The origins of Ratt go back to 1976 with a band called Mickey Ratt, formed by vocalist Stephen Pearcy. Mickey Ratt went through various line-ups. Members included guitarists Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, Paul DeNisco, and Bob DeLellis, bassists Matt Thorr, Tim Garcia, and Dave Jellison, Mike New, and drummers John Turner, Seth Faver, Dave Alford, and Bob Eisenberg. In 1981, the band's name was shortened to Ratt. Robbin Crosby played with the band later in the year. Jake E. Lee, Chris Hager, Matt Thorr, and Dave Alford all left Ratt to form Rough Cutt. Guitarist Warren DeMartini joined in 1982 . Bassist Gene Hunter and drummer Khurt Maier would temporarily play in Ratt before the arrival of drummer Bobby Blotzer and bassist Juan Croucier. Marq Torien briefly replaced DeMartini, though Warren returned in time for the recording of their Ratt EP, later in 1982.
In March of 1984, Ratt released their first full length album, Out of the Cellar. The album was critically praised by both fans and critics alike at the time of its release. Milton Berle's guest appearance, dressed in drag, in the video for "Round and Round" helped draw even more attention to the band. Out of the Cellar combined the energy of Van Halen and Aerosmith with the then-novel muted, staccato guitar-picking style of Judas Priest. Pearcy's raspy yet bluesy vocals melded well with the pyrotechnic guitar playing of twin leads of Crosby and DeMartini. Their music videos exposed them to an excited teen audience first tuning into MTV. Out of the Cellar became a commercial success, going platinum many times over. The album catapulted the band to the top, capped off by an incredibly successful tour selling out countless stadiums and arenas worldwide. The band toured extensively, sharing the stage with such acts as Billy Squier, Ozzy Osbourne, Blackfoot, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister and Lita Ford.
The band's second full-length album Invasion of Your Privacy was released July 1985. The album met mostly positive reactions from fans and critics. Warren DeMartini & Robbin Crosby's impressive guitar solos and Stephen Pearcy's highly sexual lyrics helped to further define the Ratt sound. Although it did not achieve the status of their debut, Invasion of Your Privacy nonetheless was certified double platinum.
A couple months after the album release, the band released a home video titled Ratt: The Video. The video featured the music videos from the Ratt EP, Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy. The video is currently out of print and is very rare and difficult to find.
Ratt's next release was Dancing Undercover in September 1986. The album was a relative disappointment with critics, however the album kept Ratt's string of consecutive Platinum albums alive.This is the first album as well to see Crosby's lead guitar duties minimized in favor of DeMartini. In an effort to be taken more seriously, Ratt broke from the tradition of featuring a girl on the cover, instead opting for gritty black-and-white photos of each of the band members. Likewise, the album does not contain a single power ballad and features experimental forays into thrashier and heavier sounds. The more straight-ahead style of the album (especially with this song) lead many fans to believe that Ratt was headed in a direction more akin to the style of bands such as Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. However, that was not to be the case as the experimental undertones of the album were quickly replaced with a bluesier sound throughout their next three releases.
The group's follow-up, Reach for the Sky (released in November 1988), contained the bluesy influenced hit "Way Cool Jr". The album was widely panned by critics with complaints ranging from it being formulaic and sophomoric to the album being uneven and lacking in focus. After this album, the band parted ways with long-time producer Beau Hill. The album cover featured a statue wearing night vision goggles, a human hand emerging from a bundle of twine, a fighter plane, and a wicker chair. The band has remained mum as to what the album cover is supposed to symbolize. Early pressings of the album cover revealed the breast part of the statue as requested by lead singer Stephen Pearcy. The revised version of the album contained the same tracks, but in a different order. After the revised version hit the record stores, producer Beau Hill stepped down as the band's producer duties and tensions within the band increased.
Ratt's fifth album Detonator was released in August 1990. Critics, being the narrow-minded pricks they are, claimed it lacked the live sounding energy of the band's earlier work, while some claim the sound more akin to "hair metal" but still showing experienced and refined musicians maturing and striving to expand their sound. The band co-wrote most of the album's songs with Desmond Child. Robbin Crosby played on the album, despite rumors to the contrary. (Juan Croucier stated that Crosby's guitar parts are on the disc but were low in the mix.) Plagued by addiction for some time, Crosby entered a rehab facility during the early stages of recording.
During the Japanese leg of the 'Detonator' tour in February 1991, Crosby's substance abuse had reached a point where his playing had become increasingly inconsistent onstage. The band removed the acoustic intro to Back For More, which Crosby performed, and modified other songs that featured Robbin as lead guitarist. The last show of the Japanese tour, in Osaka, would be Robbin's last with Ratt. He would not record or perform with the band again. When the band returned to the United States, Robbin checked into a rehab facility and Ratt continued on with Michael Schenker, formerly of the Scorpions.
Ratt was featured on the first season of MTV Unplugged, sharing the stage with all-female rock band Vixen. Michael Schenker was still performing with Ratt at the time of this taping.
At the end of 1991, Ratt released the final single of their career, "Nobody Rides for Free" which was included on their greatest hits album, Ratt & Roll 81-91. The song and video clearly signal a change in the band. Robbin did not participate in the recording of the song and was not present for the shooting of the video in which only the four remaining members appeared. The band never again recorded or performed with the original five members.
In February 1992, Stephen Pearcy left Ratt to form Arcade with former Cinderella drummer Fred Coury. Robbin Crosby started Secret Service, and performed on Rumbledog's self-titled debut album. Warren DeMartini was in Whitesnake for a short time and issued two solo releases. Bobby Blotzer and Juan Croucier both started to live more normal lives outside the public eye and the two of them became producers for underground bands. Juan Croucier ran a recording studio called 'The Cellar'. Robbin Crosby was diagnosed with HIV, which later developed into AIDS.
In 1996, the band began discussing a reunion and a subsequent album after their publishing had to be renewed. After meeting with Robbin, it was decided that he was not in any shape to record or perform with the band. Bassist Juan Croucier decided not to participate in the reunion as well. Ratt eventually moved forward with Pearcy, DeMartini and Blotzer, along with new member, Robbie Crane on bass. The band issued a compilation album called Collage in July 1997, which consisted of B-sides, alternate recordings, and new versions of songs from the Mickey Ratt period.
The 1999 self-titled Ratt album featured new material with a more conventional blues rock feel. With A&R guru John Kalodner in control over how the album turned out, bringing in outside writers in the process, the album didn't come close to the platinum success that Ratt typically achieved. Ratt added Keri Kelli as a second guitarist.
In 2000, Pearcy left the group, going on tour as 'Ratt Featuring Stephen Pearcy'. His record label Top Fuel Records released some archived Ratt material and Pearcy solo work. Meanwhile, DeMartini and Blotzer would carry on their version of Ratt replacing Pearcy briefly with singer Robert Mason. Jizzy Pearl and guitarist John Corabi ended up replacing Mason and Kelli. After a legal battle, the Demartini/Blotzer version would eventually win the rights to tour as 'Ratt'.
In 2001, former guitarist Robbin Crosby publicly announced that he was HIV positive. He died on June 6, 2002 from a heroin overdose. He was 42 years old.
Ratt toured for years with Jizzy Pearl until pearcy eventually returned to the band. On July 31, 2007, Ratt released a DVD entitled Ratt - Videos From the Cellar: The Atlantic Years which chronicle the band's video history. On August 21, 2007, they also released a best-of CD entitled Tell The World: The Very Best Of Ratt.
In August 2008 John Corabi resigned as rhythm guitarist and was replaced by former Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo. A new album, Infestation, was released in April 2010. Warren DeMartini said of the new album, Infestation; "It really exceeded our expectations. Conceptually we kinda wanted to revisit the period of Out Of The Cellar and Invasion Of Your Privacy. We were sort of loosely trying to shoot for something that could fit between those two records. We were looking for more uptempo ideas and the double leads that Robbin Crosby and I started doing back in 1983."
Towards the end of 2010, with tensions rising once again in the band, the members decided to go on hiatus where they remained until 2012. They are currently working on a new album with returning bassist Juan Croucier.
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