Journey Continues Battle over American Express Card

Drama in the Journey camp continues, as Jonathan Cain is suing founder Neal Schon over “excessive spending,” according to documents.

Cain accused Schon of running up the band’s American Express card to the tune of $1 million in expenses.

“Schon’s use of the [shared] AMEX card for personal expenses created serious liquidity problems for the band as the AMEX balance had to be paid every month, and there were insufficient revenues to pay for other expenses as Schon saddled Journey with over $1 million of his personal expenses,” the court documents state. 

How exactly did he spend it? Cain alleges the charges went to $100,000 on personal expenses in one billing cycle ending in January of last year, and $400,000 for the billing period ending March 16, which included $104,000 to a jewelry store and $31,000 to Bergdorf Goodman. When the band tried to put a $30,000 cap on Schon’s spending, Cain alleges the guitarist booked a $50,000 room in Hawaii when the allowance was only for $1,500–and he stayed a week longer than he was supposed to.

Schon’s attorney denied the claims, telling Billboard the charges were as phony as a “three dollar bill.”

The lawsuit initially started when Schon accused Cain of cutting him off from access to the American Express account.

The Journey 50th Anniversary tour is still on, however, kicking off next month in Allentown, Pennsylvania.