Ratt

Ratt was a 1980s hair metal band, originally formed in the 1970s as "Mickey Ratt". The name had been shortened to "Ratt" by 1983 when the band released their debut album, Ratt[?]. Stephen Pearcy[?] (vocals), Robbin Crosby[?] (guitar), Warren DeMartini (guitar), Juan Croucier[?] (bass guitar) and Bobby Blotzer[?] (drums) were soon signed to Atlantic Records and released Out of the Cellar (1984). The album was a huge success, selling millions of copies, as did the single, "Round and Round". Ratt's next album, Invasion of Your Privacy[?] didn't sell quite as well but still went platinum. The band soon gained a reputation for wild shows, and Ratt's following three albums, Dancin' Undercover[?] (1986), Reach for the Sky[?] (1988) and Detonator[?] (1990) did well.

In the early 1990s, grunge music became popular and hair metal bands like Ratt were no longer hip. Pearcy left to form a new band, Arcade, before moving on to another new band, Vertex. DeMartini issued a solo album while the band waited for metal to be popular again. In 1997, the band issued Collage, followed by Ratt[?], a second self-titled release. Pearcy left the group again, forming two more bands: Vicious Delite[?] and Nitronic[?], as well as a record label, Top Fuel Records[?], which released some archived Ratt material and Pearcy solo work. Ratt added Jizzy Pearl[?], John Corabi[?] and Robbie Crane[?], continuing to tour. In 2001, Robbin Crosby announced that he suffered from AIDS. He died in 2002.