Journey keyboardist asks judge to decide dispute between him and the band's lead guitarist
Rock band Journey has amassed an impressive catalog of hits over the past 50 years, but the song that may resonate most with the band members and crew right now is “Separate Ways.”
The latest in a string of legal disputes between band founder and lead guitarist Neal Schon and longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain has asked a Delaware judge to rule on a dispute involving Freedom 2020, a company formed three years ago to handle the finances of the band’s tour.
According to court filings, Schon is Freedom 2020’s chairman, but he and Cain each own a 50 percent stake in the company. In a motion filed last week, Cain said he and Schon “completely disagree” about how the company is managed and operated. He wants the court to appoint a trustee to act as an independent director who can resolve the dispute.
Cain’s lawyers are also asking the judge to expedite the case amid the band’s current 50th anniversary Freedom Tour, which ends in London on Nov. 17. During Wednesday’s hearing, Cain’s attorney, Sidney Liebesman, told Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster that the current situation was “inefficient.”
“It was a crisis,” Liebesman said. “The damage was done during the tour.”
Liebesman complained that Schon was wasting the company’s assets and believed that as chairman of Freedom 2020, “he could do whatever he wanted.”
“It was his own personal interests that drove his decisions,” Liebesman said.
In a court filing Monday, Schon’s attorneys said many of Cain’s allegations were unfounded. They specifically denied allegations that the tour’s production and vendors had not been paid on time.
“Plaintiff’s allegation that the company is suffering immediate and irreparable damage from its failure to pay its debts is baseless,” according to Schon’s attorneys, who will file a fuller response to Cain’s motion Monday.
“Our client denies any mismanagement,” Schon’s attorney, Jack Yoskowitz, told Laster, adding that any irregularities were caused by Cain acting solely in his own interests. Including allegations to the media that the band had suffered damages.
Laster has set a final hearing date for Sept. 3, Labor Day weekend, as requested by Cain’s attorneys. Schon’s attorneys have asked for a trial in late September or early October, after the North American tour concludes.
Cain’s attorneys said a quick resolution was needed because the impasse had become a “public battle” that had also created a “toxic internal environment” during the tour.
“Instead of focusing on the band’s performances during a major international tour, the band’s business manager, lead singer, and staff found themselves caught up in conflicts with directors, afraid to fulfill their responsibilities, and pressured to cooperate with one director,” they wrote.
Cain’s lawyers said the dispute also threatened the band’s reputation, could have a negative impact on its fan base, and could further strain relations with vendors and personnel.
“The band has lost several members of its team due to these tensions over the past several months,” they wrote, adding that the company’s new business manager, a seventh, was hired two months ago.
Cain said Schon’s desire to receive a $1.5 million advance from promoter AEG Presents LLC to cover tour expenses, and his opposition to Cain’s offer to accept a smaller $500,000 advance, caused “a major rift.” He also accused Schon of “overspending and extravagance” on hotel and airfare for band members and crew. For example, Schon ignored the company’s $1,500-a-night hotel room cap and spent as much as $10,000 a night on hotel rooms for him and his wife, according to Cain. Cain also alleged that Schon allowed crew members to stay in hotel rooms during tour stops in or near their hometowns. And he was allowed to fly business class. Schon also used the company’s credit card for personal expenses and incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in private jet expenses for himself, his wife and other crew members, according to Cain.
The dispute also escalated into creative conflicts, including a disagreement over Cain’s choice of a new drummer for a Toronto show last week and whether Cain should play rhythm guitar during a performance of the 1978 song “Wheel in the Sky.”
Schon’s lawyer wrote that “while the decision was within the scope of Freedom 2020’s business, which seems highly questionable, the composition of the song is not the kind of conflict that would threaten the company with irreparable damage.”
The two band members have been at each other’s throats for years. For example, in 2022, Schon sent a cease-and-desist letter after Cain performed his 1981 hit “Don’t Stop Believin’” at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Schon said Cain, whose wife is Trump’s spiritual advisor, had no right to use the Journey brand for political purposes. Cain argued that Schon had damaged the band’s brand through bullying tactics and reckless spending.
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