Steve Perry Rejoining Journey?—Maybe, Perry Says No

Photo Credit: Steve Perry by Joe Mabel / CC by 4.0

Journey floats the idea that Steve Perry might join them on their farewell tour, but Perry quickly shuts that thought down with a social media post.

Journey fans have been waiting faithfully to find out if former frontman Steve Perry would really be joining the band with open arms on their farewell tour. But Perry says you can’t have it any way you want it, and the band has definitely gone their separate ways.

That speculation sparked from keyboardist Jonathan Cain floating the idea in an interview this week. Cain told Ultimate Classic Rock that Perry was “thinking about” joining them on their farewell tour to play a few hits with his former band.

“Neal [Schon] already asked, and he says [Perry’s] thinking about it,” said Cain. “I hope he comes out. It’s never too late. We’ve got 100 shows, so he’s welcome at any one of them. […] He didn’t say no—leave it at that.”

But Perry was quick to put that theory to bed with a post on social media.

“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,” Perry wrote on Thursday. “I completely understand why people would hope for that. The music we created together means a great deal to me, too. But I’m continuing to explore new creative work and really enjoy working on new music that reflects where I am today.”

Well, it was worth a shot anyway.

Arnel Pineda has taken up the mantle of frontman duties since 2007. But there were rumors that Pineda might be calling it quits after a potential typo on Instagram mentioned “your” farewell tour, and not “our” farewell tour. However, guitarist Neal Schon confirmed in the band’s recent interview that there is no truth behind that theory.

Journey first announced 60 dates on their farewell tour, running through July. More dates have been added since, and even more are expected to follow as they near the end of the run.