Journey’s Neal Schon files cease and desist to bandmate Jonathan Cain over performance at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago

Journey‘s Neal Schon has filed a cease and desist to his bandmate Jonathan Cain over a performance at Donald Trump‘s Mar-A-Lago resort.

Last month, Cain performed the band’s iconic hit ‘Don’t Stop Believin” at the Florida complex with politicians and Trump acolytes Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Kari Lake.

In a letter to Cain – whose wife Paula White-Cain is a former spiritual advisor to Trump – Schon’s lawyer wrote (via The Guardian): “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 polarises the band’s fans and outreach. Journey is not, and should not be, political.

“Mr. Cain’s unauthorised 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.”

“Mr. Cain has no right to use Journey for politics…” the letter added. “He should not be capitalising on Journey’s brand to promote his personal political or religious agenda to the detriment of the band.”

In response, Cain said: “Schon is just frustrated that he keeps losing in court and is now falsely claiming the song has been used at political rallies.”

This new development is far from the first legal battle within Journey. Schon sued Cain last month over allegations that he was refused access to the band’s credit card, with Cain responding by alleging that Schon added over $1million (£830,000) in personal expenses to the card in question.

Also, Steve Perry, who fronted Journey from 1977 to 1998 and sang on many of their most well-known hits, is attempting to stop his former bandmates from owning trademarks to the names of some of the band’s biggest songs.

As Billboard reports, Journey’s two biggest mainstays – Schon and Cain – hold the trademarks to many of the band’s hits, including ‘Anyway You Want It’, ‘Wheel In The Sky’ and ‘Open Arms’, through their Freedom JN LLC company.

The trademarks covers the use of those titles on merchandise such as T-shirts, hoodies and other apparel, making it easier for Schon and Cain to sue anyone infringing the trademark by selling items bearing those titles.

However, in a petition filed by Perry to the US Patent and Trademark Office on September 11, the singer argued that Schon and Cain’s trademark goes against a partnership agreement the trio signed requiring unanimous consent for any business relating to the trademarked songs, and that he had not provided that consent. As such, he has asked the agency to invalidate 20 of the pair’s trademark registrations.

The post Journey’s Neal Schon files cease and desist to bandmate Jonathan Cain over performance at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago appeared first on NME.