Jonathan Cain Says There’s ‘No Way’ Journey Will Break Up Over White House Visit
Journey fans would seem to have good reason to be concerned for the band's future after the recent dust-up between founding guitarist Neal Schon and his bandmates. But according to keyboardist Jonathan Cain, a breakup is out of the question.
As previously reported, Schon has taken issue with a White House visit and photo op made by Cain, singer Arnel Pineda and bassist Ross Valory. Arguing that Journey's music should stand apart from politics — and alleging that the band turned down a number of previous opportunities to make similar visits — Schon has hinted at an attempted mutiny brewing in the group he founded, and made it clear he intends to make whatever changes necessary to reassert control over the group's direction.
Journey's latest public feud comes shortly after Schon intimated that there was a power struggle behind the scenes. In an Instagram update posted in early June, he wrote, "I want to be elevated by whom I play with, not feel like I’ve got cement shoes," adding, "If anyone is unhappy they are not running my band, then they should leave."
It all adds up to an interesting time to catch Cain at the airport. One of TMZ's camera crews did just that yesterday, asking Cain and his wife Paula White-Cain — who serves as evangelical advisory board chairman in the Trump administration — a series of questions about where things stand with Schon and the future of Journey.
For the most part, the encounter went pretty much the same way these impromptu airport interview sessions seem to go between ambushed celebrities and TMZ crews. Several times, Cain insisted he hadn't spoken with Schon since the guitarist went public with his unhappiness regarding the White House visit, saying "you'll have to ask him" and "I don't know what his feelings are" when asked whether things were "all good with Neal."
Yet despite insisting he had no comment on the apparent feud, Cain was far less equivocal about Journey's future. When asked whether the group was at risk of breaking up over its current issues, he quickly responded with a curt "No way."
Where all this will lead obviously remains to be seen — but whatever happens, fans seem likely to hear about it first from Schon himself on Twitter, where he's remained impressively prolific throughout. While a number of his tweets are little more than vague promises that this will all be settled soon, it's probably worth noting that for all the annoyance he's expressed toward members of the current lineup, a fair portion of Schon's latest updates are either original posts or retweets praising former Journey vocalist Steve Perry.
Journey Lineup Changes: A Complete Guide