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Journey's 2023 'Freedom' Tour celebrating the band's 50th anniversary kicks off in less than three weeks, yet litigation between principal members Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain remains far from settled.
In fact, Schon levied yet another accusation against Cain this weekend after revealing that former frontman Steve Perry had canceled a lawsuit challenging Schon's attempts to register 20 trademarks on behalf of the band for use on merchandise.
Perry's complaint argued that the patents should have been sought with the "prior, written unanimous consent of all parties." As of January 4, however, the singer dismissed the challenge "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be relaunched.
Schon celebrated the progress, writing via Twitter, "No more lawsuit with Steve. Time to talk."
But Schon continued, suggesting that Perry's dropped lawsuit damages one of Cain's arguments against him.
"So much for [Cain] trying to throw me under the bus as he claimed I was blatantly trying to rip off [Perry[ while collecting the checks for the very diligent work my wife and I did to protect our Merch. Time for coffee," Schon wrote.
Schon announced in November that he was suing Cain for "improperly" restricting access to financial documents concerning Journey's American Express account. Cain called the lawsuit meritless and asserted that Schon was only trying to increase his spending limit to fund his family's "extravagant lifestyle" on the band's dime.
But Schon lobbed yet another accusation Cain's way, sending a cease-and-desist letter to his wife, famed televangelist Paula White-Cain, accusing her of improperly accessing Journey's bank accounts.
Paula's signature apparently began appearing on Journey-related bank documents as far back as July of 2020. Schon's cease-and-desist — dated December 12 — asked that Paula remove herself from band accounts by December 27, 2021, as her involvement "contradicts the existing agreement between Mr. Schon and Mr. Cain."
Paula's attorney, Alan Gutman, called the claim "nonsensical" in a statement last week to the New York Post, saying that both Schon and Cain own their stakes in the band through personal trusts.
“Paula is a co-trustee of Jonathan’s personal trust, therefore, Jonathan and Paula signed as the co-trustees of Jonathan’s personal trust. But that never would have happened if Neal’s lawyer had not recommenced it," Gutman lawyer told The Post, noting that Schon didn't begin complaining about the arrangement until recently.
Asked by one fan how he and Cain could go about the business of their tour amid their legal feud, Schon, who has openly battled with Cain while on tour in the past, answered that he would simply "Channel the great music. Honor it."
Schon announced last week that Journey would be joined on the upcoming tour by the band's original keyboardist and lead singer Gregg Rolie.
Rolie — a longtime member of Ringo Starr's All Starr Band — is also a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, having been inducted in 2017 as a member of Journey and in 1998 as a member of Santana.