The relationship between Journey's Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain was so bad a few years ago that Schon made a habit of openly criticizing his longtime bandmate via social media during a tour.
While the band eventually put the horse back in the barn, it became apparent last winter that not all was well in Journey when the band fired and sued co-founding bassist Ross Valory and longtime drummer Steve Smith, alleging the pair had plotted a "corporate coup d'état" against the guitarist and keyboardist.
Once bitter adversaries over politics, religion and creative credit, Schon and Cain are now closer allies than ever before.
Schon tells Rolling Stone that he and Cain resolved many of their personal issues last year and realized that mismanagement had only aggravated their problems.
"We found out that there was a lot of miscommunication that I felt was coming from management. The divide-and-conquer situation was going on," he said. "They were saying I said things that I didn't say. I heart it had happened with other bands from guitar techs that I had been with. It was happening in the Van Halen camp between Eddie [Van Halen] and Sammy [Hagar]. I was just like, 'I'm seeing the same scenario.'"
After longtime manager Irving Azoff tendered his resignation, Schon says he and Cain "talked everything out" and found out they were actually on much surer footing than they thought. The unexpected health of their partnership has since been reinforced creatively.
"Him and I are still very tight as songwriters," Schon continued. "There's still magic there. He's still creative amazing music — even without me. But us together, we create something that really sounds like Journey."
Journey's new lineup features Schon, Cain and singer Arnel Pineda, alongside returning bassist Randy Jackson, Narada Michael Walden and keyboardist Jason Derlatka.
The band is planning a world tour and has a new studio album on the way this year.
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