Together, they chose the name "Autograph" while driving from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, Florida, to open for Van Halen in January of 1984.
Keni Richards then played the demo for Roth, who subsequently invited the band to open for Van Halen on their 1984 tour.
Due to their rising popularity, Autograph soon signed a contract with RCA Records,[5] following a performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City in late 1984.
The 1985 film Fright Night also included a song the band recorded titled "You Can't Hide From the Beast Inside".
A second album, That's the Stuff, was quickly recorded and released in the fall of 1985, and the group went on tour in support of several other bands, including Mötley Crüe and Heart.
In their short time they recorded three albums and toured with several famous bands, including KISS, Mötley Crüe, Heart, Aerosmith, Ronnie James Dio, Van Halen, Bryan Adams, and Whitesnake,[7] but in the end could not sustain their own career.
[5]During the time from 1983-1989, Autograph had songs in several major motion pictures, including- Secret Admirer, River Ratt, Youngblood, Like Father Like Son, The Amy Fisher Story, among others.
Then, when Covid hit in March of 2020, Lynch decided to write his autobiography ‘Confessions of a Rock Guitarist’, which is due for release late 2023 / early 2024.
Randy Rand – The former bassist began a career in leather-making, establishing an international importing/exporting shop that sold his own hand-crafted leather products, and even working with Harley Davidson for a time.
[9] Keni Richards – The drummer went on to work with the band Dirty White Boy, but later took a hiatus from the music business due to a chronic back problem he has had for several years.
[10] Steven Isham – The keyboardist remained active in the music business through the following years until his death from liver cancer at the age of 56 on December 9, 2008.
Eddie Cross – The drummer of the Los Angeles band, Hot Wheelz, joined Autograph and played on its 1989 tour and the new tracks on the Missing Pieces CD.
In late 2013, original members Steve Lynch, Randy Rand, and Keni Richards got back together for a reunion and began touring in 2014.
Due to Plunkett not being interested in doing the reunion, they have replaced him with Brazilian American singer/songwriter/guitarist Simon Daniels, a member of Jailhouse, Agent X, Flood, 1RKO.
In July, the band was featured in USA Today NEWS after playing the famous Halfway Jam Rock Festival.
On January 7, 2016, the new 5 song EP Louder, with 4 original new singles and a live version of "Turn up the Radio", was released and is available on the official website.
[10] On July 29, 2017, the band signed with EMP Label Group owned by David Ellefson of Megadeth and have announced a new album titled Get Off Your Ass, which was released on October 6, with a limited-edition LP.
On July 24, 2019, Steve Lynch decided to take a temporary break from touring and was replaced by Jimi Bell, who previously played in the House of Lords and Maxx Explosion.