Journey is currently on tour in the US with Asia, but that hasn’t stopped a dispute from happening within the band.
Just months after their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, guitarist, and founding member, Neal Schon has made his issues with long-time keyboardist Jonathan Cain public.
Cain posted on his Instagram page, “I want to be elevated by whom I play with, not feel like I’ve got cement shoes,” “If anyone is unhappy they are not running my band, then they should leave.”
The duo has argued before, as recent as 2011, disagreeing on the band’s direction for the album Eclipse. In Schon’s social media post, it now appears to be a more personal issue, citing Cain’s marriage, as well as discussing faith and politics not belonging in their music.
“I’ve stated how I felt about mixing religion and politics and how our music is not of one religion – Democratic or Republican,” Schon said in the same Instagram update. “This is and has been an issue with myself Mr. Cain and his now wife, since he married. I’ve had to fight this whole time to protect the brand I built with Steve Perry, way before Gregg and I picked Cain to replace himself when he wanted to retire from the road back then. Well frankly, I’m tired of having to defend all by my self. [Fellow co-founding Journey member] Ross [Valory] is no help.”
Cain appeared to address the issue last night, but by then, Schon had changed his Twitter handle to “Neal Schon’s JRNY”, and posted “As Jon Cain said to me when we started to rebuild: You have keys and you are the main member,” “Convenient amnesia; I still have the keys.” He also retweeted a series of fan messages underlining his own arguments. “I’m not the problem,” Schon added, in another tweet.