Journey’s Neal Schon sent his bandmate, Jonathan Cain, a cease and desist letter over Cain’s performance of the song “Don’t Stop Believin” at Mar-A-Lago.
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Cain performed the band’s hit at a political event at Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago property last month. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kari Lake, and Kimberly Guilfoyle were in attendance. (See video below).
“Although Mr. Cain is free to express his personal beliefs and associations, when he does that on behalf of Journey or for the band, such conduct is extremely deleterious to the Journey brand as it polarizes the band’s fans and outreach,” wrote Schon’s attorney in a letter, according to The Guardian. “Journey is not, and should not be, political.”
The letter continued, “Mr. Cain’s unauthorized affiliation of Journey with the politics of Donald Trump has the band’s fans up in arms, as is demonstrated by a sample of the attached emails and Twitter comments. This has caused, and continues to cause, irreparable harm to the Journey brand, its fan base, and earning potential, especially in light of the forthcoming tour.”
The letter added, “Mr. Cain has no right to use Journey for politics … he should not be capitalizing on Journey’s brand to promote his personal political or religious agenda to the detriment of the band.”
Cain’s wife, Paula White-Cain, is the former spiritual advisor to Donald Trump.
This isn’t the first rift between Schon and Cain. The two were involved in a legal fight over the band’s finances. Earlier this year, Schon sued Cain alleging that he was denied access to the band’s corporate credit card and financial records. Cain, on the other hand, alleges that Schon has put more than $1 million in personal expenses on the credit card.
Schon’s cease and desist also states that the letter is not meant to “further add to the animosity that is currently plaguing the band and the relationship between Mr. Schon and Mr. Cain.”
Cain responded to the letter by saying, “Schon is just frustrated that he keeps losing in court and is now falsely claiming the song has been used at political rallies.”
Despite the rifts, both Schon and Cain are slated to go on tour together with Journey starting in early 2023.
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