Older generations not understanding the younger generations is a tale as old as time. (Millennials, how’s it feel to be so confounded by Gen Z and Gen Alpha?) Even people who spent their entire young adult lives on the fringes of societal norms and expectations eventually turn into the older folks advocating for those norms and expectations. And frankly, Journey guitarist Neal Schon is no exception to this inevitable way of life.
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Journey doesn’t need to do a whole lot to stay relevant in the musical world these days. Classic Journey cuts like “Don’t Stop Believin’”, “Anyway You Want It”, and “Separate Ways” are regulars in most rock radio stations. Moreover, their catalog has been featured in a multitude of television shows and films over the past several decades.
And indeed, with each new inclusion in a hip, young television series or movie, Schon started to pick up on a hilariously curmudgeonly trend. At the time of this conversation with The Guardian in 2024, it didn’t sound like this forecasting tool had led him astray once.
How Journey Guitarist Neal Schon Can Predict His Band’s Success
Journey is undoubtedly a legacy rock ‘n’ roll band of epic magnitude. But this kind of rock royalty status can also come with some notable downsides. The more time that passes since an incredible rock song’s original release, the likelier it seems that it will be turned into a commercial jingle for diapers, heartburn medication, or hemorrhoid cream. You get the picture. There is also the ever-growing possibility that a movie or television series that the band doesn’t like would want to use their music.
Schon described what it was like watching Journey’s hit track, “Don’t Stop Believin’”, take on a new life post-2000. “First, there was the movie Monster with Charlize Theron,” Schon said. “Then came The Sopranos. I remember my phone blowing up. All my friends [were] saying, ‘Man, did you see the final scene?’ Then, Glee happened. I was terrified by that because I thought it was a teenybopper show, not so cool for us.”
Songfacts: Don’t Stop Believin’ | Journey
In May 2009 a remake by the cast of the Fox TV musical comedy Glee debuted at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, five places higher than Journey’s version ever reached. It was performed in the season pilot and became part of the soundtrack album Glee: The Music, Volume 1. By the end of 2009, the digital download had earned 500,000 digital sales. Journey guitarist and songwriter Neal Schon was afraid the use of the song in Glee would reflect negatively on the band. “I was terrified by that because I thought it was a teenybopper show, not so cool for us,” Schon admitted to The Guardian. “Little did I know that it would open up a younger generation to our music. I’m a rocker and a blues guy, and we always joke that if I think something is too schmaltzy, it’s usually gonna be big!” The Glee version was performed on Sesame Street with monsters portraying the cast and the lyrics adapted to “Don’t stop G-ing,” a tribute to the letter G.
“Little did I know that it would open up a younger generation to our music,” he continued. “I’m a rocker and a blues guy. We always joke that if I think something is too schmaltzy, it’s usually gonna be big!”
Schon’s way of forecasting successes based on schmaltziness is a reminder of two things. One: even rock stars can develop curmudgeonly, “old man yells at cloud” tendencies. And two: sometimes, crossing generational lines to connect with folks younger than us can be uncomfortable—but it’s worth it.
Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns
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