NEAL SCHON: 'The Future Is Very Bright' For JOURNEY

In a new interview with WGN Radio's Dave Plier, Neal Schon reflected on JOURNEY's five decades in rock, saying: "I'm very proud of the work that we've all done and what we've accomplished. Receiving the diamond award just recently for [10 million copies sold of] 'Escape', that doesn't happen to too many just single albums. It does for bigger bands on 'Greatest Hits', as it did for us years ago, but it's a great sign of where things are heading for us. And the future is very bright."

When Plier noted that bands like BON JOVI, DEF LEPPARD and WHITESNAKE were "all producing tracks that really" followed JOURNEY's playbook of "extremely catchy, great choruses, explosive power-rock chords, lyrics and singalongs," Schon said: "It's funny you say that, but when we used to play on the East Coast, instead of playing in New York, because the union was so expensive, we played multiple dates in New Jersey in a bigger place, and Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora would come down and they'd check out the show and I'd always say hello. And then the next thing you would know, if we were playing like a cover song, like '[Reach Out] I'll Be There' by THE FOUR TOPS, they would end up putting it in their set. It was funny. But it was inspiring. They were inspired by it, like we all are by whoever."

JOURNEY and DEF LEPPARD kicked off their co-headlining North American tour on July 6 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. Support at the gig came from fellow rock legends CHEAP TRICK.

JOURNEY's 23-city trek with DEF LEPPARD will continue through September 8 in Denver, Colorado. Along the way, the two Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees will bring their show to stadiums in major cities like Chicago, Nashville, Boston, Toronto, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and more.

JOURNEY features founder Neal Schon (lead guitarist),Jonathan Cain (keyboards, backing vocals),Arnel Pineda (lead vocals),Jason Derlatka (keyboards, vocals),Deen Castronovo (drums, vocals) and Todd Jensen (bass).

Since the group's formation in 1973, JOURNEY has earned 19 top 40 singles, 25 gold and platinum albums, and has sold over 100 million albums globally. Their "Greatest Hits" album is certified 15 times-platinum, making JOURNEY one of the few bands to ever have been diamond-certified, and their song "Don't Stop Believin'" has been streamed over one billion times alone.

JOURNEY was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017, and 2018's co-headlining tour with DEF LEPPARD was the band's most successful tour to date, landing them in the Top 10 year-end touring chart with more than one million tickets sold, and earning them the prestigious Billboard "Legends Of Live" touring award. March 2019 saw the release of "Escape & Frontiers Live In Japan", a live DVD/CD set from their concert at the Budokan in Tokyo featuring the band's first-ever performances of the albums "Escape" and "Frontiers" in their entirety. JOURNEY has also received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and were inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall Of Fame. Additionally, the band is the subject of the award-winning documentary "Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey" about the band's resurgence upon adding Pineda as lead singer after Schon discovered the Philippines native on YouTube.