Journey’s Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon have called in a third party in an attempt to resolve their ongoing personal and legal dispute.
At the end of July, the band’s keyboardist Cain filed a lawsuit against guitarist Schon while the band was on a co-headline tour in the US with Def Leppard, along with guests The Steve Miller Band and Cheap Trick.
The suit was filed on grounds of frustrations over Schon’s “expenses related to the tour” including “budgeting and spending” of the band’s credit card over personal expenses.
Since then, the band have cancelled their UK and Ireland 50th anniversary arena tour, which was due to run in October and November.
Now, in a new Facebook post, Schon has offered his side of the story, and has revealed that the band have opted to bring in “someone impartial” to help smooth over their differences.
“Anyone who follows Journey will know that Jon Cain and I don’t always see eye-to-eye on everything Or, sometimes, on pretty much anything,” he wrote.
“Recently, Jon Cain made a number of claims and slanderous accusations about me and my wife – and I can’t stress enough how much it upset me and how wrong they are. I am determined to take the high road and push all this aside for the moment to focus on our fans, the tour and all who give so much to make things happen.”
“That’s why I’m so glad that Jon now agrees with me that the current dynamic can’t continue and it’s also why I’m pleased that we’re going to bring in someone impartial to help us resolve our disputes, bring clarity to what we’re doing and allow us, as a band, to get back to what we should all focus on – making music and performing for our fans.”
Schon, who is the band’s lead guitarist and sole original member, owns 50 per cent of the band via entity Freedom 2020, with Cain owning the other half, making it a deadlock when it comes to company decisions, per Bloomberg Law. Cain is the second longest serving member of the band, having joined it in 1980.
The document claims that Schon believes his role as president of Freedom 2020 authorises him to make decisions unilaterally on behalf of the company. The document also alleges that Schon’s actions “pose a severe threat of harm to the Company and to Journey’s storied history of musical greatness”.
Cain claims that Schon exceeded a nightly limit of US$1,500 for hotel accommodation, which was allegedly previously agreed upon, and has spent up to US$10,000 per night for hotel rooms for him and his wife.
Cain also alleges that Schon has allowed Journey’s road crew to fly business class, to book hotel rooms in their home cities, and to travel between cities via private jet – all without authorisation from Cain.
It was reported in March 2023 that, amidst lingering tension, Schon and Cain hired off-duty police officers to guard their respective dressing rooms while on tour.
In 2022, Schon sued Cain over allegations that his bandmate had interfered with his access to the company’s Amex account, along with delaying payments to crew members and vendors. Cain sued him back a few months later, claiming that his intervention was necessary in order to stop Schon from “misusing” the company’s credit card.
In December 2022, Schon filed an unrelated cease-and-desist to Cain after the latter was seen performing the band’s signature song ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ at Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort alongside Republican politicians.
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