Fan-filmed video of Stephen Pearcy‘s August 20 performance at the Monsters On The Mountain festival in Gatlinburg, Tennessee can be seen below.
As previously reported, guitarist Erik Ferentinos, who has played with Pearcy since 2001, suffered a heart attack after the RATT singer’s July 15 performance at Picktown Palooza in Pickerington, Ohio. He was rushed to the hospital where he had three stents implanted into his coronary arteries. This is known medically as a coronary angioplasty and aims to re-open the blocked coronary artery by inserting one or more stents. This helps keep the narrowed artery open. The following day, Erik took to his Instagram to share a photo from the hospital and to share the news that he “had a 99% blockage in my main artery as well as 2 other blockages.”
Pearcy told Sleaze Roxx that Erik was briefly considered for a position in RATT before Jordan Ziff and Chris Sanders came along in 2018. “He’s literally been in my band for years, in my solo band,” he said. “He’s a big part of my life, my solo records, the mixing, the engineering, just everything. I mean, we’re like a team when I go in to do my solo records with Matt Thorne in the studio, and Erik and myself. We get in there and there is no stopping us, so I wanted to keep that a little separate, but he’s always ready to go at any moment. He’s a total professional.”
Five years ago, Stephen praised Erik in an interview with Classic Rock Revisited, calling him “just brilliant. He comes up with stuff and he has these ideas and he just puts a title on it and I would go, ‘That is the most perfect title.’ He starts riffing on stuff and says, ‘Now… watch this.'”
Pearcy has released five solo albums so far: “Social Intercourse” (2002),“Fueler” (2004),“Under My Skin” (2008),“Smash” (2017) and “View To A Thrill” (2018).
Pearcy and bassist Juan Croucier are the sole remaining original members in RATT‘s current lineup, which made its live debut in July 2018 in Mulvane, Kansas. Joining them in the band are drummer Pete Holmes (BLACK ‘N BLUE, RATT’S JUAN CROUCIER) and guitarists Jordan Ziff (RAZER) and Frankie Lindia.
In January 2021, Pearcy told SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that he was open to the idea of making a new RATT album with all the surviving members of the band’s classic lineup.
RATT hasn’t released any new music since 2010’s “Infestation” LP.