Ex-Journey lead singer Steve Perry returned to the stage after a long time in a performance that was welcomed well by his audience.

Perry has made a guest appearance in St. Paul, Minnesota and belted with indie rockers Eels, singing one Eels song and two of Journey's. This marked the first time that he has performed live onstage following a 20-year hiatus that stemmed from a hip injury in 1998, according to People.

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The last time that Perry sang with Journey was in 1991, and his last performance onstage happened in 1995. The latter was for the promotion of his second solo album For the Love of Strange Medicine.

During an Eels show held at St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater, Perry appeared at the encore. Although he was known for belting out high notes on Don't Stop Believin' and Open Arms, he oddly chose to sing Eels' It's a Motherf***er, which is a quiet ballad.

After singing the piano-based ballad, Perry remarked that he loved that song. Then, he asked Eels if they had ever performed his songs before.

Fulfilling the wishes of the fans, Perry led the Eels band to the Journey's trademark Open Arms and Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'.

Sadly, fans should not expect Perry to be reunited with his former Journey bandmates, since the group is now faring very well with their new frontman Arnel Pineda. Perry, on the other hand, has not shown much interest in getting back together with them.

As for Eels, their connection to Perry is still unknown. However, it is thought that the group's lead singer Mark Everett is collaborating with the former Journey frontman for a project.

According to Rolling Stone, the old Journey band was supposed to go on a tour in 1997 when Steve Perry suffered a hip injury. They had to indefinitely delay the show until their frontman recovered, but the band members later became frustrated and brought Steve Augeri to take his place on the tour.

The decision did not sit well with Perry, and this caused him to move away from the limelight, coming out only for occasional interviews after Journey started using Don't Stop Believin' as the band theme song.

TagsSteve Perry