Former JOURNEY singer Steve Perry says that he is against having the band's music used in political campaigns. Perry took to his Twitter Friday night (July 3) to write: "As one of the songwriters of Don't Stop Believin', I have not given permission to any political candidate to use this song!" Several hours later, JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon, who co-wrote the 1981 hit with Perry and keyboardist Jonathan Cain, responded to Perry's tweet, writing: "Huh .., funny when I tried to stop it before a couple of years ago management told me you and [Perry's longtime attorney] Lee Phillips didn't want to mess with it... @NealSchonMusic so what makes it different now ?" Back in 2011, conservative politician Newt Gingrich used "Don't Stop Believin'" at a campaign event. Perry's legal reps sent a cease-and-desist letter. "They just think music is free like a lot of other people on the planet," Phillips told Variety. In a 2009 interview with CBC's "Q" cultural affairs show, Perry said he always thought "Don't Stop Believing" — which is the top-selling digital download of a track not originally released in this century, according to Nielsen SoundScan — had potential as a single. It was always a hit with live audiences, though it didn't get great radio play at the time it was issued, he said. "When we were doing the song in 1981, I knew something was happening, but honestly, when I saw it in the film 'Monster' with Patty Jenkins, I started think, 'Oh my goodness there's really something.'" He added: "The lyric is a strong lyric about not giving up, but it's also about being young, it's also about hanging out, not giving up and looking for that emotion hiding somewhere in the dark that we're all looking for. It's about having hope and not quitting when things get tough, because I'm telling you things get tough for everybody." Current JOURNEY singer Arnel Pineda, who has been fronting the band for 13 years, told CBS News in 2012, "Even before I discovered 'Don't Stop Believin'', it has been my motto — you know, to never stop believing in myself. The life that I've gone through, all those hardships, I never stopped believing that someday there is something magical that will happen in my life." This past April, "Don't Stop Believin'" became a rallying call for patients recovering from COVID-19 at two hospitals in New York and Michigan. The song was played at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan and the New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital during celebrations for patients prevailing over the coronavirus.
As one of the songwriters of Don’t Stop Believin’, I have not given permission to any political candidate to use this song!
— Steve Perry (@StevePerryMusic) July 4, 2020
Huh .., funny when I tried to stop it before a couple of years ago management told me you and Lee Phillips didn’t want to mess with it... @NealSchonMusic so what makes it different now ?
— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) July 4, 2020
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As one of the songwriters of Don’t Stop Believin’, I have not given permission to any political candidate to use this song!
— Steve Perry (@StevePerryMusic) July 4, 2020
Huh .., funny when I tried to stop it before a couple of years ago management told me you and Lee Phillips didn’t want to mess with it... @NealSchonMusic so what makes it different now ?
— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) July 4, 2020
Continue reading...
