Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain has denied he is planning to leave the band, despite recent comments from the band’s guitarist Neal Schon.
Schon posted on social media on Thursday (October 9) that Cain had informed the rest of the band that he planned to call it a day after the completion of one final tour.
“Jonathan Cain announced his farewell to Journey tonight,” Schon’s X post read. “I’m nowhere near done! Journey has so much more life ahead! I’m sure we will have a great tour!”
Jonathan Cain announced his farewell to Journey tonight. I’m nowhere near done ! Journey has so much more life ahead ! 🤟🏽I’m sure we will have a great tour ! pic.twitter.com/njwEsfBc6D
— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) October 10, 2025
Schon later clarified that Cain would still tour with the band for all dates in 2026 and 2027, although no tour dates have yet been announced.
In response to Schon’s comments, Cain’s representatives released a statement, denying that he had given any confirmation that he is quitting the band.
We will be touring with Jon all through 26-27 celebrating the music we’ve created. pic.twitter.com/b4IdArd1Og
— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) October 10, 2025
“Jonathan Cain remains an active member of Journey,” the statement read (via Consequence). “And any reports suggesting otherwise are inaccurate. He is fully dedicated to touring with the band over the next couple of years and has only expressed plans to retire at a later time”.
Cain did, however, suggest in a recent appearance on the Strang Report podcast that he has plans to leave Journey, describing a 2026 tour with the band as “our farewell Journey tour”, adding: “So I’ll be saying goodbye to that”.
Cain and Schon have been locked in a bitter public dispute for some time – in 2024, Cain filed a lawsuit against Schon during the band’s co-headline tour with Def Leppard, on grounds of frustrations over his “expenses related to the tour”, including “budgeting and spending” of the band’s credit card over personal expenses.
Schon later said the band had opted to bring in “someone impartial” to help smooth over their differences. “Anyone who follows Journey will know that Jon Cain and I don’t always see eye-to-eye on everything Or, sometimes, on pretty much anything,” he wrote.
“Recently, Jon Cain made a number of claims and slanderous accusations about me and my wife – and I can’t stress enough how much it upset me and how wrong they are. I am determined to take the high road and push all this aside for the moment to focus on our fans, the tour and all who give so much to make things happen.”
“That’s why I’m so glad that Jon now agrees with me that the current dynamic can’t continue and it’s also why I’m pleased that we’re going to bring in someone impartial to help us resolve our disputes, bring clarity to what we’re doing and allow us, as a band, to get back to what we should all focus on – making music and performing for our fans.”
Schon, who is the band’s lead guitarist and sole original member, owns 50 per cent of the band via entity Freedom 2020, with Cain owning the other half, making it a deadlock when it comes to company decisions, per Bloomberg Law. Cain is the second longest serving member of the band, having joined it in 1980.
