Founding guitarist Schon and keyboardist Cain's legal disputes have fractured the band
Lead singer Pineda wants to leave but is contractually 'held hostage' by the tour
Cain falsely claimed Steve Perry was considering a reunion, intentionally misleading hopeful fans
Source: Graphic by Radio One Staff / Getty Images
Journey is in the midst of a farewell tour after five decades of recording and performing. “The Final Frontier Tour,” however, has been rocky from the start as the band is set to go their “separate ways.”
The tour, which began on Feb. 28, is set to run into the summer, ending on July 2 in Laredo, Texas.
Schon vs. Cain
The end of Journey came about due to a rift between founding guitarist Neal Schon and longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain, which has led to the latter deciding to leave the band after the tour.
Schon and Cain have been involved in ongoing legal disputes for years, while simultaneously sharing the stage in cities across the world. Their fracture centers around financial and ideological disagreements, although that hasn’t impacted the band’s performances.
Love Rock News? Get more! Join the The Eagle 106.9/107.5 Newsletter
Schon has claimed the ongoing legal disputes with Cain have left him “tired” of it all, despite his confidence in his defense when it comes to Journey-related suits:
“I hate all these attorneys,” Schon said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “It’s so nuts. There’s just so much ongoing noise. And I just want some [expletive] peace, for real. I’m just really tired of all the legal [battles]. It’s meaningless to me. I don’t have any time for it.”
Both bandmates co-own the Journey trademark.
Cain Intentionally Misleads Fans About Steve Perry
Back in February, Cain sat down with Ultimate Classic Rock to discuss the final tour and his solo project. During the interview, when asked about the possibility of a reunion with former lead vocalist Steve Perry and Journey, the keyboardist did little shut down the possibility:
“[Schon] already asked, and he says [Perry’s] thinking about it,” Cain said in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. I hope he comes out. It’s never too late. We’ve got 100 shows, so he’s welcome at any one of them.”
“He didn’t say no – leave it at that.”
The same day the article with Cain’s interview was published, Perry responded on his Facebook page with a statement:
“I’ve been hearing these recent rumors, and I wanted to speak to you all directly,” Perry said in a statement. “While I’m always grateful for the love people still have for Journey, the rumors about me rejoining the band are simply not true, and I want to gently put them to rest.”
“I completely understand why people would hope for that. The music we created together means a great deal to me too. But I’m continuing to explore new creative work and really enjoy working on new music that reflects where I am today.”
“Thank you for your continued support throughout the years. Your loyalty has never gone unnoticed, and I am forever humbly grateful.”
Perry being so quick to shut down the possibility of performing with Journey again could lead one to think that Cain was lying. Whether Cain believed what he was saying, or intentionally mislead with vague phrasing, the fans are the ones hurt in the end by it.
In a following interview with Rolling Stone, Cain admitted to lying about Perry’s rumored interest in a reunion, walking back his earlier comments:
“I just kind of planted a little seed out,” Cain said in the interview. “I was trying to fish a little bit, and say, ‘Well, he’s thinking about it.’ He came immediately out and said, ‘No, I’m not.’ I kind of did that on purpose, because there’s just so much fake AI stuff going on. You just look at it and go, ‘Wait a minute, no, that’s not true. None of this is true.'”
Spreading false information in an effort to beat the now common false AI-generated stories is a bit of an odd strategy, and exactly what Cain was trying to accomplish outside of possibly generating ticket sales is unclear.
No wonder Perry has steered clear of the band for nearly 30 years.
Pineda Wants Out
Arnel Pineda, Journey’s lead singer since 2007, has publicly expressed his desire to leave Journey and not attend the “Final Frontier Tour,” but he’s been seemingly “held hostage.”
It’s been a rough time for Pineda over the past couple years. This involves issues in his personal life, including a divorce, and ongoing inconsistency with his vocals when combined with Journey’s rigorous touring schedule, according to Rolling Stone.
Pineda had concerns he wouldn’t be ready to perform, emotionally or vocally. He apparently wrote a resignation letter to the band, which was ignored.
Journey reportedly has a contract with tour production company AEG, which makes Pineda’s potentially exist difficult.
Schon has come under fire for Pineda’s situation with the band. Schon claims to have been unaware of his singer’s desire to leave, according to Rolling Stone, but even if he was aware, he says there’s nothing he can do to change anything:
“For clarity, no one was ever prevented by me from making their own personal decisions,” Schon said in an interview. “At the same time, we were all advised by our representatives that there are contractual obligations tied to touring that need to be honored.”
This instance isn’t the first time Pineda has tried to quit Journey. He reportedly has tried to leave the band twice and retire:
“I said to them I wanted to retire because of my personal problems,” Pineda said in an interview. “No answer. Obviously, they don’t want to find another singer.”
He claims Cain once told him to use a “ghost singer” to address his vocal issues. Cain has denied this claim.
While on tour, Cain, drummer Deen Castronovo and keyboardist Jason Derlatka will be sharing lead vocal duties on select songs, likely in an effort to ease Pineda’s vocal strain during the massive set.
The “Final Frontier Tour” features songs from across Journey’s expansive discography. This includes a few songs the band hasn’t performed live in decades, or songs that don’t typically find their way onto setlists often.
For Schon, the goal for this tour is to do something different, since their past shows have been replicated by many Journey tribute bands:
I’m kind of ready to move on,” Schon said in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. “For one, there’s so many tribute bands out there right now playing whatever show we do. That’s why I’m really glad that we’re going to change things up here and throw in a lot of loops that people don’t expect because there’s so many tribute bands out there doing exactly the same show we’re doing.”
