Journey’s Neal Schon has decided to go along with Jonathan Cain’s request for a third party to help resolve their growing differences.
Cain filed suit last month as Journey continued an ongoing stadium tour with Def Leppard and Steve Miller. He asked a judge to restructure the company that manages Journey’s touring operation to address financial disagreements with Schon. They are the business entity’s only board members, so a neutral intermediary would have to be appointed to break tie votes.
The lawsuit also included shocking allegations of overspending by Schon and his wife Michaele, which reportedly led to insufficient funds to pay the production team and the band’s crew. Cain described staff defections, even as they fought over minutia like who would fill in when their drummer missed a show.
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Schon initially said he would respond in court, but has now made a public statement agreeing to a mediator. This latest round of legal action follows years of disagreements, which Schon freely acknowledges.
“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,” Schon said in a social media post. “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,” Schon added, “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.”
U.K. and Ireland Shows Scrapped as Feud Continued
Schon began by pushing back on Cain’s charges of overspending, saying his expenses were “all ‘approved in our budget.'” Responding to fan questions about burning through as much as $10,000 a night while on tour, Schon replied on a since-deleted post: “BS and what do you care? I pay for it.”
He also didn’t sound ready to cede any control, pointedly describing himself as “the original and only founder in Journey that’s been there from the very early inception in ’72.” He noted that he’d “played on every single show – never canceled once! – and co-wrote and played on every single album,” while more than once claiming to have hired Cain in the early ’80s.
Journey’s fall 2024 dates in the U.K. and Ireland were abruptly canceled after Cain filed suit. It’s unclear what role, if any, was played by background financial issues or this new legal wrangling. Journey and Def Leppard previously toured together in 2018. Their current dates conclude in early September with stops in Seattle and Denver.
Nick DeRiso is author of the Amazon best-selling rock band bio ‘Journey: Worlds Apart,’ available now at all major bookseller websites.
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Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
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