Journey are back in court. Stalwart Jonathan Cain has once again sued Neal Schon, the group’s lone remaining founding member – and, once again, he’s charging him with overspending.
Echoing a 2022 case over a band credit card, Cain’s new court filing accuses Schon of maxing out an American Express account with a $1 million limit while exceeding a daily hotel fee cap of $1,500. Instead, the suit claims Schon “has spent up to $10,000 per night.”
The lawsuit also says debt payments have been blocked. At one point, Journey’s finances were allegedly in such disarray that the crew and production company couldn’t be paid during their ongoing stadium tour.
Cain’s lawyers at Fox Rothschild LLP argue that these “unforeseen strains on cash flow” now “pose a severe threat of harm to the company and to Journey’s storied history of musical greatness.” They say the band is suffering through divided loyalties, crew defections and general tension.
Elsewhere, the court filing laments what has become “very much public battle between petitioner and respondent,” but the situation is now “impacting the band’s reputation throughout the music industry. The band’s actual onstage performance is, at the moment, one of the only aspects of the business that has not suffered.”
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Cain’s suit says this “far-reaching” deadlock can only be resolved through restructuring Freedom 2020 Inc., which he co-founded with Schon to oversee Journey’s touring operations. The business reportedly has only a two-seat board, held by Cain and Schon. The new petition is asking for a court-ordered custodian to act as a third board member in order to break tie votes.
Journey’s Recent History of Lawsuits
Schon hasn’t yet responded to the filing, made in Delaware’s Chancery Court. He’s been part of every album and tour since Journey began in 1973 under the leadership of the late manager Herbie Herbert. Cain joined in 1980 as the group moved into superstar status with the multiplatinum Escape album.
Journey went through a long series of legal battles beginning in 2020, but appeared to have resolved things by creating a new organizational structure that involved both Cain and Schon and their respective wives. Michaele Schon isn’t named as a respondent in Cain’s latest lawsuit, but this new arrangement appears to be breaking down.
“When the company faces these precarious financial situations,” the court documents say “respondent (and his wife) begin to accuse petitioner, the band manager, the company’s accountant, and other company personnel of stealing. This conduct further triggers internal strife.”
Nick DeRiso is author of the Amazon best-selling rock band bio ‘Journey: Worlds Apart,’ available now at all major bookseller websites.
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