Credit: Mandee JohnsonThe seventh season of the AXS TV series The Big Interview premieres tonight with an episode featuring host Dan Rather having an in-depth conversation with ex-Journey singer Steve Perry.
Among the topics Perry discusses is his new solo album, Traces, which he recorded after the death of his girlfriend Kellie Nash from cancer in 2012.
In a preview clip of the show, Steve explains that the album includes songs that he wrote before he met Kellie, but that he now feels are about her because of the emotions expressed in the tunes. Perry tells Rather that he actually avoided playing early demos of songs such as “Most of All” and “In the Rain” for Nash because he thought they may have upset her as she battled cancer.
“I didn’t want to put that energy in her struggle to succeed in [fighting] cancer,” he says. “So I never played those [demos], because they were about profound loss.”
Other subjects Perry delves into with Rather on The Big Interview include his decision to leave Journey and withdraw from the music business, his experience being a child of divorce, and the highs and lows of rock stardom.
The Big Interview‘s season premiere will air at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.