Journey guitarist Neal Schon has offered his first in-depth public response to the most recent lawsuit filed against him by bandmate Jonathan Cain, labeling Cain’s allegations “absolute rubbish.”
Earlier this month it was revealed that Cain was once again suing Schon for allegedly spending the band’s money too freely and without the approval of Cain, an equal partner in the company the duo formed to handle their touring business. A similar battle between the bandmates broke out in 2022, but earlier this year it seemed the two had mended fences and arrived at a workable compromise.
Cain’s most recent lawsuit makes it clear that is not the case. In it he alleges that Schon and his wife Michaele have been racking up unapproved and unexpectedly high bills on the band’s credit card for private jet travel and hotel rooms that cost way more than his $1,500 nightly budget. The guitarist already denied Cain’s accusations in court, and Sunday night he responded to a social media post from a fan who was worried that Schon’s actions would bring about the end of Journey.
“There’s a lot of rumors about the band living its final days because you and your wife can’t stop expending the bands money,” the fan reportedly wrote. “Is this truth?”
“Absolute rubbish,” Schon responded on X. “I don’t know why people believe Media. If anything [what] she’s done is make us a lot of money by attaining the trademark her and I did by ourselves, [and it] cost quite a lot of money to attain it – both Jon Cain and [current singer] Arnel Pineda are benefiting from that equally. It’s split in thirds. We are traveling no differently than we have for many many years, including Jon Cain. He and his wife decided to take a bus [at] the 11th hour, [that] was his own decision. The rest of the band, Arnel and his children, my wife myself, Deen Castronovo, Todd Jensen, Jason, along with crew and security travel on one jet that was all ‘approved in our budget.'”
Addressing Cain’s contention that he and his wife were spending up to $10,000 a night on hotel rooms, Schon says he has developed “great relationships” with the managers of various hotels, and sometimes takes advantage of special upgrade deals, all of which are paid for out of his own pocket, “as we have done for years.”
“This is the second time Jonathan Cain has sued me for the same thing,” Schon continues. “We’ve already been through [this] in court, that case was dropped by both of us. We both agreed to drop and move forward with prejudice. That means that you never open it again. Well here we are again, in the middle of a wonderful tour with our good friends, Def Leppard and Steve Miller.”
Finally, Schon suggests that the band stop using the oft-disputed credit card altogether: “Let [the] Promoter take on all responsibilities and pay us all individually or equal money and we travel as we wish. Sounds like a good solution, right? Let’s see how this plays out. Then I’ll see you at our next gig. I’ll be kicking some ass.”
Journey’s next show is set for Monday night in Arlington, Texas. Their tour is scheduled to conclude Sunday, Aug. 25 in Los Angeles.
Ranking Every Journey Live Album
They’re seemingly always on the road, but the shows haven’t necessarily been well-documented. So, we took a more expansive look back.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso