On May 31st, former Journey singer Steve Perry joined Eels on stage in Washington D.C. at the Lincoln Theatre for four songs. It was the second time in a week Perry hit the stage with the band:

Perry surprised the audience at rock band Eels' May 25th show in Saint Paul, Minnesota, joining the band to perform the Journey classics "Open Arms" and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'". Fan-filmed footage from the show can be seen below:

John Jurgensen at The Wall Street Journal has since filed a report for Speakeasy on how Perry ended up on stage for the surprise performance. An excerpt is available below:

Eels frontman Mark Oliver Everett, who goes by E. says “Eels has a rich secret life that is rarely revealed, and part of it is that we’re good friends with Steve Perry.”

Everett, the group’s singer and primary songwriter, explained that the cameo was at least six years in the making, and started with Perry’s love for Eels–which initially went unrequited. Perry had been attending Eels concerts and occasionally sent word backstage that he wanted to meet the band. But Everett dodged his overtures because he worried that the rendezvous would be awkward. Unlike Tom Waits, Pete Townshend and other stars who have reached out over the years, Perry wasn’t on his list of musical influences. “I feel bad saying this now, but I was never into Journey,” he said.

Eventually, however, a meeting was arranged through a mutual acquaintance, filmmaker Patty Jenkins, whose 2003 movie Monster made good use of “Don’t Stop Believin’” (four years before The Sopranos did). After they first met at an Eels rehearsal in 2008, Perry started participating in the band’s regular Sunday croquet games in Los Angeles. “He quickly became part of the inner circle,” said Everett. He’d jokingly wager with Perry over croquet shots, betting his ASCAP royalty check against the 65-year-old singer’s. (Journey’s Greatest Hits has gone platinum 15 times over.)

Whenever Eels prepared to go on tour, Perry would show up to watch rehearsals, Everett said. The guys in the band would riff on Journey songs to coax him into singing. At first, Perry demurred, but a few years ago he finally joined them in the practice space on songs like “Lights.” When Eels began preparing for their current tour, the band was optimistic that he’d finally accept their standing invitation to join them in concert. “On the second day of rehearsals, we noticed that he’d brought his own microphone,” Everett said.

Go to this location for the complete article.

Steve Perry made a rare appearance at Guitar Center's Drum-off back in January. In a video report from Artisan News (below), he was asked about his former band and if he has worked again with Journey guitarist Neal Schon.

This sparked speculation of a reunion between Perry and his former band, but MelodicRock.com webmaster Andrew McNeice says the stories are "totally inaccurate".

Says McNeice: "I can 100% confirm there has been no business/reunion communication between the camps and while everyone is on good terms, with no issues, there are no plans for any kind of reunion or attempts to work together in the foreseeable future. As Journey management stated to me today: "No reunion plans... all is well in the Journey camp... big tour in the US this summer - Journey, Steve Miller and Tower Of Power."

I can add that Steve's recently quoted responses to media about his situation: “I haven't worked with Neal. We're trying. It's tough. I'm doing my best in that area and I can only do so much,” is basically a polite answer to the question he is always going to be asked. And watching him say it on video gives it better context than the quote in text"