\n\t\tt’s a little over 24 hours before Journey<\/a> kick off their Final Frontier farewell tour at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and the venue is a beehive of activity. It\u2019s guitarist Neal Schon<\/a>\u2018s 72nd birthday, and he\u2019s onstage strumming a new electric guitar gifted to him by his wife, former Real Housewives of D.C. cast member Michaele Salahi. The crew is testing out pyro effects it will unleash during big songs like \u201cSeparate Ways.\u201d Keyboardist Jonathan Cain<\/a>, who turned 76 the day before, is backstage with his wife, Paula White-Cain, a televangelist who serves as a senior adviser to Donald Trump\u2019s White House Faith Office; she just drove up from D.C. to be by his side as he recovers from a recent knee replacement surgery that caused him to miss nearly all the rehearsals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThere\u2019s a lot of work to do today as the members of Journey figure out exactly which songs they\u2019ll play on opening night, and prepare for their one and only production rehearsal with the entire band present. They\u2019re going to hit just about every market in America over the next two years \u2014 including out-of-way towns like Laredo, Texas, and Fort Wayne, Indiana \u2014 and there\u2019s talk of booking football stadiums before it all ends.<\/p>\n
\n\tThis may surprise some considering that Steve Perry<\/a>, the voice of every single Journey hit and the face of the band throughout their late-Seventies\/early-Eighties heyday, hasn\u2019t been a part of the band in 30 years, and he last toured with them in 1987. When the alt-rock revolution began just a few years later, Journey were lumped together with REO Speedwagon, Styx, and Foreigner as fossils from a bygone corporate rock era, and that seemed unlikely to change.<\/p>\n \n\tBut while those other acts continue to slog it out on the state fair\/casino circuit, Journey has become a touring colossus that somehow seems to grow more popular with each passing year. It\u2019s easy to simply pin the resurrection to The Sopranos<\/a>, Glee<\/a>, Stranger Things<\/a>, and other TV shows that have shined a bright spotlight on their music, but something deeper took place. Journey hits like \u201cOpen Arms,\u201d<\/a> \u201cFaithfully,\u201d<\/a> and, of course, \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin\u2019\u201d<\/a> are no longer seen as dusty artifacts from the early days of MTV. They\u2019re a part of the classic-rock canon, loved by generations of fans, and a reason why Journey endures even though Schon and Cain are the only remaining classic-era members.<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n \n\tBut before the first production rehearsal begins, lead singer Arnel Pineda, who has been in the band since 2007, sits down with me in his dressing room \u2014 a sparely decorated space with little more than a tea kettle, sliced lemons, and some bananas on a table \u2014 and reveals that this tour nearly didn\u2019t happen, at least with him.<\/p>\n \n\tThe reason why is a sad, complex story that involves his aging body and voice, a difficult divorce, and some very public allegations of domestic abuse that made headlines in his native Philippines. As soon as we start talking, Pineda makes it clear that he wants to talk about all of it.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBack in 2024, I said to them, \u2018If you\u2019re planning to do a farewell tour, you better tell me, because my issues and my personal problems are getting more intense, and I don\u2019t know if I want to go with you,’\u201d he tells me. \u201cI said, \u2018I want you to discuss the schedule with me.\u2019 It is what it is now\u2026. But then, I was really not happy with how they scheduled this tour. My body has changed. I can\u2019t take the cold weather anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tJensen, Cain, Schon, Castronovo, Pineda, and Derlatka (from left)<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAaron Richter for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n \n\tWithout consulting him, Pineda claims, the band booked a 60-date U.S. tour for this year \u2014 with at least another 40 shows slated for 2027 \u2014 kicking off in February in cold-weather towns. He told them he was unhappy in an email. Their response? \u201cNothing,\u201d Pineda says. \u201cAs they say, silence can be louder than explaining.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n \n\tFrustrated with the impasse, Pineda says, he told them on two occasions he wanted to leave the band: \u201cI said to them I wanted to retire because of my personal problems. No answer. Obviously, they don\u2019t want to find another singer.\u201d (According to both Schon and Pineda, it\u2019s not that simple: They claim that the touring giant AEG\u2019s contract with the band actually stipulates that this tour cannot go forward without Pineda. A representative for AEG did not respond to a request for comment on this.)<\/p>\n \n\tPineda was 40 when he joined Journey back in 2007. He\u2019s now 58, and the strain of belting out operatic songs like \u201cOpen Arms\u201d and \u201cFaithfully\u201d nearly 800 times across two decades has taken a toll on his voice. \u201cJonathan was really worried about me about eight or nine years ago,\u201d he says. \u201cHe said, \u2018We should use a ghost voice so that you can relax.\u2019 I said, \u2018No.’\u201d He emphatically denies the internet rumors that he\u2019s been using Auto-Tune at recent shows. \u201cI don\u2019t,\u201d he says. \u201cI swear to God. If you hear me being flat out there, that\u2019s just me being human.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSome of the more obsessive online fans have posted videos on YouTube comparing Pineda\u2019s voice of today to his voice from when he first joined the band, and to Perry\u2019s voice from the early Eighties. Many of the comments aren\u2019t kind. \u201cI actually agree with them, to tell you honestly,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019d be surprised. I agree with them. Steve Perry\u2019s voice is really far superior to mine. But I\u2019m almost 60 now. What can I do? And the band wants to move on with me, and they like the voice that I produce out there with them \u2026 They can fire me any time they want, but they\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPineda wasn\u2019t around for rehearsals, and he just learned the current plan is two hourlong sets, with an intermission in between. He\u2019s not happy about it. A break, he says, \u201cputs my voice in trouble\u2026. It\u2019s like a car where you go full speed, and then have to stop, and then go full speed. I also worry the fans will mellow\u2026. It kills the momentum of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe\u2019s also displeased that they added the 2011 super-deep cut \u201cCity of Hope\u201d to the proposed set list. \u201cI was expecting that they would spare me to sing those songs that I haven\u2019t sung in years,\u201d he says. \u201c[\u2018City of Hope\u2019] isn\u2019t in my system anymore\u2026. I think I really need to discuss this with them.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAs our discussion gets heavier and heavier, tears begin welling up in his eyes. \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to be their reaction to this [interview],\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to be as honest as possible. As much as I don\u2019t want to offend them, I\u2019ve got to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tI didn\u2019t plan on asking Pineda to talk much about the divorce, since his young children are nearby, and it\u2019s a highly contentious issue that I figured he wouldn\u2019t want to discuss publicly. It involves Pineda formally accusing his wife of adultery in court in 2023, and her subsequently responding with allegations filed in the Philippines under the Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) Act of \u201cverbal assaults, manipulation, and coercive behavior,\u201d following what she claimed was a long period of him committing adultery. (Pineda\u2019s wife could not be reached for comment for this story.)<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tPineda gets loose backstage.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAaron Richter for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n \n\tBut Pineda brings the matter up many times, and is eager to defend himself. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the nastiest experiences that I have ever experienced in my whole entire life,\u201d he says, before going on to vehemently deny the allegations made against him. \u201cI am not perfect, but I never laid a hand on her.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMY CONVERSATION WITH Pineda was a lot to process, and five minutes later I enter Neal Schon\u2019s dressing room a little overwhelmed, knowing I\u2019ll have to ask him about many things his lead singer just told me. But first, I wish Schon a happy birthday, and take a look around. Great effort has been made to transform what is ordinarily a plain, beige room into a festive space. The walls are festooned with bright purple curtains, streamers are everywhere, a neon \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d sign is hung on the wall, there are at least 50 blue and white balloons on the floor and ceiling, and three large candles are lit. On a table rests an enormous guitar-shaped cake, Rice Krispies Treats and cupcakes with the Journey logo on them, and a second cake shaped like a Marshall amp. The amp cake looks so real that I nearly touch it to make sure they aren\u2019t messing with me. \u201cHappy Birthday Neal Schon,\u201d reads a sign on the dessert table. \u201cJourney Founder \u201972 \u2013 \u221e.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWe start by chatting about Journey\u2019s early years as a struggling jazz-fusion band that formed after Schon and original lead singer Gregg Rolie left Santana, years before anyone else in the current lineup joined their ranks. \u201cWe were like one of the original jam bands,\u201d he says. \u201cHerbie Herbert, our original manager that I started this thing with, had us playing in front of everyone. We played in front of Kiss and Thin Lizzy when they were still in theaters. We played with anyone: Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Cheech and Chong, Lynyrd Skynyrd, you name it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThings changed forever in 1978 when Steve Perry joined, and they started landing hits on the charts like \u201cLights,\u201d \u201cWheel in the Sky,\u201d and \u201cAny Way You Want It.\u201d By 1981, they were arguably the biggest band in America thanks to their LP Escape and the hit singles \u201cWho\u2019s Crying Now,\u201d \u201cStone in Love,\u201d \u201cOpen Arms,\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tBut in January 1987, after a three-night stand in Hawaii followed by another three shows in Anchorage, Alaska, Perry told them he was fried from nearly a decade of solid work, and ready to move on. \u201cWe were like, \u2018What? We\u2019re not even halfway through this tour,’\u201d says Schon. \u201cBut that was that. He was done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tAfter a brief reunion with Perry in 1997, which fizzled out before they could play any shows (partly due to a hip injury that Perry suffered while hiking that year), the group moved on with vocal doppelganger Steve Augeri as their new singer. \u201cWe had some very great shows with Steve Augeri, but it took its toll on him as well,\u201d Schon says. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t recall where we were, but we were opening up for Def Leppard and one night he came out to sing and nothing came out.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tCain and Pineda share a smile during rehearsal.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAaron Richter for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n \n\t(At the time, in 2006, rumors flew that Augeri was lip-syncing to prerecorded vocals at his final shows. \u201cI can\u2019t answer that question,\u201d Augeri told me in 2022 when I asked him if the allegations were true. \u201cI can\u2019t legally answer it.\u201d)<\/p>\n \n\tWith a co-headlining run of dates with Def Leppard coming up, Schon asked former Yngwie Malmsteen vocalist Jeff Scott Soto to join them for the tour. \u201cWe went in the studio afterwards, and the chemistry was not quite there with Jonathan and Jeff,\u201d says Schon, explaining that they ultimately felt Soto\u2019s hard-rock sound wasn\u2019t a match: \u201cThat wasn\u2019t really Journey. So we went on another hiatus.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBack in those days, Schon and Cain were largely on the same page when it came to band issues. But over the past decade or so, major schisms have emerged. From Schon\u2019s point of view, they stem largely from Cain\u2019s public embrace of right-wing, evangelical causes, his support for the Trump administration, and differing views of how to run the business of Journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI stick by the roots of how we started and what was embedded in me from Herbie Herbert with all the original guys,\u201d says Schon. \u201cWe were never going to affiliate politics with our music, and we\u2019re never going to affiliate any one religion, not that we\u2019re unreligious. Everybody has their own religion. But why attach yourself into one portion of something? Why be red? Why be blue? Why be green? Because you know what? You\u2019re going to lose half your fans when you do that. It\u2019s everybody\u2019s music. I just don\u2019t agree with it. I still don\u2019t. And it\u2019s probably one of the reasons that things are still a bit shaky.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThings grew even shakier once lawsuits and cease-and-desist letters started to fly back and forth between Cain and Schon \u2014 who co-own the Journey trademark and cannot fire each other \u2014 over a number of issues, including alleged misuse of the band\u2019s corporate credit card (both disputed each other\u2019s claims), Cain\u2019s desire to appoint a neutral third director to mediate disputes, and Cain\u2019s 2022 performance of \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin’\u201d at Mar-a-Lago with Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Kari Lake.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn a situation with very few precedents in rock history, Schon and Cain continued to tour together in Journey in the middle of all their legal and personal dramas. \u201cThe music we\u2019ve created together is amazing,\u201d Schon says. \u201cAnd so, you have to celebrate that music with the fans. The fans are incredible. When I\u2019m onstage, I don\u2019t think about any of that.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThat doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s in a good place with Cain. \u201cI feel like I get one [lawsuit] served every week from his camp,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s like, \u2018Jesus Christ!\u2019 And learned to defend myself, really\u2026. I remember every aspect of everything that\u2019s gone down. I\u2019ve been sober for 18 years completely, and my memory is sharp. I know everything about every Journey contract, every LLC, every corporation. So I feel very confident about being able to stand up to anything that I need to.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tDrummer Deen Castronovo<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAaron Richter for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n \n\tSchon held band rehearsals for the farewell tour with a slimmed-down lineup of Journey that only had drummer Deen Castronovo, bassist Todd Jensen, and keyboardist Jason Derlatka because Cain was recovering from surgery and Pineda was still in the Phillipines. Has Schon even spoken with Cain since he got here a day earlier? \u201cI talked to him last night onstage and wished him a happy birthday,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m sure we\u2019ll talk soon, but he just got out of here. And there\u2019s been so much that\u2019s gone on. I hate all these attorneys. It\u2019s so nuts.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe continues to vent: \u201cThere\u2019s just so much ongoing noise. And I just want some fucking peace, for real. I\u2019m just really tired of all the legal [battles]. It\u2019s meaningless to me. I don\u2019t have any time for it. I turn 72 today. I\u2019m no youngster. I still have a lot of fire in my soul and energy to do things, but I also want to feel comfortable. Jon made a statement a while ago that this was his farewell. And so, I\u2019m treating it as such.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThis seems like a good time to bring up Pineda\u2019s concerns, beginning with his opposition to an intermission. \u201cI\u2019m not a lead singer, so I\u2019ve never heard of that before,\u201d Schon says. \u201cBut Arnel is Arnel. I think he would know his voice better than anyone else. We agreed last night that we can play for two hours straight, or we can take an intermission, a very short one. I would think if you sang all the way through the first set that you would be well opened up.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tI find myself in the odd position of telling him that Pineda doesn\u2019t want to sing \u201cCity of Hope,\u201d the only song from his era of the band in the proposed set list. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to play that,\u201d Schon says. \u201cI just saw Arnel for the first time in a year last night. We haven\u2019t really had a chance to sit down and discuss these things, but we\u2019ve got lots of singers in this band. Deen is a tremendous singer. Todd is a tremendous singer. So [Pineda] doesn\u2019t have to feel all that pressure. It\u2019s a long show. If he wants to take a break, take a break, and one of those guys can step up to the mic and sing.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSchon isn\u2019t surprised when I tell him about Pineda\u2019s uncertainty about doing the tour in the first place. \u201cIt\u2019s been very confusing,\u201d says Schon. \u201cHe sent a lot of messages that he was overwhelmed with his personal life and didn\u2019t know if he could do it. But we all signed contracts, OK? So, honestly, I\u2019m signed up for the next two years. I\u2019m ready for it. Really, I have to be honest, whatever goes down, I\u2019m ready to plow through it, survive, and float to the top. I hope that he feels better about things. Last night at rehearsal, I thought he sounded really good.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe\u2019s also aware that Pineda didn\u2019t want to start the tour this early in the year, but says they had little choice. \u201cHe wanted to go out in the summer, and he told our agent that,\u201d says Schon. \u201cAnd they don\u2019t like us to go out in the summer, because especially this year, everybody\u2019s touring. So, your odds are not as good as far as selling out the arenas when there\u2019s so much traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWith more than 100 dates slated between this year and next year, I ask Schon what might happen if Pineda simply can\u2019t handle it. Would a different singer be brought in? \u201cI\u2019ve thought about it,\u201d he says. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s natural to think about it. It\u2019s not something I want to think about. I love Arnel. He\u2019s been a total martyr, like a warrior. This is his 17th year. But still, at the same token, if he said that, I have to respect it. Do I feel that we could continue? I would say that we could.\u201d Ultimately, he says, it would be AEG\u2019s call: \u201cIf they go, \u2018No, pack it up and go home,\u2019 then you call it a day.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWe step out into the hallway at the end of our talk, and we\u2019re greeted by his wife and members of the crew. An impromptu rendition of \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d breaks out, and we sing it again for a camera guy who\u2019s been trailing Schon all day for an upcoming documentary about his life and career. \u201cIt\u2019s a guerilla-style doc of myself out here while we\u2019re doing this tour,\u201d Schon tells me. \u201cIt\u2019s time for me to tell the stories of my life. I remember it all so vividly.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLIKE PINEDA, CAIN has been absent from the world of Journey since they last played in April 2024. When the band performed on The Voice and halftime at a 49ers game without either of them, rumors flew that he might be out. It turns out he was merely recovering from a knee-replacement surgery he had in September. \u201cThat was a wallop,\u201d he tells me. \u201cIt\u2019s been five months, and it\u2019s still a little sketchy. But it\u2019s coming along. I needed a new knee, though. I had no cartilage left. It was bone on bone, and I had arthritis. It was very painful. I don\u2019t have any pain in the leg right now. It\u2019s just the leg accepting the titanium. And I\u2019ve got a whole suitcase full of rehab equipment that I\u2019m bringing on the tour.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tPineda and Schon onstage<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAaron Richter for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n \n\tCain is stationed in a bare-bones dressing room far from Schon\u2019s, with Pineda\u2019s room placed strategically between them. It\u2019s not a new situation for the singer. \u201cI\u2019m always in the middle of them, and I\u2019m always trying to be the peacemaker,\u201d Pineda told me earlier. \u201cIt\u2019s just hard sometimes, and it breaks my heart that it\u2019s come to that point that they have to fight like this. When I go onstage, it\u2019s in the back of my head that all these negativities are lingering there.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhen I enter the room, Paula White-Cain shakes my hand before running out to attend a Zoom meeting. It\u2019s unclear if it\u2019s related to her ministry or her work with the White House. Days earlier, she took some heat online for an event at the City of Destiny Church in Apopka, Florida, where she urged the crowd to give her $100,000 for the ministry. \u201cI\u2019m telling you, there\u2019s an anointing of release right now,\u201d she said from the stage. \u201cI want $100,000 to come in. There are 10 people that could give $10,000. There\u2019s a hundred people that could give $1,000. Get a check, make it payable to Paula White Ministries\u2026. This isn\u2019t for me. This is about kids that will die without you being obedient.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tI plan on asking Cain about all the challenges in his relationship with Schon, along with Pineda\u2019s delicate state. But I start by having him finish the story of the band\u2019s resurrection, right around the time they parted ways with Jeff Scott Soto in 2007. \u201cWhen we went on the road, young people would come to the front of the stage,\u201d he says. \u201cI was like, \u2018Isn\u2019t this interesting? What\u2019s going on?\u2019 They all knew the words because they\u2019d been singing them at karaoke bars. And of course, The Sopranos just put it over the top.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe\u2019s referring, of course, to the last scene of the HBO drama\u2019s series finale, where Tony Soprano plays \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin’\u201d on a jukebox, right before the screen goes black forever, and Tony maybe, possibly, dies. \u201cDavid Chase let us know a year before that this would be the closing Sopranos song,\u201d Cain says. \u201cI kept it a secret for a whole year. And lo and behold, it came out at the right time.\u201d They enjoyed a couple of months of renewed attention to the band before coming across Pineda singing Journey covers on YouTube: \u201cNeal found him, and there it was. It was a gamble, but Journey was back.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe comeback period brought the band back into arenas and even stadiums, but it also brought a lot of intense disagreements between the two principal members that spilled out into the legal arena. \u201cIt is called the music business, and I\u2019m very fiscal about the way I like to do things,\u201d Cain says. \u201cI learned from the best managers on the planet, the best accountants on the planet. All I want is to run a smooth ship. Sometimes you have to get someone\u2019s attention and say, \u2018Let\u2019s do this the right way, and then it\u2019ll be fine.\u2019 I just want our business to be a good business. That\u2019s it. It\u2019s no power trip for me. I don\u2019t want any drama.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tCain has been in the band since 1980.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAaron Richter for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n \n\tJourney were managed for many years by industry titan Irving Azoff, whom Cain still calls a \u201cterrific\u201d manager. But Schon and Azoff butted heads, and eventually parted ways. Right now, they don\u2019t have an outside manager. Cain and Schon handle all business affairs themselves. It\u2019s not an ideal situation, from the keyboardist\u2019s perspective. \u201cEvery band needs a manager,\u201d he says. \u201cNeal and I talk on Zoom when we have to run our business, but I think manager-less bands are always destined for trouble. You can get a book on the music business, and in the first chapter it\u2019ll say, \u2018Every band needs a manager.\u2019 \u2026 So I wanted one. I mean, I prayed for one. But [Neal] just wants to run the show, and I want to play music. I don\u2019t want to manage it. I\u2019m a music guy.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tCain\u2019s faith is very important to him, and he makes no apologies for sharing his religious views with the world, or his political views, even if this enrages Schon. \u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d he says, when I relay Schon\u2019s take that he\u2019s alienating fans. \u201cIt has nothing to do with politics or anything partisan. I believe in policy, and what I stand for, because it affects my life. It affects my taxes I pay. It affects everything we do. I was a Democrat, I voted for Bill Clinton, and now I\u2019m a Republican. I vote for the best guy. I vote for the best policy. And I\u2019m not in love with any party. I just like to see the country going in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAnd that video of him playing \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin’\u201d at Mar-a-Lago with MAGA superstars? \u201cPeople do that at a karaoke bar,\u201d he says. \u201cI can\u2019t do it at Mar-a-Lago? And, you know, it lit the room up. It was so great to see all these dignitaries go, \u2018I think I know this song,\u2019 and start singing. And I have to tell you, when you can light up a room and have some fun with a song that you helped create, then you\u2019re doing a good thing. Everybody had a good time. I didn\u2019t get paid for it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe remains unapologetic on this. \u201cI don\u2019t go out and make speeches about anything onstage, but I will stand up for what I believe in,\u201d he continues. \u201cAnd if somebody asks me about Trump, I tell them what I think. My agent called me after an interview where I did that and he was like, \u2018What did you do that for?\u2019 I said, \u2018Because they asked me.’\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMoving away from politics and religion, I bring up Pineda\u2019s concerns about the tour. \u201cI think he\u2019s going to be OK once we get it right for him,\u201d Cain says. \u201cWe just need to make him comfortable, shorten the show, make it work. You can make it work. We\u2019ll do whatever we\u2019ve got to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe conversation moves to Pineda\u2019s vocal issues, and his memory that Cain told him to simply lip-sync a few years ago. Cain seems genuinely shocked by this. \u201cI never said that,\u201d he says, emphatically. \u201cNo, no, no. I would never. I don\u2019t know where he got that from. It wasn\u2019t from me. I didn\u2019t say it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBut Cain does say that he no longer wants to tour once this one wraps up sometime next year. \u201cI\u2019m 76, and it just feels like the right time to stop,\u201d he tells me. \u201cI just woke up one morning and saw that John Lodge<\/a> from the Moody Blues died. That kind of spooked me. I was like, \u2018Wait a minute, he\u2019s 82 and he\u2019s dead.\u2019 I know the road takes a lot out of you as far as your adrenal glands and your ability to fight off infection, anything like that. It is very grinding. And I\u2019m 45 years now with Journey.\u201d If you count his stint with the late-Seventies power-pop band the Babys, he adds, \u201cThat\u2019s 50 years on the road. That\u2019s kind of enough.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAS OF NOW, nobody in Journey knows where or when the final show will be held. But their singer has a vision in his head. \u201cThis is just a child\u2019s wish \u2014 this three-year-old in me, who adores his parents so much,\u201d Pineda tells me. \u201cI wish Steve Perry would make an appearance. He doesn\u2019t even have to sing. He can just take a bow with the guys. If he doesn\u2019t want to do it, I would respect that. But if he would do that, that would be such an amazing sight.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPerry comes up a lot when you speak to the guys in Journey, even if the only in-person contact they\u2019ve had with him in the past 30 years took place in 2005, when the band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and again in 2017, when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The latter was the only time Pineda has met his predecessor, and it was just a few seconds in a backstage hallway, during which he actually bowed down to Perry.<\/p>\n \n\tBizarrely, I\u2019ve spent way more time with Perry lately than his ex-bandmates have, due to a 2018 Rolling Stone feature<\/a> tied to\u00a0Perry\u2019s comeback LP, Traces, where I got to hang with him for a day in New York, and another in San Francisco. We\u2019ve also spoken on Zoom several times, most recently<\/a> in 2024. Pineda is stunned when I tell him this. \u201cOh, my God,\u201d he says. \u201cI want to be in your place. I want to know how he did it back in the day. He\u2019s a rock god. And I can never even be half the man that he was during his prime\u2026. As a fan, I wouldn\u2019t want Journey to have another singer except for Steve Perry, to tell you honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tSchon (left) and Perry onstage during the band\u2019s 1986 \u2018Raised on Radio\u2019 tour.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRoss Marino\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \n\tSchon has made many attempts to reconnect with Perry over the years. But it\u2019s resulted in little besides brief communications about business matters, and no actual meetups. Back in 2018, I asked Perry why he was so reluctant to reestablish even a friendship with Schon. \u201cI\u2019m not sure that\u2019s possible without stirring up hopes of a reunion,\u201d he told me. \u201cPlease listen to me. I left the band 31 fucking years ago, my friend. You can still love someone, but not want to work with them. And if they only love you because they want to work with you, that doesn\u2019t feel good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tToday, Schon can only shrug his shoulders when the impasse with Perry comes up. \u201cI liked parts of his album,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I was like, \u2018Wow, I miss playing with him. I could have added to that.\u2019 I almost took a couple of the songs and overdubbed a few guitars and I was going to send it to him, then I just didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDays before the farewell tour rehearsal began, Cain gave an interview to Ultimate Classic Rock where he said that Schon floated the idea to Perry of a guest appearance on the farewell tour. \u201cHe says [Perry\u2019s] thinking about it,\u201d Cain said then. \u201cI hope he comes out. It\u2019s never too late. We\u2019ve got 100 shows, so he\u2019s welcome at any one of them\u2026. He didn\u2019t say no \u2014 leave it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPredictably, this led to headlines all across the internet about a possible Journey\/Steve Perry reunion. Within hours, Perry put out a statement firmly denying it was even a possibility, closing the door yet again. \u201cTo all my friends, I\u2019ve been hearing these recent rumors, and I wanted to speak to you all directly,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWhile I\u2019m always grateful for the love people still have for Journey, the rumors about me rejoining the band are simply not true, and I want to gently put them to rest. I completely understand why people would hope for that. The music we created together means a great deal to me too. But I\u2019m continuing to explore new creative work and really enjoy working on new music that reflects where I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tCain says that the interview he did was a deliberate act of provocation. \u201cI just kind of planted a little seed out,\u201d he says. \u201cI was trying to fish a little bit, and say, \u2018Well, he\u2019s thinking about it.\u2019 He came immediately out and said, \u2018No, I\u2019m not.\u2019 I kind of did that on purpose, because there\u2019s just so much fake AI stuff going on. You just look at it and go, \u2018Wait a minute, no, that\u2019s not true. None of this is true.’\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBack in 2018, I brought up Cain\u2019s memoir, Don\u2019t Stop Believin\u2019, to Perry, and he interrupted me before I could even finish, making a face as if he\u2019d just bit into a lemon. \u201cI don\u2019t really care to read Jonathan\u2019s book,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019d appreciate if you didn\u2019t tell me about it. I don\u2019t need to know. It\u2019s none of my business.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tCain has a hard time understanding this. \u201cHe\u2019s never even read the book,\u201d he tells me. \u201cHe\u2019s afraid to read it. There\u2019s nothing but adoration in it. There\u2019s nothing but praise. When he came out with his album, people wanted to talk to him about Journey. And he said, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s like a knife in my heart.\u2019 No, that was some of the best times of your life, dude. It\u2019s sad he didn\u2019t get to enjoy a lot of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPerry\u2019s unease with fame and his defection from Journey near the peak of their popularity created a lot of heartache for Cain, but he\u2019s come to terms with how it all played out. \u201c[Steve] ran into some strange spirits,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I first met him, he was so confident. I thought to myself, \u2018I\u2019d like to learn the swagger he has, because I\u2019m not this confident.\u2019 And it sort of rubbed off on me, and he gave me a lot of confidence. And I tried to give it back to him, and it seemed like the longer we were together, the less confident he became. But you know what? He was an architect and a genius and a terrific bandmate, a band leader. I can\u2019t say enough about his work ethic. He taught me what it took to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThey\u2019ve had no direct contact since the Hall of Fame, but an unexpected mediator between them has emerged in the form of Trevor Lukather (son of Toto bandleader Steve Lukather), who happens to be Cain\u2019s new son-in-law. The younger Lukather has become a close friend of Perry\u2019s, and they worked together in 2024 on a new version of the 1986 Journey obscurity \u201cIt Could Have Been You. \u201cI communicated some things through him, just to tell Steve that I\u2019m thinking about him,\u201d Cain says. \u201cI remembered why there was no video of us working on any records or creating anything. It\u2019s because Steve said it was sacred time that should never be filmed. Trevor said, \u2018Steve said you were right. He can\u2019t believe you remembered.’\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDespite all the battles, past and present, Cain remains immensely proud of Journey\u2019s work. The music even feels spiritual to him at this point. \u201cBeing a Christian, I would say God has his hand on this band,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd we have pleased him. We have pleased the Lord. That\u2019s why I\u2019m here, because I know when I walk on that stage, I\u2019m not going out there alone. We told the world to not stop believing. You could say, \u2018Oh Lord, you stand by me, I\u2019m forever yours faithfully.\u2019 You know? You could say, \u2018I come to you, God, with open arms \u2026 Nothing to hide, believe what I say.’\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tPineda watches the rehearsal from the empty stands.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAaron Richter for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n \n\tBEFORE LONG, IT\u2019S time to head into the arena and finally see the members of Journey come together and make some music. I walk through the empty arena and find an aisle seat on the floor, about 15 rows back, letting various family members and crew sit in front: The Schon clan is on the right, Pineda\u2019s family in the middle, and Cain\u2019s people to the left.<\/p>\n \n\tPineda told me he wasn\u2019t going to sing at full strength in order to save his voice for the following night. But by the third song, \u201cStone in Love,\u201d he\u2019s unable to hold back, and he starts letting it rip. Per his wishes, there\u2019s no intermission, and \u201cCity of Hope\u201d is dropped. Cain sings lead on \u201cJust the Same Way,\u201d Castronovo handles the vocals on \u201cLights\u201d and \u201cMother\/Father,\u201d and Derlatka delivers \u201cSuzanne,\u201d giving Pineda time to rest. Between a few songs, he even takes some oxygen from a green canister.<\/p>\n \n\tPineda sounds stellar the entire time, and he seems positively joyful. There\u2019s no hint of the downcast fellow I spoke with just a few hours ago. The music of Journey, no matter how many times he\u2019s performed it live, is once again giving him nourishment to carry on. \u201cI\u2019ve really had a bad life,\u201d he told me earlier in the day. \u201cI\u2019ve been hungry and homeless, with no friends, and no place to go.\u201d Back in 2007, he recalls, \u201cI wasn\u2019t even dreaming about this. Me and my wife were just doing our laundry when I got the call from Neal that he wanted me to come over to San Francisco in one week.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThat call kicked off one of the most improbable events in rock history, a completely unknown singer from the Philippines fronting one of the most popular bands on the planet. Despite everything, Pineda\u2019s main feeling remains extreme gratitude. \u201cI love the guys,\u201d he said. \u201cI respect them so much. And I will remain until the last days of my life grateful, and really feeling blessed, for what they\u2019ve done for me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe production rehearsal closes with an ecstatic \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin\u2019.\u201d There isn\u2019t a single interaction all show between Cain and Schon, who are stationed on opposite ends of the stage, but someone unaware of the history would never know there was any beef. \u201cThe first time I had to go on the road after he sued me, I asked my lawyer, \u2018What do I do?’\u201d Cain recalled to me earlier that day. \u201cAnd he said, \u2018You get onstage and play the music.\u2019 Again, those fans came to hear the music, and not the drama. I come here to put on the best show I can do. That\u2019s what I come here for.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tSchon founded Journey in the early 1970s.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAaron Richter for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n \n\tA fleet of black SUVs is waiting outside the loading dock doors to take the members of the band to their hotel for the night. Cain and his wife are the only ones headed to a tour bus. His wife is leaving the tour soon, but his two German Shepherds are coming to keep him company, which means they have to set up a series of crates on the bus and in hotel rooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tI\u2019m about to leave myself when I see Pineda and ask him how he feels after the rehearsal. \u201cI was just trying to bring back that muscle memory,\u201d he says, noting that he used oxygen \u201cbecause you need to do a lot of breathing when you do these songs.\u201d I ask if he\u2019s ready to do that show 100 more times. He nods, starts to leave, and then doubles back to share one more thought.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRemember when you were asking me if I was ready to retire?\u201d he asks. \u201cMy personal problem really took a toll on me. That\u2019s why I wanted to prioritize my family. It\u2019s not that I hate touring with [Journey]. It\u2019s like the same thing that happened with Steve Perry. He has a hip problem. Me, I have a personal problem that\u2019s taking a toll on me. It\u2019s getting in my head, emotionally. I told them that I was a wreck and needed a little more time so that I could fix my family. But I still have to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n \n\tPain returns to his eyes, and I quietly ask if he\u2019s happy he\u2019s here. \u201cSixty percent,\u201d he says with a sigh. \u201cThe other 40 percent of me is still there in the Philippines.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tAnd with that, Pineda, Cain, and Schon go their separate ways for the night. Cain stays back on the bus, and Pineda and Schon get into their SUVs and drive off to their hotel \u2014 all three of them united for this final chapter of a saga that Schon started 54 years ago, but still worlds apart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I t’s a little over 24 hours before Journey kick off their Final Frontier farewell tour at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,188834,2203,157,188835,111,139,69,188836],"class_list":{"0":"post-357551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-jonathan-cain","10":"tag-journey","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-neal-schon","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-steve-perry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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