Longtime Journey fans got predictably excited when the band co-founder keyboardist Jonathan Cain hinted that he and bandmate guitarist Neal Schon had asked original singer Steve Perry to rejoin the group for their 60-show Final Frontier goodbye North American tour. “Neal already asked,” Cain told Ultimate Classic Rock earlier this week, “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.”
Perry was the frontman of the band during their most successful years from 1978-1987, during which they scored such iconic hits as the 1982 Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 smash “Open Arms,” as well as 1981’s No. 4 hit “Who’s Crying Now” and 1983’s No. 8 song “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart).”
But after leaving the group in 1987 and then coming back from 1995-1998 and being replaced first by Steve Augeri (1998-2006) and then Jeff Scott Soto (2006-2007) and current vocalist and former Journey cover singer Arnel Pineda (2007-present), it appeared that Perry’s time fronting the group was over.
And now, despite Cain’s claims, it seems like there is not going to be one last run with Perry after all.
In an X post on Thursday (Feb. 19), Perry definitively shut the door on a final tour with his old mates. “I’ve been hearing these recent rumors, and I wanted to speak to you all directly,” Perry wrote. “While I’m always grateful for the love 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 completely understand why people would hope for that. The music we created together means a great deal to me too.”
That said, Perry wrote that he plans to continue working on “new creative work” and focusing on music that reflects where he is today. “Thank you for your continued support throughout the years,” he added. “Your loyalty has never gone unnoticed, and I am forever humbly grateful.”
Since leaving the band, Perry has released the 2018 solo album Traces and the 2021 Christmas album The Season, as well as dueting with Dolly Parton on a cover of Journey’s “Open Arms” on her 2023 Rockstar album and singing backing vocals on songs by Robert Cray, Mindi Abair and a number of others.
The band’s lineup for their last run will include Cain, Schon and Pineda, as well as drummer/singer Dean Castronovo, keyboardist/singer Jason Derlatka and bassist Todd Jensen.
See Perry’s post below.
