The former Journey lead singer has apparently dropped his lawsuit after previously slamming ex-bandmates for failing to ask for his consent to use the trademarks of their hits.
- Jan 10, 2023
AceShowbiz - Steve Perry has withdrawn his lawsuit against his former Journey bandmates. The 73-year-old musician - who served as a lead singer of the rock band from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998, and co-penned many of their hits - lodged a lawsuit against Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain in September, regarding the trademarks of 20 of their biggest hits and their use of them on merchandise.
Accusing the pair of "fraud on the trademark office," he claimed they failed to ask for his consent to use the trademarks. However, Schon recently revealed Perry had dropped the case. "Yes he did. Now we can talk as we were," he responded to a fan on Twitter.
While the case has been dropped, there still appears to be a rift between Schon and Cain. The former has accused Cain of "trying to throw me under the bus." He wrote, "So much for [Cain] trying to throw me under the bus as he claimed I was blatantly trying to rip off [Perry] while collecting the checks for the very diligent work my wife and I did to protect our Merch."
The "Don't Stop Believin' " rockers have had a number of legal fallouts over the years. More recently, Schon filed a cease and desist against Cain for performing at Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago.
The 68-year-old lead guitarist was not impressed to say the least when the 72-year-old keyboardist performed "Don't Stop Believin' " at the former President's Florida resort in November because Journey "is not, and should not be, political."
Cain - whose wife Paula White-Cain was a spiritual advisor to Trump - is accused by his bandmate of "unauthorised affiliation of Journey" with Trump's politics. Schon claimed it has resulted in "irreparable harm" to the group's brand and "earning potential."
Cain hit back and accused his bandmate of lying. He responded, "Schon is just frustrated that he keeps losing in court and is now falsely claiming the song has been used at political rallies."
Back in March 2020, Journey fired longtime bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith for an alleged "malicious and very ill-conceived" coup attempt to gain control of the band's copyright from Schon and Cain.
Valory - who was also fired by the band in 1985 and replaced by Randy Jackson - and Smith later countersued. Jackson returned to the group in May 2020.
