’ Now they’re embracing it. Of course, you should embrace it. It happened once. If you can keep it going and have fun with it, do it. Why not?”

Earlier this year, Pearcy was asked by LifeMinute if he was ever bothered by being called a “hair metal” band. Stephen said: “You know what? When it first pretty much started, [they] were starting to introduce our bunch of bands as that, I thought it was funny. Everybody’s all uptight. And I’m, like, ‘It’s kind of cool,’ I go, ‘because you’re gonna be played now on a lot of places and be identified with the ’80s scene just being called hair metal. So do something with it.’”

Pearcy and his band RATT were one of the premiere break-through artists in the 80’s.

The band released a fistful of records starting with their “Ratt” E.P. in 1983 which was followed by 4 Platinum full-length studio records including; “Out of the Cellar”, “Invasion of Your Privacy”, “Dancing Undercover” and “Reach for the Sky” and “Detonator” in 1990 which was certified Gold by the RIAA.

Ratt (1983) *E.P.
Out of the Cellar (1984)
Invasion of Your Privacy (1985)
Dancing Undercover (1986)
Reach for the Sky (1988)
Detonator (1990)

Pearcy and the band’s classic lead guitarist Warren DeMartini have rekindled their old friendship and have been doing shows under the moniker ‘Pearcy * DeMartini performing the music of RATT’.

The RATT touring duo have added Carlos Cavazo (guitars), Matt Thorne (bass) and Blas Elias (drums) to their live tour line-up for 2025 and they have select tour dates lined up over the next few months.

Listed below are their up coming shows, including this weekend’s appearance in Southern California at “The Grove” in Anaheim California.

Saturday August 30th “The Grove” Anaheim, CA
Sunday August 31st “Ilani Hotel” Ridgefield, WA

Saturday October 4th “River City Casino” St. Louis, MO
Friday October 17th “Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill” St. Petersburg, FL

Monday November 3rd “The Sands Rocks” Cancun, Mexico
Friday November 14th “Kiss Land-Locked / Virgin Hotels” Las Vegas, NV
Friday November 21st “Grand Casino” Hinckley, MN

Stay tuned to Metal Sludge for more Breaking News, Updates and Features along with both new interviews and classic 20 Questions.