After Ross Valory and Steve Smith were fired from Journey, many people wondered if the band would continue. But over the years, Journey has been getting pretty good at reinventing. They didn’t waste time auditioning new singers when Steve Perry couldn’t tour. And Perry himself was the band’s third singer. There have been line up changes with other members as well.
Valory and Smith were fired by veteran members, Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon in March of this year. The accusation against them was “attempted corporate coup d’état”, which means an attempt to seize power over the band. Cain and Schon allege that the other two members tried to gain control of Nightmare Productions, a company they believe controls the Journey brand. Allegedly, Valory and Smith were attempting to hold the Journey brand hostage in return for a guaranteed income stream after the members stopped performing. Steve Perry made a similar deal when he left, although his was mutually agreed upon.
In this lawsuit, Perry was on the side of Valory and Smith, as was former band manager, Herbie Herbert. Valory and Smith contested the lawsuit, that was asking for $10 million in damages for Cain and Schon.
Last week, Journey officially announced new members replacing Valory and Smith. Narada Michael Walden would be the new drummer and Jason Derlatka would be an additional keyboardist. Former bassist Randy Jackson is being brought back as the band’s bassist.
So, how long will THIS line-up last? Time will tell, but Journey is officially down to one founding member. Neal Schon was the only one there from the beginning, as Jonathan Cain replaced founding keyboardist Gregg Rolie in 1980. Ross Valory was the only remaining founding member before this recent change.
Get more details from UltimateClassicRock.com.
Want to see how the new line-up sounds together? Here’s a recent video they did from quarantine for a UNICEF fundraiser.
