Journey’s Neal Schon files cease and desist order to stop Jonathan Cain from playing Don’t Stop Believing
Cain played the tune alongside rightwing figures Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Kari Lake recently.
Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain of Journey. Credit: Bobby Bank / Getty
The bad blood between former Journey bandmates has entered a new chapter, with Neal Schon filing a cease and desist order to prevent Jonathan Cain from playing their hit Don’t Stop Believing.
X101 Always Classic sighted the letter, which revealed that the source of the dispute was Cain’s recent meeting with former president Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago estate, where Cain played the tune alongside rightwing figures Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Kari Lake.
“Although Mr. Cain is free to express his personal beliefs and associations, when he does that on behalf of Journey or for the band, such conduct is extremely deleterious to the Journey brand as it polarizes the band’s fans and outreach. Journey is not, and should not be, political,” the letter reads.
“Mr. Cain has no right to use Journey for politics. His politics should be his own personal business,” noting, “He should not be capitalising on Journey’s brand to promote his personal political or religious agenda to the detriment of the band.”
This latest schism in the band follows reports earlier this year that former frontman Steve Perry filed a petition to cancel the trademark registrations filed by Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain in 2020. According to Perry, the pair had filed to register 20 Journey tracks through Freedom JN LLC for usage in marketing hats, T-shirts, and other merchandise – an arrangement to which he allegedly did not agree to.
That conflict itself was preceded by a dispute between former bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith that briefly led to competing lawsuits over control of the band – Cain and Schon have already sold their song ownership interests to Hipgnosis.