Journey Fires Two After 'Coup' Attempt

Journey boots two band members: Ross Valory and Steve Smith

Journey is singing "I'll Be Alright Without You" to fellow band members Steve Smith and Ross Valory.

Neil Schon and Jonathan Cain filed a lawsuit with the California Superior Court Tuesday claiming Smith and Valory attempted to launch a "coup" to gain control of the Journey trademark and oust the original band members, according to court documents.

Schon and Cain have fired Smith and Valory from the band and are seeking damages in excess of $10 million.

The lawsuit states that Smith and Valory had expressed wishes to retire from the band and were "maliciously" trying to "hold the Journey name hostage" so they could continue to get paid even after they were no longer members of the band.

Louis R. (Skip) Miller, Schon and Cain's attorney, told USAToday that by attempting to take over the name, Valory and Smith ruined the dynamic of the band and that's one of the reasons they were terminated, along with breaching their fiduciary duties.

The complaint alleges that Smith and Valory attempted to gain control over Nightmare Productions, one of the band's corporate entities, as they assumed the company held the rights to the Journey name. However, Nightmare Productions had given Cain and Schon rights to the name in 1985.

The documents state that the two former band members "commenced their scheme" in December 2019 and attempted to "replace Cain with Smith as President" of the Board of Directors of Nightmare Productions which would have given Valory and Smith the power to carry out their plan.