Post-Journey
Perry underwent successful hip replacement surgery in 1998 to correct the problem he had been diagnosed with two years earlier. He released the Greatest Hits + Five Unreleased compilation album later in 1998; the unreleased tracks included an original Alien Project demo as well as selections from the abandoned Against the Wall CD. Also in 1998, Perry recorded two songs for the Warner Bros. film, Quest for Camelot, which can be found on the motion picture's soundtrack.
Journey was the subject of an episode of VH1's Behind the Music in 2001, where Perry made the statement that he "never really felt like he was part of the band", to which former manager Herbie Herbert reacted saying "that's like the Pope saying he never really felt Catholic."
Perry appeared at a ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 21, 2005, after previously stating it was unlikely that he would ever stand with the band again. He indicated that, though it was a good experience, his rejoining Journey is not likely. However, he has also stated "ever say never, unless you mean never, never the less" when the issue of returning to Journey has been mentioned.
In 2005, Perry produced "The Secret of Moving On", a track on a solo album for former Ambrosia lead vocalist David Pack. Perry also provided background vocals for "A Brand New Start," among the many songs he and Pack co-wrote shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The album, released in September 2005, includes covers of two of Pack's biggest hits with Ambrosia, "Biggest Part of Me" and "You're the Only Woman."
During the 2005 baseball season, the Chicago White Sox adopted Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" as their unofficial team anthem. As a result, Perry (an avid San Francisco Giants fan) was asked to attend the World Series and even traveled with the White Sox to Houston where Perry joined the players on the field and in the locker room as they celebrated their championship.
In late 2006, Perry's two solo projects, Street Talk and For the Love of Strange Medicine (both featuring previously unreleased material), and his Greatest Hits CD were remastered and re-released. Sony Legacy released Playlist: The Very Best of Steve Perry on January 13, 2009, a compilation of some of his best songs.
Perry rekindled a childhood love for cattle and dairy farming, including an interest in a small bovine insemination business in California's Central Valley.
An avid fan of the San Francisco Giants, Perry was spotlighted during their 2010 World Championship run. He was spotted in game 5 of the NLCS leading the crowd in a singalong of Don't Stop Believin'. In the eighth inning of the second game of the 2010 World Series in San Francisco, fans at AT&T Park began singing along to the song "Lights" by Journey. Perry, was shown on the scoreboard singing, jumping and pumping up the crowd. The Giants went on to win 9–0 over the Texas Rangers.
During the 2012 Giants versus Tigers World Series in San Francisco at AT&T park, Perry was shown on the scoreboard singing along to "Lights" once again.
In an interview with, Classic Rock Presents AOR released in December 2010, it was revealed that Perry has written over 50 songs and is contemplating his first solo project since 1994. "A little over a year and a half ago, I felt I could maybe come back to it, I have been writing. I have about 50 songs, in a little over a year. I never thought I would do it again, but I decided to open up that room and see what I could find. It's been interesting. Some of it sounds familiar, some of it sounds contemporary, some of it you can't put a label on - and I've never been big on labels anyway." Perry is reluctant however to put a timescale on his return. "I'll be honest, I don't really know how to do that but I can definitely smell a solo project on the horizon. I will be recording some music."
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