Journey Fire Two Members Over Alleged Take Over Attempt

K. Wiggins | 03-04-2020

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Journey's Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain have fired drummer Steven Smith and bassist Ross Valory and have filed a lawsuit against the two former members.

Miller Barondess, LLC, the lawfirm representing Schon and Cain, filed suit in California Superior Court on Tuesday (March 3rd), that accused "Smith and Valory of sowing discord among the band members by engaging in self-dealing and selfishly putting their interests ahead of the band's," according to a statement from the firm.

They claim that Smith and Volory attempted a "corporate coup d'etat" to assume control of the company Nightmare Productions believing that it controls the Journey name and Mark in December of last year.

The lawsuit alleges that "their campaign culminated on February 13, 2020, when Smith and Valory held improper shareholder and Board of Directors meetings of Nightmare Productions. During those meetings, the defendants and their allies voted to give Smith and Valory control of the Board, removing Cain as President and replacing him with Smith, and removing Schon as Secretary and replacing him with Valory."

Schon and Cain's lawyer Skip Miller had this to say, "This is not an action that Neal and Jon wanted to bring against two men that they once considered their brothers, but the devious and truculent behavior of Steve and Ross left them reluctantly with no choice but to act decisively.

"Journey will continue on with great success by ridding the band of disruptive members and replacing them with top musicians; and most importantly, by keeping its essential members-Schon, Cain and Pineda-fully intact."