Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain was slapped with a cease-and-desist demand from bandmate Neal Schon after performing the band’s signature hit at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last month.
Cain, whose televangelist wife Paula White is the former president’s “spiritual advisor,” was backed on “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Kari Lake sang “Don’t Stop Believin’” along with Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain at a recent event with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. pic.twitter.com/dvSp1z62BX
— PatriotTakes (@patriottakes) November 23, 2022
“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,” read the letter from a lawyer for Schon and obtained by Variety. “Journey is not, and should not be, political.
“Mr. Cain has no right to use Journey for politics. His politics should be his own personal business. He should not be capitalizing on Journey’s brand to promote his personal political or religious agenda to the detriment of the band.”
The letter noted “the animosity that is currently plaguing the band and the relationship between Mr. Schon and Mr. Cain.”
The 1981 song was written by Cain, Schon and former Journey frontman Steve Perry.
Schon and Perry previously protested the use of “Don’t Stop Believin’” at Trump campaign rallies.