The Los Angeles five-piece Ratt rose to prominence in the mid-1980s on the strength of their bold, tuneful heavy metal sound. Their roots traced back to the 1970s act Mickey Ratt, which had fully transformed into Ratt by 1983, when the lineup consisted of vocalist Stephen Pearcy, guitarist Robbin Crosby, guitarist Warren DeMartini, bassist Juan Croucier, and drummer Bobby Blotzer. An independently issued self-titled debut appeared in 1983 and secured the group a contract with Atlantic Records. The major-label debut, 1984’s Out of the Cellar, climbed into the American Top Ten and moved more than three million copies. Its lead single, “Round and Round,” peaked at number 12 and demonstrated the band’s capacity for pop radio success. Although 1985’s Invasion of Your Privacy failed to match the multi-platinum totals of its predecessor, the album still reached the Top Ten and surpassed one million sales. By then Ratt routinely filled arenas nationwide and dominated both MTV and AOR playlists. Dancin’ Undercover (1986) and Reach for the Sky (1988) sustained the platinum run, though audience numbers had begun a modest decline by the arrival of their last album of that era, 1990’s Detonator.
Pearcy exited in 1992 to launch Arcade, which delivered a self-titled debut in 1993 and A/2 in 1994 before he formed Vertex and issued its sole self-titled album in 1996. With glam metal out of favor amid the ascendant alt-rock wave, Ratt largely withdrew from activity through much of the decade while DeMartini issued the solo set Crazy Enough to Sing to You. Renewed public interest in 1980s rock prompted a reunion that produced 1997’s Collage; two years later the band released another self-titled album that followed the identical blueprint. Pearcy departed once more soon afterward and subsequently fronted the more contemporary Vicious Delite, whose self-titled debut surfaced in 2000, as well as Nitronic. He also founded Top Fuel Records and oversaw several archival projects: Arcade’s A/3: Live & Unreleased, Mickey Ratt’s The Garage Tape Dayz 78-81, and his own Before and Laughter compilation. His first proper solo album, Social Intercourse, arrived in 2001. Ratt persisted without him, adding vocalist Jizzy Pearl (formerly of Love/Hate), guitarist John Corabi (formerly of Mötley Crüe), and bassist Robbie Crane to the core of DeMartini and Blotzer. In summer 2001, Robbin Crosby revealed he was fighting AIDS, prompting Croucier to begin assembling a benefit album. Crosby succumbed to related complications in Los Angeles in June 2002. Pearcy rejoined in 2010, resulting in the band’s seventh studio album, Infestation.
