Rock band Journey cancels tour dates amid members’ legal battle

SAN DIEGO ( KSWB/KUSI ) — Rock band Journey has reportedly canceled shows in the U.K. and Ireland that were part of their 50th Anniversary Freedom Tour. This comes after the latest issue in the legal battle between keyboardist Jonathan Cain and band founder and lead guitarist Neal Schon.

The U.K. leg of the tour was scheduled to kick off in Cardiff, Wales, at Utilita Arena on Oct. 30. Other shows were scheduled in Nottingham, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham and Newcastle, with a final show at The O2 in London on Nov. 17.

The band, known for timeless classics like “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “Open Arms,” has sold over 100 million albums globally, and earned 19 top 40 singles and 25 gold and platinum albums.

Schon and Cain have, however, been in a feud for years, according to The Associated Press.

In a recent court filing , Cain asked a Delaware judge to resolve a deadlock regarding Freedom 2020, the company that oversees tour-related finances. Cain and Schon each hold a 50% stake in the company for which Schon is president.

Cain and Schon “fundamentally disagree” on the operation and management of the company, the court filing stated.

Cain’s attorneys also asked the judge to fast-track the case amid the band’s current 50th Anniversary Freedom Tour.

A report on iHeart said ticketholders learned via email that the tour dates in the U.K. and Ireland were canceled “due to circumstances beyond the band’s control.” Journey’s Summer Stadium tour in North America , with shows accompanied by Def Leppard, appears to have been unaffected by the cancelations.

During a hearing Wednesday, Cain’s attorney Sidney Liebesman told Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster that the current situation is “dysfunctional.”

“It is in crisis,” Liebesman said. “The damage is taking place during the tour.”

Liebesman complained that Schon is wasting company assets and believes that, as president of Freedom 2020, “he can do whatever he wants.”

“It is his self-interest that is driving his decision-making,” Liebesman said.

In a court filing earlier last week, Schon’s attorneys said many of Cain’s allegations have no basis. They specifically rejected allegations that the tour’s production company and vendors weren’t being paid on time.

“Petitioner’s allegations that the company faces imminent irreparable harm from a purported inability of the company to meet its financial obligations has no basis in fact,” according to Schon’s attorneys, who will file a more complete response to Cain’s petition on Monday.

“Our client denies that there’s been any mismanagement,” Schon’s attorney Jack Yoskowitz told Laster, adding that any dysfunction has been caused by Cain acting in his own self-interest, including making allegations to the press that harm the band.

Laster scheduled a final hearing in the case to begin on Sept. 3, timed with Labor Day weekend, as sought by Cain’s attorneys. Schon’s attorneys sought a hearing in late September or early October, after the North American leg of the tour ends.

Cain’s attorneys say a quick resolution is needed because the deadlock has become “a very much public battle” that also has created a “toxic internal environment” during the tour.

“Rather than focusing on the band’s performances during a major international tour, the band’s business manager, lead vocalist and crew members now find themselves caught in the middle of the directors’ disputes, afraid of performing their job responsibilities, and pressured to align with one director or another,” they wrote.

Cain’s attorneys say the dispute also threatens the band’s reputation, could negatively affect its fan base, and could further strain relationships with vendors and personnel.

“Indeed, the band has lost multiple members of its crew because of such tensions over the past several months,” they wrote, adding that the company’s new business manager, its seventh, was hired two months ago.

Cain says Schon’s desire to take a $1.5 million advance from promoter AEG Presents LLC to cover tour expenses, and his opposition to Cain’s proposal for a more modest advance of $500,000, has caused “a major rift.” He also accuses Schon of “exorbitant and wasteful spending” on hotels and airfare for band and crew members. Schon, for example, has ignored the company limit of $1,500 per night for hotel accommodations and has spent up to $10,000 per night for hotel rooms for him and his wife, according to Cain.

Cain also alleges that Schon allows crew members to stay in hotel rooms during tour stops in or near their home cities, and to fly in business class. Schon also has used the company credit card for personal expenses and incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs for private jets for himself, his wife and various crew members, according to Cain.

The dispute also has even spilled over to creative differences, including Cain’s disagreement with Schon’s selection of a substitute drummer for a Toronto performance last week, and whether Cain should play rhythm guitar during performances of the 1978 song “Wheel in the Sky.”

“Even if that decision were within the scope of Freedom 2020’s business, which seems highly doubtful, matters of song arrangement are objectively not a type of disagreement that threatens the company with irreparable harm,” Schon’s attorneys wrote.

The two band members have been at odds for several years. In 2022, for example, Schon sent a cease-and-desist letter after Cain performed the 1981 hit “Don’t Stop Believin’” at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Schon said Cain, whose wife was a spiritual adviser to Trump, had no right to use the Journey brand for politics. Cain countered that Schon was the one damaging the band’s brand through his bullying tactics and reckless spending.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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