Journey Bandmates Squabbling Over Trump

Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain, who along with guitarist Neal Schon and the band's then-singer Steve Perry co-wrote "Don't Stop Believin'," performed the iconic song for former President Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month—and now there's an intra-band feud over the matter. Schon, who's had a contentious relationship with Cain for a while now, has served his bandmate with a cease-and-desist letter over the performance, Variety reports. Cain is a longtime member of Trump's inner circle; his televangelist wife, Paula White-Cain, is the former president's spiritual adviser (the one who went viral with her prayer for African and South American angels).

During the November performance, he was backed by a chorus of Trump supporters that included Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Kari Lake. Schon's letter calls the move "extremely deleterious to the Journey brand as it polarizes the band’s fans and outreach. Journey is not, and should not be, political." It adds that Cain's "politics should be his own personal business. He should not be capitalizing on Journey’s brand to promote his personal political or religious agenda to the detriment of the band." Both Schon and Perry have previously objected to Trump's use of the song at campaign rallies, and in 2020, Schon spoke about the schism between himself and Cain over the song.

"This is and has been an issue with myself, Mr. Cain and his wife," he said at the time. "I’ve had to fight this whole time to protect the brand I built with Steve Perry, way before Gregg [Rolie] and I picked Cain to replace himself when he wanted to retire from the road back then." Separately, Schon and Cain have also been involved in a legal battle over the band's finances, with Schon claiming he's not being allowed access to the band's credit card or its financial records and Cain's lawyer accusing Schon of putting more than $1 million in "improper personal expenses" on the card, the Guardian reports. Of the cease-and-desist letter, Cain's attorney says, "Schon is just frustrated that he keeps losing in court and is now falsely claiming the song has been used at political rallies." (More Neal Schon stories.)