Editing Stray Cats (section)

===Breakup and reunions===
Musical and personal conflicts began to emerge in the ways that the individual members handled their new-found success; Phantom married actress [[Britt Ekland]], while Setzer made guest appearances with stars like [[Bob Dylan]] and [[Stevie Nicks]] and became the concert guitarist for [[Robert Plant]]'s [[Honeydrippers]] side project. In late 1984, the band added former BMT's guitarist and Long Island native Tommy Byrnes on second guitar and harmony vocals.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/books/stray-cats-howling-at-the-moonlight-f791hurj|newspaper=Newsday|date=November 6, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108030344/https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/books/stray-cats-howling-at-the-moonlight-f791hurj|title=Stray Cats take center stage in 'Howling at the Moonlight'|first=David|last=Criblez}}</ref> After a European and US tour which ended at the [[1984_Louisiana_World_Exposition|1984 Louisiana World Expedition]], Setzer made the decision to end the band, which left the other members aggrieved.<ref name="Tamarkin">{{Cite magazine |last=Tamarkin |first=Jeff |author-link=Jeff Tamarkin |date=June 1986 |title=Brian Setzer: Stray Cats No More |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/brian-setzer-stray-cats-no-more |magazine=[[Creem]] |access-date=June 2, 2019 |via=[[Rock's Backpages]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In an interview, Setzer pleaded restlessness as his motivation: "It's just that I didn't get that great feeling anymore{{nbsp}}... I had five good years of that, but then I got bored with it. In the last year I stopped getting that feeling, that great kick that twisted in my gut."<ref name="Tamarkin"/> Looking back in 2012, Setzer regretted the decision to dissolve the group saying "it was silly to break up the Stray Cats at the peak of our success".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/the-top-cat-of-rockabilly-20120329-1vzrg.html|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=March 30, 2012|archive-date=December 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210075422/http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/the-top-cat-of-rockabilly-20120329-1vzrg.html|title=The top Cat of rockabilly|first=Michael|last=Dwyer}}</ref>

Setzer embarked on a solo career, exchanging his rockabilly focus for a more wide-ranging [[roots rock]]/[[Americana (music)|Americana]] sound on the 1986 album ''[[The Knife Feels Like Justice]]''.<ref name="Tamarkin"/> He dubbed his new band Brian Setzer & the Radiation Ranch, drawing the name from the title of one of his new songs.<ref name="Tamarkin"/> They played their first major concert at the 1985 [[Farm Aid]] benefit festival.<ref name="Tamarkin"/>

Rocker and Phantom formed a trio called [[Phantom, Rocker & Slick]] (the "Slick" being former [[David Bowie]] guitarist [[Earl Slick]]) whose debut album contained the single "Men Without Shame"; guest musicians on this record included [[Keith Richards]] of The Rolling Stones and pianist [[Nicky Hopkins]].

In 1986, the Stray Cats reunited in Los Angeles, and recorded the [[Cover version|covers]]-heavy ''[[Rock Therapy (Stray Cats album)|Rock Therapy]]''. A lengthy hiatus followed, but in 1989 they reunited once again for the album ''[[Blast Off! (Stray Cats album)|Blast Off!]]'', which was accompanied by a tour with blues guitarist [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]]. No longer with EMI America, they entered the studio with [[Nile Rodgers]] for another album, ''Let's Go Faster'', issued by [[Liberation Records|Liberation]] in 1990. After 1992's Dave Edmunds-produced ''[[Choo Choo Hot Fish]]'', and the cover album ''Original Cool'', the group called it quits again.

In 2004, the Stray Cats reassembled for a month-long tour of Europe. A live album culled from those concerts, ''Rumble in Brixton'', included one new studio track, "Mystery Train Kept A Rollin'". In 2007, they reunited once again for a US tour with [[ZZ Top]] and [[the Pretenders]]. This was their first North American tour in over 15 years. In the 2000s, the band toured Europe as part of their ''Farewell Tour''.

In 2008, for the first time in 18 years, the Stray Cats visited Australia and New Zealand which included several consecutive sold-out shows of their Farewell (Australia) Tour. In April 2009 the band reunited for a single show to celebrate Brian's 50th birthday at the Fine Line Music Café in [[Minneapolis]], Minnesota.

On January 2, 2018, Setzer announced via his Facebook page that the band would reunite for a show in [[Las Vegas]] on April 21, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/briansetzerofficial/posts/10156990770774167 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/116084449166/10156990770774167 |archive-date=February 26, 2022 |url-access=limited|title=Brian Setzer|via=Facebook|access-date=May 24, 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The Stray Cats also performed two shows at the Pacific Amphitheatre in [[Costa Mesa, California]] on August 16 and 17, 2018.

On October 16, 2018, the band announced they would reunite in 2019 for a new album (first in 25 years), record in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], and tour to commemorate their 40th anniversary.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.musicnewsnet.com/2018/10/music-news-stray-catswill-mark-their40thanniversaryin2019with-a-new-album-and-tourbrian-setzerlee-rockerandslim-jim-phant.html|title=STRAY CATS TO MARK THEIR 40TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2019 WITH A NEW ALBUM AND TOUR|website=Music News Net}}</ref> On March 26, 2019, the video for the album's first single, "Cat Fight (Over a Dog Like Me)", was released, with an announcement of a May 24 release for the album, titled ''[[40 (Stray Cats album)|40]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/news/stray-cats-premiere-new-cat-fight-over-a-dog-like-me-music-video|title=Stray Cats Premiere New "Cat Fight (Over A Dog Like Me)" Music Video|website=Guitar World|date=March 27, 2019}}</ref> This was released in time for the European legs of their 40th Anniversary tour.

At the conclusion of the tour and in early 2020 the band announced that an album, a collection of songs recorded at various locations while on the 40th Anniversary tour would be released, entitled "Rocked This Town: From LA to London". It was released on CD and Vinyl and also on a number of streaming platforms.

In 2024, the band announced a three-week summer U.S. tour, their first tour in five years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/stray-cats-2024-tour/|title=Stray Cats Announce Summer Tour|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=March 26, 2024}}</ref>