A live performance from Neal Schon, who’s seemingly moved past a disagreement with Journey bandmate Jonathan Cain. Photo Credit: Matt Becker
Don’t stop believin’ in the possibility of a unified Journey, which has seemingly seen members Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon put their latest dispute to rest.
That dispute, we reported closer to August’s beginning, centered on touring-related disagreements between Cain and Schon. With each possessing a 50 percent interest in the companies responsible for handling Journey’s dealings, the veteran musicians have for years clashed over expenses and a whole lot else.
As it pertains to one of the companies, Freedom 2020, the two couldn’t agree on matters including tour accommodation expenditures, security costs, the employment status of various personnel, and more. Alleged unilateral spending on the part of Schon was a particularly significant issue, Cain described.
The hang-ups, which brought about the cancellation of the UK leg of the band’s ongoing tour, came to light in a late-July filing submitted by Cain to the Delaware Chancery Court.
In the action, the 74-year-old asked the court to appoint a third-party director to Freedom 2020 so as to remedy the deadlock (between him and Schon, who held all voting rights) over so many of the famed rock group’s business moves.
Given the 50-50 voting-rights structure, it was proving exceedingly difficult to agree on operational details and to appoint another director, Cain explained in more words.
Now, the impasse (but not the wider rift) looks to have been put in the rearview; Cain’s attorneys just recently announced the appointment of a tie-breaking independent director to handle the specifics of Freedom 2020.
Furthermore, the announcement arrived after Schon last week acknowledged that he and Cain “don’t always see eye-to-eye on everything or, sometimes, on pretty much anything.” But the 70-year-old also expressed a desire to bring on the third-party director and move past the friction so the tour could proceed.
Running with that point, the fresh statement from Cain’s legal team reads: “Mr. Schon is prohibited from unilaterally acting on behalf of the Company and all future deadlock between Mr. Cain and Mr. Schon will be broken by the vote of the Custodian.
“Mr. Cain is elated with the outcome and looks forward to moving beyond this matter so that Journey can continue the band’s 50th Anniversary Freedom Tour,” the message concludes.
As scheduled, this tour will see Journey perform in San Diego tonight, play four more stateside shows through September 8th, head to Brazil and Chile later that same month, and then entertain fans in Japan well into October. At present, the group doesn’t appear to have rescheduled the previously noted UK dates, which had originally been teed up to begin in October as well.
