“Everything that’s happened to us has been like something out of a fairy tale.”
Those were the words of Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby who was talking about the success of the
band’s first album, 1984’s Out of the Cellar. Ratt would go on to dominate the rock scene in
the 80’s with hit album after hit album. But soon enough Crosby’s fairy tale would turn
into a nightmare. Stay tuned for the full story. Becoming a rockstar was the dream of guitarist
Robbin Crosby who grew up in San Diego. In the 1970s he played in a local band named Mac Media
where he came up with early versions of the songs "Scene of the Crime" and "I'm Insane" both
of which would show up on Ratt’s debut album. Eventually Crosby left the group and joined a
different San Diego outfit named Phenomenon. It was around this time Crosby would meet a Singer
named Stephen Pearcy who was fronting a group named Mickey Ratt. By 1981 both musicians hadn’t
yet played in the same band, but they moved to LA with their respective groups hoping to land
a major record deal. Also joining Crosby on his journey from San Diego to LA would be his
girlfriend andfuture model and actress Tawny Kitaene We’ll talk more about her in a bit.
Pearcy would recall to the San Diego Tribune during a 1984 interview why he moved to LA saying
“The only bands that were getting signed (to record contracts) in San Diego at that time
were new wave-type bands, so I decided to take my band, Mickey Ratt, to Los Angeles,”
Los Angeles proved to be a much more fertile ground for the type of rock n’ roll that the
two musicians were playing given the success of LA based bands like Van Halen and Quiet Riot.
And it wasn’t too long after the pair moved out to LA that their own bands fell
apart and Pearcy and Crosby soon started playing together under the moniker Ratt.
Pearcy would discuss the important of Crosby joining the band
and how he was instrumental to the band’s sound during a 2011 interview with Noisecreep saying
I brought Robbin into the lineup. Together we laid down the foundation for what everyone
knows as the Ratt sound. In those early years, Robbin was pretty much the main guy.
And the band would undergo several lineup changes before finally settling on the musicians that got
them a record deal with lead guitarist Warren DeMartini drummer Bobby Blotzer
and bassist Juan Croucier . Percy would recall the twin guitar attack of De
Martini and Crosby telling Noisecreep “Robbin had his own style, but he was definitely influenced
by Billy Gibbons and Jimi Hendrix. He played with great feel. Warren was more of a noodler,
a guitar hero type of player. They complimented each other so well,”
Warren was progressing so phenomenally that it was hard to ignore he'd say.
Shortly after their formation, Ratt would play at the Whisky A Go Go and soon earned the status
of house band. It was during this time that they caught the attention of Marshall Berle,
who was the nephew of comedian and actor Milton Berle who would appear in the band’s future music
videos. Berle would sign the band to his time communications record label releasing a self
titled EP that sold so incredibly well that it caught the attention of several labels.
They band would eventually sign a major recording contract with Atlantic Records
and release their major label debut Out of the Cellar. Appearing on the front cover of the band’s
first EP and LP would be Crosby’s girlfriend Tawny Kitaen. Out of the Cellar would be the biggest
album of their career going triple platinum and the album was spurred by the single Round and
Round, which got heavy airplay on MTV and was a top 10 hit on the music charts in America.
Guitarist Robbin Crosby would tell the San Diego Tribune in 1984 how Ratt separated
themselves from other rock bands at the time saying “We definitely try to be melodic so
that we don’t get caught up in the heavy metal shuffle, but I think our music is aimed more at
a female audience than a lot of contemporary hard rock bands. Part of our plan was to attract
a female audience. We try to come off with a lot of sex appeal in our lyrics and our look,
rather than having a violent or rebellious image.” While the band would never match the success of
Out of the Cellar, they continued to dominate the 80’s with their subsequent albums going platinum.
Crosby would end up co-writing many of the band's hit songs including "Round and Round",
"Wanted Man" and "Lay it Down". Crosby’s grueling touring and recording schedule
in addition to Tawny Kitaen's busy career got in the way of the pair’s relationship and they
soon stopped seeing each other exclusively. At one point Kitaen was rumored to be involved
with football player OJ Simpson. And here's an entertainment report discussing the relationship
and Crosby but these days Tawny Kitaen is most famous for her frequently reported off screen
relationship with OJ Simpson, before OJ however, this man claims he was Tawny's romantic lead he's
Robbin Crosby. Robbin says he and Tawny started dating when they were in high school in San Diego.
After graduation, they moved together to LA with dreams of hitting the big time. We were like
first lovers it was peaches and cream for a long time you know she's a lovely girl obviously. But
things came really came apart when he said Tawny began her affair with OJ Simpson. He wasn't happy
about her seeing other people at all regardless of who it was. Robbin says OJ was particularly angry
that Tawny continued to see him. I heard that he had told her that he didn't want her seeing
that damn Rock n' roller anymore.Were you afriad that OJ was going to physically attack you or
worse. I didn't want the guy to break my neck because i'm not a little guy but you know he's
use to running over guys bigger than me. After his relationship with Kitaen would fall apart Crosby
would marry Playboy Playmate Laurie Carr in 1987. While Ratt were playing to sold out arenas and
delighting crowds, turmoil was growing in the band. Frontman Rick Pearcy and drummer
Bobby Blotzer who were at odds over how the band should conduct their live shows
Also going on was that Crosby was feeling overshadowed by lead guitarist Warren DeMartini.
Nicknamed the King, due to his large 6 foot 5 stature, Crosby felt marginalized and felt his
role diminishing in the band both on stage and in the studio. And to deal with his bruised ego
Crosby started self medicating with drugs and alcohol. It was a destructive path
that would lead him to leaving the group. While he would hide his addiction to herein
from his bandmates for years, it finally caught up with him by 1990 and it soon effected his playing.
As Ratt headed into the studio to record their album Detonator in 1990 Robin left for rehab to
deal with his demons. While Robbin did play on the record and get some writing credits
it was Ratt’s first album that didn’t go platinum, instead being certified gold.
Following his stint in rehab, Robin joined the band on tour, but staying sober was difficult.
He would play his final gig with the band in early 1991 in Osaka, Japan.
Before his final gig his bandmates found him polishing off an entire bottle of vodka backstage.
And during the show it became apparent that Crosby in no shape to continue on with Ratt
and he woul leave the group following the performance. Robbin would head back to the States
and check himself into rehab once again, but it would be short lived. He would soon be replaced
by former Scorpions guitarist Michael Schenker. Ratt wouldn’t stay together much longer disbanding
in 1992 after tensions rose and the group's brand of rock became stale thanks to the rise of grunge.
Crosby’s departure from the band only made his personal life worse.
He would get divorced from Laurie Carr in 1991 and focusing on what lied ahead Crosby wanted to
get into producing and he did work with a few bands , but his addiction was all consuming.
He would tell vh1’s behind the music that he developed a $500 a day habit.
His ability to start a new career would also be met with devastating news in 1994
as he would be diagnosed as being HV positive.. He wouldn’t go public with the news until 2001
during one of his final radio interviews. Several years after his diagnosis In 1996
Ratt looked to reform and according to the website SlezeRoxx Crosby was asked to move back to Los
Angeles. At the time he was living in El Paso, Texas and excited about the possibility of a
reunion. In anticipation of playing with his old bandmates once again, he sold all his possessions
and wanted to start fresh in LA, but things fell apart once the band got into rehearsals.
It was apparent to the other members that Crosby was in no shape to play as the guitarist had
gained significant amount of weight and was still using drugs.The band opted to reunite without him.
Sidelined Crosby felt betrayed and his downward spiral continued. He would reveal to Mitch Lafon
in one of his final interviews in 2001 how his hard partying lifestyle took its toll on his
health saying "Apparently my pancreas has given up and I'm not metabolizing food the way I should,"
"It's real frustrating. ... I have a roommate that probably weighs 150 lbs. and he eats a lot more
than I do. It's not like I'm a pig or a slob." In the same interview Crosby admitted that he
was living in hospice care which is typically reserved for people
who are facing an incurable life ending disease. His ex-girlfriend Tawny Kitaen corroborated this
as she was still in touch with the guitarist in the final months of his life. She would tell
Mitch Lafon in a separate interview “I would go up and stay with him at the nursing home. He could
not stay at Cedars Sinai. He got so big that the beds could not accommodate his size. That’s why
he got moved to the old folks’ retirement home. They could accommodate him better.
Kurt Dudley who became friends with Crosby in the final two years of his life published his
time with the guitarist online. He would reveal how Crosby was disappointed that even though his
former bandmates lived a half an hour away from him, they rarely came visit. Dudley would also
go on to claim that he knew the end was near for Crosby when he started living with an old partying
friend of his in May of 2002. Then roughly a month later on june 6 news broke that Robin Crosby
passed away due to an overdose at the age of 42. During his 1999 interview with Vh1’s
behind the music, Crosby seemed to accept his fate revealing, "When I die, nobody cry at my funeral,
in fact let's all have a party; I've lived the life of ten men. I lived all my dreams and more."
Following his death his former bandmate Stephen Pearcy would fondly remember his ex-bandmate
telling classic rock revisited "The guy was 'King' in our eyes, he was Robbin, he was our leader,
and he was my right-hand man, It was terrible; it was just bad all the way around.
He is a soldier we lost in the rock 'n' roll war and i'm sure he won't be the last.That
does it for today's video guys thank for watching. Be sure to hit the like button
and subscribe and we'll see you again on rock n' roll true stories. Take care.