“Never Heard Anything Back”: Neal Schon Admits He Won’t “Keep Chasing” Steve Perry

While having a somewhat turbulent relationship with his former bandmates, Steve Perry was not only the lead singer for Journey but also helped write hits like “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “Who’s Crying Now.” Although he eventually left the band to explore a solo career, Perry returned to Journey in 2017 when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But even with the special moment shared on stage, Neal Schon believed the possibility of Perry returning was nothing more than wishful thinking. 

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Taking part in an interview with Eddie Trunk, Schon opened up about Perry and how he tried to reach out to the singer several times. The last time, he even invited him to a baseball game. “[I] invited him to the [San Francisco] Giants game, because I knew that he was a fan as well and was going to be there, and it’d be cool just to catch up and hang out and watch a ballgame, and [I] never heard anything back.”

Having tried several times to break the silence, Schon seemed to be nearing his end with Perry. He wondered, “I mean, you can’t keep chasing something that’s just not interested in, you know, correlating with you.”

[RELATED: Neal Schon’s Mysterious “Journey Beyond” Trademark Fuels Offshoot Speculation]

What The Future Holds For Neal Schon And Journey

Although Perry refused to speak with Schon, the singer still supported him through his solo career. When Perry released his third studio album, Traces, Schon insisted, “I was like, totally behind his album. When he came out with his album, I thought there was some very good stuff on it. I’d like to see him create some more.”

As for Schon, who remained part of Journey, he toyed with the idea of the band releasing new music. Their last album, Freedom, released three years ago in 2022. And according to Schon, “I’m always working on new material and I have, you know, quite a lot that I’ve compiled in this year that we’ve had off and many, many ideas for new songs. [We would need] to get in a room and throw it around and see what happens with it. We get very inspired once we get in a room together and actually rehearse.”

So for those wishing for new Journey music in the near future, Schon didn’t turn away from the idea. He even claimed, “You know, anything could happen.”

(Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)