Journey have hired Mike Kobayshi as their new manager amid an ongoing legal dispute between bandmembers.
According to Billboard, Kobayashi confirmed late Tuesday that he was “just hired,” taking over from player-managers Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain.
The band ended 2022 with an internal dispute over an American Express card.
Lead guitarist Schon sued keyboardist Cain, alleging that he “improperly restricted” access to financial documents relating to the band’s American Express card.
In a lawsuit filed last month in California state court, Schon accused Cain of refusing to give him access to records from an American Express account, through which he claims that “millions in Journey funds have flowed.”
“All I want to see is our records,” Schon wrote in a recent social media post. “Cain is lying as I do not have full access as he states. I’m now a 50% owner. I’m the founder, president and secretary/manager of Nomota LLC that we started in 1998, and have every right to see what’s gone on in there. … Transparency is all I’m asking for. Is that too much to be asking of a 50/50 partner? There’s no skating around this.”
Schon also tweeted a photo of himself with co-founding Journey and Santana keyboardist Gregg Rolie, whom Cain replaced in 1980.
“Two original founding members. I think my brother Gregg Rolie should join us for 2023 tour,” Schon wrote with the photo. “What do you think, friends? He will spice it up and we will have a great variety of songs to choose from. What would you like to hear for the 50th-anniversary tour?”
In a separate feud, Schon and Cain sued drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory in 2020, accusing them of improperly trying to take control of the band name. Valory filed a counter-complaint, and the lawsuit ended with a 2021 settlement in which Smith and Valory left the band.
(Photo: Frontiers Music Srl)
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