Roy Cathey started his music career in the late 1980s with Gibraltar, which gained local airplay in NC with the ballad "Real". In the early 1990s, he joined Cold Sweat with former Keel guitarist Marc Ferrari. He co-wrote "Long Way Down" and "Killing Floor" for Cold Sweat's debut album “Break Out”. The band released the "Let’s Make Love Tonight" video on MTV but was dropped by MCA Records the same day.

In 2001, Cathey formed The Fifth, undergoing several lineup changes until guitarist Justin Womble, bassist Jake Tripp, and drummer Gary "Zeus" Smith joined. They released a remastered version of earlier releases album "Confessions of Man" in 2020, followed by an EP titled “The Fifth” in 2021. In 2022, The Fifth signed with RFK Media, founded by Ron Keel. They performed on the Kiss Kruise with Kiss, LA Guns, and Warrant.