Neal Schon on Steve Perry: ‘The Mutual Respect is There’

Share This:

Journey’s Neal Schon and Steve Perry at the band’s 2017 Rock Hall induction (Photo: Kevin Kane via HBO; used with permission)

Journey founder Neal Schon – and, with bass player Ross Valory, one of only two remaining original members – has been paying tribute to former lead singer, Steve Perry, with a nightly dedication of the band’s 1978 hit single, “Lights,” while on Journey’s current tour with Def Leppard. The song, co-written by Schon and Perry, was featured on the band’s fourth full length album, Infinity, and has become one of their most popular and easily recognizable songs.

Schon, who will be releasing a solo album in early 2019, has also expressed his wishes to work again with Perry – “the mutual respect is there.” Perry is expected to release his own solo album in October 2018.

“I’ve been hearing that he’s been showing up in the same coffee joint that I go to all the time,” Schon says. “Hopefully I’ll run into him soon. We had a great meeting when we met for [Journey’s 2017 induction into the Rock and Roll] Hall of Fame. I realized there was still a very deep connection there. He’s had nothing but very kind words to say about myself.

“I’ve done the same for him. The mutual respect is there. One step at a time. I’d just like to get to know him again and see where he’s at. But I can surely tell you that I would love to just have him come and just mess around one day at Narada [Michael Walden’s] studio with the three of us, because I think we would turn out something that he would really dig.”

Watch Schon give a shout-out to Perry at a May 23, 2018 concert

It’s been 24 years since Perry released a solo album, 1994’s For The Love of Strange Medicine. At the time of Journey’s Rock Hall induction, he said in an interview: “Basically, the record is an emotional expression, and a reason to make one. It’s been a real cathartic experience going back to that emotional place that I thought I would never go back to. And we really have been doing our very best to capture what I think are some timeless songs.”

Schon founded Journey in 1972 and has been the only consistent member, having participated in every album and tour to date. The Grammy-nominated guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist was also a member of Santana – including a brief 2016 reunion – and has performed with a variety of other acts including Bad English, Jan Hammer, and has released numerous solo albums including his most recent, Vortex, in 2015.

Journey’s worldwide sales have reached over 100 million records, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time, with classic rock hits like “Don’t Stop Believin'” (#9), “Open Arms” (#2) and “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” (#8). “Lights,” released nearly 40 years ago in August 1978, peaked at just #68, but is considered one of the band’s signature songs.

Journey’s co-headlining tour with Def Leppard continues into October. Tickets are available here and here.