A rift has occurred in the legendary rock band Journey over keyboardist Jonathan Cain’s repeated performances for former President Donald Trump.
In response to Cain playing the band’s iconic immortal song “Don’t Stop Believin” at a Mar-a-Lago event last month that featured Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Kari Lake singing along to his performance, guitarist Neal Schon served the 71-year-old a cease-and-desist order. As noted by Fox News, Cain has “been a part of Trump’s inner circle for a long time and has been seen with the former president at various events over the years.”
Cain’s wife, Paula White, also works with Trump as a spiritual adviser.
Obtained by Variety, the cease-and-desist letter accused Cain of politicizing the band without their wishes, arguing that they hope to keep their songs apolitical.
“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,” it said.
“Mr. Cain has no right to use Journey for politics. His politics should be his own personal business. He should not be capitalizing on Journey’s brand to promote his personal political or religious agenda to the detriment of the band,” it added.
A major rift occurred between Schon and Cain earlier this year when the latter allegedly was denied access to the band’s corporate American Express card. Schon’s lawyers argued that it stemmed from Cain charging more than $1 million in “improper personal expenses.”
A spokesman for Cain said that Schon is “just frustrated he keeps losing in court,” referring to a legal battle over limiting Schon’s access to Journey’s company credit card. In a statement to Fox News, Cain said Schon should “look in the mirror” if he is accusing others of damaging the band’s image:
“I have watched him damage our brand for years and am a victim of both his–and his wife’s–bizarre behavior. Neal sued Live Nation twice, losing both times, and damaging our ability to ever work with them again; Neal outrageously tried to take away trademarks from Steve Perry; Neal and his wife continually insult the professionalism of numerous accountants, road managers, and management firms with endless legal threats and their bullying, toxic, and incoherent emails; Neal argues online with fans who don’t see eye to eye with him; and Neal and his wife recklessly spend Journey’s money until there is none left for operating costs,” he wrote.
The statement finished with saying “if anyone is destroying the Journey brand, it is Neal – and Neal alone.”
Cain, Schon, and singer Steve Perry wrote the hit song together in 1981.
As noted by Fox News, Schon said in 2020 that he does not want Journey to become a symbol for Democrats or Republicans and that he felt it necessary to defend the brand.
“I’ve had to fight this whole time to protect the brand I built with Steve Perry, way before Gregg [Rolie] 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 myself,” said Schon.
Mixing Journey with politics has not always been off limits for the guitarist. In 2007, Hillary Clinton infamously announced her presidential run with a parody of the famed Sopranos finale that also featured the hit song.