Stop Believin’: Steve Perry Shuts Down Journey Reunion Rumors

Next week, classic rock battleship Journey will head off on a very long farewell tour, but it's still not entirely clear who will be in the band. Journey's internal conflicts are the stuff of legend, and fans have speculated that longtime keyboardist Jonathan Cain and singer Arnel Pineda won't be part of the tour. The Pineda problem is bigger than disputes between band members; he's facing domestic violence charges in the Philippines. I'm sure there are plenty of fans, as well as at least one Journey member, who wish that they could just patch things up with classic-era singer Steve Perry, but Perry says that's not happening.

Steve Perry joined Journey in 1977, and he was in the band when they were racking up hit after hit. Perry and Journey went their separate ways in 1987. Perry returned to the band in 1995, and then he left again in 1998. After quitting Journey for the second time, Perry mostly stayed out of the spotlight for years. He reunited with the band when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017, but he didn't perform with them. In 2018, Perry released Traces, his first solo album in decades, and he's been intermittently active since then. Last year, he re-recorded the Journey smash "Faithfully" with Willie Nelson.

Keyboardist Jonathan Cain, who apparently is in the lineup for the Journey farewell tour, recently told Ultimate Classic Rock that Journey would be happy to welcome Steve Perry back with open arms. The Cain interview was published yesterday, and Cain's comments about Perry were widely circulated. In response to a question about Perry, Cain said, "Neal [Schon] already asked, and he says [Perry's] thinking about it. I hope he comes out. It's never too late. We've got 100 shows, so he's welcome at any one of them... He didn't say no -- leave it at that."

But then Perry did say no. In a statement posted on social media last night, Perry wrote, "While I'm always grateful about the love that people still have for Journey, the rumors about me rejoining the band are simply not true, and I want to gently put them to rest… I'm continuing to explore new creative work and really enjoy working on new music that reflects where I am today.”

Do stop believin'.