Gregg Rolie is a Journey co-founder who has requested that Guitare en Scene festival refund tickets to an illusory concert in which he was falsely billed as performing with his former bandmate Neal Schon.
“Issues about the misappropriation of my works are being dealt with privately,” Rolie told through his rep. “But, the red line for me is when fans are impacted.”
He added: “In my opinion, it’s been clear to everyone involved that I had never confirmed my participation and that I wasn’t going to go along with something that could deceive people. As a result, tickets are still being sold under Journey’s name and my name to people who deserve them. That’s not cool.”
Schon and the Guitare en Scene Festival have also been contacted for comments.
Rolie went on to say: “My lawyer’s letter To the festival, ask them to rectify any situation for fans who have purchased tickets expecting to see me at the event by offering a refund. It isn’t hard to do the right thing.”
The keyboardist left the classic rock band in the early ’80s. He retains the performance rights and publication rights for songs recorded in his time.
The letter states that Rolie is “quite concerned over the deceptive marketing, misuse and intentional misappropriation of his name and likeness, and misleading announcement and ticketing that purported to promote an exclusive ‘Journey’ appearance, after 15 years of absence from the European market under the name ‘Journey Through Time.’”
Journey Through Time is a new iteration, formed after the breakup of Rolie’s band, which included Schon, Marco Mendoza and John Varn. It was first created in 2018 to perform a benefit concert. In May, Frontier Records released an album and DVD of the concert, a matter that is being dealt with “privately,” as Rolie stated.
The letter also states, “[Rolie] Protecting yourself is important [the] works, the legacy and brand of ‘Journey,’ or his name and likeness from being used to harm or divide others…” and slammed “acts of individual greed” on the part of former band members.
“Journey means a lot to the fans and to me. Every version of the band has been important,” Rolie said in a separate statement shared with .
Journey was inducted into the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. Rolie was also a founding member and lead singer of Santana and also played with Ringo Starr’s All Star Band.
Infighting between the former bandmates is nothing new: Earlier this year, Schon sued keyboardist Jonathan Cain for performing the band’s 1981 hit “Don’t Stop Believin” at a Donald Trump rally to make it clear that the rest of the former band members do not endorse the former president.
Steve Perry, the original lead singer of Journey, left the group in 1998 and filed legal documents in 2022, but later withdrawn them to stop Schon from using Journey’s trademarks in merchandise. Rolling Stone The time was reported.
