high school graduation and move to Oregon

Following his high school graduation in 1981, Steve Perry left his hometown of Binghamton, New York , for Eugene, Oregon , to pursue track and field and a chemistry degree at the University of Oregon . A punk rock devotee since adolescence, Perry soon became engrossed in Eugene’s underground music scene, where he eventually met and befriended musician and fellow University student Dan Schmid . Sharing similar musical ambitions and a mutual disinterest in school, the pair agreed to drop out of college together and start a band, forming the punk trio The Jazz Greats in 1983, which evolved into the Paisley Underground -styled garage rock group Saint Huck, which lasted from 1984 to 1987.