Journey's Neal Schon files cease-and-desist order against bandmate

Journey guitarist Neal Schon has had a cease-and-desist order issued against fellow band member Jonathan Cain, demanding Cain stop using the anthemic "Don't Stop Believin' " at Donald Trump political rallies and videos.

An attorney's letter obtained by entertainment trade outlets including Variety, the first to report the news Wednesday, says that while Cain "is free to express his personal beliefs and associations, when he does that on behalf of Journey or for the band, such conduct is extremely deleterious to the Journey brand as it polarizes the band’s fans and outreach. Journey is not, and should not be, political."

Cain, keyboardist for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group, co-wrote the 1981 hit with Schon and vocalist Steve Perry. He and his televangelist wife, Paula White, have been longtime Trump associates.

The letter says Cain's "unauthorized affiliation of Journey with the politics of Donald Trump has the band’s fans up in arms, as is demonstrated by a sample of the attached emails and Twitter comments. This has caused, and continues to cause, irreparable harm to the Journey brand, its fan base and earning potential, especially in light of the forthcoming tour."

Cain performed the song — which reached no. 9 on the Billboard singles chart and achieved new popularity in 2007 when used in the finale of the HBO series "The Sopranos" — at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last month, with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), and political figures Kimberly Guilfoyle and Kari Lake joining him as a backing chorus.

Members of the long-enduring band, which formed in San Francisco in 1973, have long had contentious dealings, with Perry estranged from Journey for decades. Last month, Schon and Cain clashed in court over Schon's access to the band's corporate credit card. Cain's representative said in a statement Wednesday, “Schon is just frustrated that he keeps losing in court and is now falsely claiming the song has been used at political rallies.”

The issue has come up previously. In 2017, Schon wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post, “I’ve stated how I felt about mixing religion and politics and how our music is not of one religion — Democratic or Republican ... This is and has been an issue with myself Mr. Cain and his now wife, since he married. I’ve had to fight this whole time to protect the brand I built with Steve Perry … ."