Jonathan Cain Opens Up About Leaving Journey and His New EP

As he prepares to close out his Journey career with the planned two-year Final Frontier Tour, Jonathan Cain has some new music of his own to put out.

On Feb. 27, the day before the tour starts in Hershey, PA, the keyboardist, guitarist and co-writer of most of Journey’s biggest hits will return to the Christian music he began releasing 10 years ago with Only a Prayer Away, a six-song EP he tells UCR was drawn from an even larger batch of material.

“I had that year off (from Journey) and was doing ministry, and I was not going to do another one of these faith things, Christian worship pieces,” Cain says via Zoom from his home in Florida.

“And then God wouldn’t leave me alone. The songs kept coming — ‘What about this? What about this?’ I have a whole, full album, about 15 songs now. I decided to put six out, then I’ll have another six, then maybe an album. Nobody has time to listen to 15 songs, anyway.”

Read More: Top 25 Journey Songs of the 21st Century

The impetus for this particular batch of music, Cain explains, was a disaster relief trip to Chimney Rock, N.C., which was devastated by Hurricane Helene in 2024, with the CityServe Network and his wife’s Paula White Ministries.

“We were watching the reconstruction of this town, people who lost just about everything,” Cain says. “They were all working together, three feet of mud, nobody was whining or complaining or crying. It was all just, ‘Let’s get this done and support each other,’ just an incredible attitude.

“I was like, ‘This is a very moving moment,’ and God was like, ‘What are you gonna do about it? Write a song; I’ll give you a title — ‘Amen to the Rescue.’ By the time we got home I had it finished.

Hear Jonathan Cain Perform ‘Only a Prayer Away’

“It really is a labor of love,” Cain says of his faith-based music. “I welcome it, because it’s my creative juice. It’s who I am as a person. If you looked at ‘Faithfully,’ it could be a worship song if you changed one word — ‘Oh lord, you stand by me/I stand by you, faithfully.’ And God, I come to you with open arms, or ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,’ ‘hold on to that holy spirit feeling.’ Faith has always been a part of who I am, so it’s not a stretch.”

Some Frontier Ruckus

Cain and Journey will of course be performing all of those hits, and more, on the Final Frontiers Tour — emphasis on the more, too.

“It’ll be an evening-with, a two-hour set,” Cain tells us. “We’ll hit all of our legacy songs and some of the later ones; instead of 90 minutes of greatest hits you’ll get deep cuts from the beginnings of Journey, stuff from Infinity, just kind of take ’em down memory lane, ’cause we have the time to do that.”

And while the band has been rife with drama over the years, particularly between Cain and sole remaining founding member Neal Schon, none of it’s standing in the way of putting the tour in motion.

“Over the years we go in different directions and we have different priorities,” Cain explains. “I know what my priorities are. I know Neal’s very ambitious, and he has his priorities. I respect everybody’s thing. And when we come together as Journey it’s a force. That’s one thing we’ve always been able to do, is really deliver the music.

“I mean, the music of Journey belongs to the people. We’re simply the caretakers. We have gold-plated fans; I knew that from the beginning. Even with I was with the Babys (opening for Journey), I watched and was like, ‘Oh my goodness, they sure love these guys.’ Any kind of junk between us shouldn’t get in the way of that. When you get on stage it’s all about their songs. They’re coming and giving up their time to see you, so you want to be your best and deliver a great experience for them.”

Cain adds not to read too much into recent reports about frontman Arnel Pineda‘s legal issues in the Philippines, or his Instagram message to drummer Deen Castronovo last month to “have fun on your 2026 farewell tour,” implying he might not be part of it. “He’s gonna be fine,” Cain says. “He’s a singing machine. He’s got his kids coming out. He’ll be great.”

Cain says that the 60 dates currently announced, and running through July 2, are just the beginning, and more will be announced into 2027. “There’s another year, and major markets coming,” he says.

And That’s Final!

Cain promises that he’s serious about this being his last outing with Journey, too.
“I had a long time to contemplate what I wanted to do,” he explains. “It just feels like a good time to get off the train. I’m going to be 76 on Feb. 26); you’ve got to at some point say enough’s enough. It’s a grind, man. I just feel like this tour is a beautiful closing chapter. I want to focus on celebrating the music and the audience who stayed with us for generations.”

How does he expect he’ll feel after the very last show; “I’m just gonna say, ‘Wow, what was a great ride.’ I’m honored to be part of something with this legacy and prestige, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I helped build it, and it’s time to move on.”

There are no plans for new Journey music during the tour, he adds. And while Schon has said Journey will continue after his departure, Cain has no predictions about what that will look like. “Wait ’til that time and see,” Cain says. “I just know that’s it for me.”

Of Course We Had To Ask…

Any chance that, since this is the Final Frontier, of a Steve Perry return in some fashion?
“Neal already asked,” Cain reports, “and he says (Perry’s) thinking about it. 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.”

Beyond The Frontier

Cain says leaving Journey will allow him to focus on other projects, including more faith-based music.

He’s planning to market his songs to churches for use as worship pieces, and he’s also built up his own church-centric concert presentation that opens opportunities for performances. Cain also hopes to move into the world of film scoring, which has been a long-held desire.

Also in the docket is The Gospel of Rock ‘n’ Roll, a talk show program in which Cain interviews other performers about their church roots and religious beliefs. The show is currently being shopped around, and Cain has logged conversations with Michael Sweet of Stryper, Ricky Skaggs, Lee Brice, Larry Gatlin, Kid Rock and others.

“We’re trying to show that all great performers and performances begin in the church and just how much that has influenced music over the years,” Cain explains. “They all says the same thing; ‘My daddy got me up on worship, and that’s where I got my chops.’ So that’s exciting, doing things, other side projects, like that.”