DOVER, Del. (AP) — Over the past 50 years, the rock band Journey has compiled an impressive list of hits, but the song “Separate Ways” might now be resonating most with some band and crew members.
In the latest legal dispute with band founder and lead guitarist Neal Schon, longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain is asking a Delaware judge to resolve a deadlock involving Freedom 2020, a company formed three years ago to oversee tour-related finances.
According to court filings, Schon is president of Freedom 2020, but he and Cain each hold a 50% stake in the company. In a petition filed last week, Cain said he and Schon “fundamentally disagree” on the management and operation of the company. He wants the court to appoint a custodian to act as an independent, deadlock-breaking director.
Cain’s attorneys have also requested the judge to expedite the case amid the band’s current 50th Anniversary Freedom Tour, which concludes on November 17 in London. During a hearing on Wednesday, Cain's attorney Sidney Liebesman told Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster that the current situation is “dysfunctional.”
“It is in crisis,” Liebesman said. “The damage is taking place during the tour.”
Liebesman accused Schon of wasting company assets and acting in his own self-interest.
In a court filing on Monday, Schon’s attorneys denied many of Cain’s allegations, including claims that the tour’s production company and vendors were not being paid on time.
“Petitioner’s allegations that the company faces imminent irreparable harm from a purported inability of the company to meet its financial obligations have no basis in fact,” Schon’s attorneys stated. They will file a more complete response to Cain’s petition on Monday.
“Our client denies that there’s been any mismanagement,” said Schon's attorney Jack Yoskowitz, adding that any dysfunction has been caused by Cain acting in his own self-interest and making harmful allegations to the press.
Laster scheduled a final hearing in the case to begin on September 3, coinciding with Labor Day weekend, as sought by Cain’s attorneys. Schon’s attorneys preferred a hearing in late September or early October, after the North American leg of the tour ends.
Cain’s attorneys argue that a quick resolution is needed because the deadlock has become “a very much public battle” that has also created a “toxic internal environment” during the tour.
“Rather than focusing on the band’s performances during a major international tour, the band’s business manager, lead vocalist, and crew members now find themselves caught in the middle of the directors’ disputes, afraid of performing their job responsibilities, and pressured to align with one director or another,” they wrote.
Cain’s attorneys say the dispute threatens the band’s reputation, could negatively affect its fan base, and could further strain relationships with vendors and personnel. They note that the band has lost multiple crew members due to these tensions over the past several months, and the company’s new business manager, its seventh, was hired two months ago.
Cain claims that Schon’s desire to take a $1.5 million advance from promoter AEG Presents LLC to cover tour expenses, instead of Cain's proposal for a $500,000 advance, has caused “a major rift.” He also accuses Schon of “exorbitant and wasteful spending” on hotels and airfare. For example, Schon has ignored the company limit of $1,500 per night for hotel accommodations, spending up to $10,000 per night for rooms for him and his wife, according to Cain.
Cain also alleges that Schon allows crew members to stay in hotel rooms during tour stops near their home cities and to fly business class. Furthermore, Schon has used the company credit card for personal expenses and incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs for private jets for himself, his wife, and various crew members, according to Cain.
The dispute has also spilled over into creative differences, including Cain’s disagreement with Schon’s selection of a substitute drummer for a Toronto performance last week and whether Cain should play rhythm guitar during performances of the 1978 song “Wheel in the Sky."
"Even if that decision were within the scope of Freedom 2020’s business, which seems highly doubtful, matters of song arrangement are objectively not a type of disagreement that threatens the company with irreparable harm," Schon's attorneys wrote.
The two band members have been at odds for several years. In 2022, Schon sent a cease-and-desist letter after Cain performed the 1981 hit "Don’t Stop Believin’” at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Schon argued that Cain, whose wife was a spiritual adviser to Trump, had no right to use the Journey brand for political purposes. Cain countered that Schon was damaging the band’s brand through bullying tactics and reckless spending.
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