Although best-known as the guitarist and lone original member of classic rock band Journey, Neal Schon – born on Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma on February 27, 1954 – has had a varied career that includes stints in Santana, Schon & Hammer, HSAS, Bad English, and several other bands. He initially learned to play saxophone when he was a child but turned to studying the guitar when he was 10 years old. His family relocated to San Francisco, California where he attended Aragon High School in San Mateo. Dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, he joined Santana at the age of 17 in 1971. While he was also approached by Eric Clapton and offered a spot in Derek and the Dominos, Neal Schon chose Santana and never looked back. After appearing on the Santana albums Santana III (1971) and Caravanserai (1972), he left Santana and joined a group called Azteca that featured other former Santana members. He left that group and formed Journey with keyboardist and vocalist Gregg Rollie. Through several musical styles and membership changes, Journey finally scored radio hits in 1978 but became superstars in 1981. Some of Journey’s most successful hits include “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’” (1979), “Who’s Crying Now” (1981), “Open Arms” (1982), “Faithfully” (1983), “Only the Young” (1985), and “Be Good to Yourself” (1986). Journey’s most well-known track is “Don’t Stop Believin’” (1981), which has become a melodic rock standard. Vocalist Steve Perry left the group in 1987 and Neal Schon put Journey on ice. When Steve Perry returned in 1995, the group released one more album before Perry departed again. Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain, and bassist Ross Vallory chose to continue and brought in several new vocalists but never achieved the same amount of success that they had with Steve Perry. During Journey’s hit making period and beyond, Neal Schon also worked with Jonathan Cain in Bad English, as well as recording with keyboardist Jan Hammer (as Schon & Hammer), and the supergroup HSAS with Sammy Hagar (vocals), Kenny Aaronson (bass), and Michael Shrieve (drums). Neal Schon also worked with several other groups including Hardline, Planet Us, and Soul SirkUS. He recorded several solo albums during his career including Late Nite (1989), Beyond the Thunder (1995), Electric World (1997), Piranha Blues (1999), Voice (2001), I on U (2005), The Calling (2012), So U (2014), Vortex (2015) and Universe (2020). While taking a break from the group Journey in 2018, Neal Schon put together the Journey Through Time tour which featured some of his musical friends joining him on stage to performing music from throughout his long career. The San Francisco show – which was held on February 9, 2018 – was released on CD and vinyl in 2023 and reached Number 100 on the Billboard 200.
