55 Fun Facts About Journey

Which Journey song did Steve Perry first write about Los Angeles before resetting it in San Francisco?

Lights first had the sun shining on LA, a line Steve Perry disliked; once he joined Journey he swapped in 'the bay' and finished the song with guitarist Neal Schon.

What was the band originally called before it became Journey?

Herbie Herbert's group began in 1973 as the Golden Gate Rhythm Section, meant to be a backing band for established Bay Area artists, an idea dropped in favor of the band's own jazz-fusion rock.

Guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Gregg Rolie both came to Journey from which band?

Santana gave Rolie his Woodstock moment; manager Herbie Herbert met both men while working as that band's roadie, then built Journey around them in 1973.

Journey's first public show, on New Year's Eve 1973, was at which venue?

Winterland Ballroom hosted the debut soon after the group gave up backing other acts and took the name Journey; the hall later staged The Band's farewell concert, filmed as The Last Waltz.

Which British drummer, who had played with David Bowie and Frank Zappa, joined Journey in 1974?

Aynsley Dunbar replaced Prairie Prince, who went back to The Tubes, and stayed four years before being fired in 1978, when the band's simpler new songs left his busy style out of place.

Which hard rock band, touring its debut album, opened for Journey in 1978?

Van Halen were brand new, and Steve Perry recalled that they 'were killing us every night' in 3,000-seat halls, which pushed Journey to become a better band.

Producer Roy Thomas Baker was hired to give Journey a layered sound like that of which band he had produced?

Queen's stacked harmonies were Roy Thomas Baker's trademark; Journey hired him in a last push for a hit sound, with Columbia Records close to dropping the band.

Which singer fronted Journey for a few months in 1977, just before Steve Perry?

Robert Fleischman fronted Journey for a few months in 1977 and co-wrote songs for its next album, but clashed with manager Herbie Herbert, who replaced him with Steve Perry that fall.

Which previous band of Steve Perry's recorded the demo that reached Journey's manager?

Alien Project's demo reached Journey's manager in 1977; after the band's bassist died in a car crash Perry nearly quit music, but his mother urged him not to give up.

Steve Perry's family name was originally Pereira, reflecting roots in which country?

Portugal: when Perry shadowed Journey on tour before joining, the crew passed him off as a roadie's Portuguese cousin so the singer he was about to replace wouldn't catch on.

Which fellow rock star coined Steve Perry's nickname 'The Voice'?

Jon Bon Jovi's nickname stuck: Perry's voice so defined Journey that the band later hired Arnel Pineda, a singer who sounds almost exactly like him.

Hearing which soul singer on his mother's car radio as a boy made Steve Perry want to sing?

Sam Cooke's 'Cupid' was the song on the radio; Cooke became his idol, the singer Perry's own voice would later be compared to.

Which 1979 album gave Journey its first Billboard Hot 100 top-20 single, 'Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin''?

Evolution's hit came from heartbreak: Steve Perry wrote 'Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'' after watching his girlfriend kiss another man, and it reached number 16.

Which Berklee-trained ex-Montrose drummer joined Journey in 1978?

Steve Smith was drumming for Montrose, the opening act on Journey's 1978 tour; the band watched him play every night, then hired him away.

Steve Perry sang a solo line on which 1985 all-star charity single?

We Are the World gave Steve Perry a solo line in its second chorus and his only Hot 100 number one, a peak Journey itself never reached.

How is the title of Journey's 1981 album Escape stylized on its cover?

E5C4P3 sits beside a scarab ship painted by Stanley Mouse, one of the underground artists manager Herbie Herbert hired to give the band a visual brand.

Escape, Journey's chart-topping 1981 album, inspired a video game for which home console?

Atari 2600 owners got Journey Escape, in which players steer the band past sneaky photographers and shifty-eyed promoters to its scarab ship while guarding the night's concert cash.

Which ballad became Journey's highest-charting Hot 100 single, holding at number two for six weeks in 1982?

Open Arms stalled behind 'Centerfold' and then 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll'; guitarist Neal Schon had opposed recording a ballad at all.

Which singer had an international hit with a cover of 'Open Arms' in 1996?

Mariah Carey's cover, from her album Daydream, was issued as a single mostly outside the United States, so the song's second life came in Britain, where it reached number 4.

Which singer rejected the melody that became Journey's 'Open Arms'?

John Waite passed on Jonathan Cain's ballad melody when both were in The Babys; Waite, Cain and Schon later formed Bad English, whose 'When I See You Smile' hit number 1 in 1989.

The title of 'Don't Stop Believin'' came from advice the keyboardist received from whom while struggling in Hollywood?

His father talked Jonathan Cain out of giving up music with the words 'Don't stop believing'; Cain saved the phrase and later built Journey's best-known song around it.

Which Charlize Theron film helped revive 'Don't Stop Believin'' by playing it in a roller-rink scene?

Monster's fledgling director Patty Jenkins had to persuade Steve Perry to license the song; he later said that scene was when he realised it had something special.

What is structurally unusual about 'Don't Stop Believin''?

The chorus only arrives near the end, with about 50 seconds left: the writers began with that title hook and built the rest of the song backward to reach it.

Steve Perry later learned there is no 'south Detroit' as in Journey's lyric, so what lies directly south of downtown Detroit?

Perry said 'south Detroit' simply sang better than north, east or west; he learned later that directly south across the Detroit River lies Windsor, Ontario, in Canada.

Which baseball team adopted 'Don't Stop Believin'' during its 2005 World Series run?

The 2005 Chicago White Sox made 'Don't Stop Believin'' their rallying song; Perry was invited along for the World Series and celebrated with the team on the field in Houston after the sweep.

Which HBO drama used Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin'' in the final scene of its 2007 finale?

'Don't Stop Believin'' played over the abrupt cut-to-black ending of The Sopranos on June 10, 2007; Perry had hesitated before approving the use, and downloads of the song jumped afterward.

Which TV cast's 2009 cover of 'Don't Stop Believin'' outperformed the original internationally?

Glee's cover reached number 4 in the US, five places above the peak of Journey's original; in January 2010 the two versions sat side by side at 5 and 6 on the UK chart.

'Don't Stop Believin'' is the closing number of which stage musical set in the 1980s?

Rock of Ages ends with the whole cast singing it; the show is set on the Sunset Strip, the same boulevard of dreamers the song describes.

Which 1983 album was Journey's highest-charting in the UK, reaching number six?

Frontiers reached number 6 in Britain and number 2 at home, kept from the top only by Michael Jackson's Thriller.

The 'Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)' video, shot on a New Orleans wharf, is mocked for showing Journey doing what?

Playing air instruments, air keyboards included, made the clip a punchline; on set, Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford fought to have the video's actress removed.

Which Netflix series used a 2022 remix of Journey's 'Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)' in a trailer?

Stranger Things used Bryce Miller's eerie remix for its fourth season; Steve Perry, a fan of the show, liked it so much that he helped build an extended version for the soundtrack.

In 'Faithfully', Journey's ballad about a touring musician's marriage, life on the road is compared to what?

A circus: the lyric calls touring 'circus life' and thanks the clowns who keep it bearable. Jonathan Cain began it on a napkin on the tour bus and finished it in half an hour the next day.

After recording which song did Prince phone Journey's keyboardist, worried it sounded too much like 'Faithfully'?

Prince asked Jonathan Cain to listen to 'Purple Rain' before he released it; Cain told him the two ballads shared only a few chords and gave his blessing.

Which hit did Bryan Adams write while opening for Journey in 1983, influenced by 'Faithfully'?

Heaven took shape as Bryan Adams watched 'Faithfully' win over crowds each night; when his own drummer had to leave the recording session, Journey's drummer finished the track.

According to Steve Perry, 'Any Way You Want It' was heavily influenced by which Irish band?

Perry said 'Any Way You Want It' grew out of touring with Thin Lizzy in 1979, when Phil Lynott's rhyming, call-and-response style rubbed off on him and Schon.

Which 1978 Journey single was co-written by the band's short-lived 1977 singer, Diane Valory and the guitarist?

'Wheel in the Sky' began as 'Wheels in My Mind', a poem by Diane Valory, wife of bassist Ross Valory; the band's singer reworked the words and Neal Schon set them to music.

Journey's 'Only the Young' first appeared on the soundtrack of which 1985 film?

Vision Quest got the song after Journey cut it from an album at the last minute; the band played it in the hospital room of a 16-year-old fan with cystic fibrosis, through Make-A-Wish, shortly before he died.

Which future American Idol judge played bass on Journey's 1986 album Raised on Radio and its tour?

Randy Jackson, then a session bassist, stepped in after Ross Valory and the band's drummer were pushed out during the sessions; Steve Perry was producing the album himself.

What condition did Steve Perry reportedly set for rejoining Journey in the mid-1990s?

That manager Herbie Herbert be replaced: Perry reportedly would not return otherwise, so Herbert stepped aside after two decades and Eagles manager Irving Azoff took over.

Journey's plans to tour behind 1996's Trial by Fire collapsed after Steve Perry discovered what while hiking in Hawaii?

A degenerative hip condition surfaced on the hike; Perry put off replacement surgery and begged the band not to tour without him, but in 1998 it hired a new singer.

Steve Augeri's first Journey recording, 'Remember Me', appeared on which 1998 film's soundtrack?

Armageddon carried 'Remember Me', sung by a man who had walked away from music and was working as a maintenance manager for Gap stores when Journey called.

Steve Augeri stepped down in 2006 amid accusations that the band was doing what at concerts?

Using pre-recorded lead vocals was the fan accusation; the band said only that Augeri's voice needed rest, and in 2022 he said he could not legally answer the question.

On which website did Neal Schon discover Arnel Pineda, a cover-band singer in Manila, in 2007?

YouTube clips of his band The Zoo led Schon to email him; Pineda laughed the message off as a hoax until a friend made him reply, and Schon phoned ten minutes later.

What did Steve Perry do at Journey's 2017 Rock Hall induction?

Only spoke: in his first appearance with Journey in years, Perry praised his successor Arnel Pineda, who then fronted the band's three-song set.

Journey played the pregame show at which 2009 sporting event?

The Super Bowl in Tampa came about 14 months after Journey hired Arnel Pineda, who had been singing covers in clubs in the Philippines when the band found him.

Journey recorded 'Only Solutions' and '1990's Theme' for which 1982 Disney film?

Tron, scored mostly by synth pioneer Wendy Carlos, carried the two Journey tracks; the 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy brought the band back, playing 'Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)'.

In the 1983 Bally Midway arcade game Journey, who has stolen the band's instruments?

Crazed alien fans hide the instruments on five planets; win them back and the band plays a concert where, if one fan slips past the roadie, the crowd steals everything again.

Journey's 'Any Way You Want It' plays in a scene of which 1980 comedy?

Caddyshack has Rodney Dangerfield's loudmouth golfer blast the song from a radio in his golf bag and dance on the course; The Simpsons later restaged the gag with Dangerfield himself.

Steve Perry shared lead vocals with which singer on the 1982 hit duet 'Don't Fight It'?

Kenny Loggins was blown away by Perry's voice when their bands shared a festival bill; the two then co-wrote the duet, which reached number 17.

In 2020, Journey fired bassist Ross Valory and its longtime drummer and sued them, alleging what?

An attempted corporate coup d'état was the claim: the suit said the pair tried to seize a band company in the mistaken belief it controlled the Journey name. Both sides settled in 2021.

Neal Schon sent Journey's keyboardist a cease-and-desist in 2022 after he played 'Don't Stop Believin'' for whom?

Donald Trump heard it at a Mar-a-Lago gala; Jonathan Cain's wife, Paula White, was Trump's spiritual adviser, and Schon's letter said Cain had no right to use Journey for politics.

What was the title of Journey's 15th studio album, released in July 2022?

Freedom was pieced together remotely, with Jonathan Cain recording in Nashville and Florida while Neal Schon worked in California; it was Journey's first studio album in more than a decade.

What was the title of Steve Perry's 1984 solo debut, which produced the hit 'Oh Sherrie'?

Street Talk's biggest hit, 'Oh Sherrie', was written for Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford, who plays herself in the video; the album sold more than two million copies.

Which singer from Talisman fronted Journey for under a year in 2006-07, between Augeri and Pineda?

Jeff Scott Soto, singer of the Swedish band Talisman, stepped in when Augeri left the 2006 Def Leppard co-headlining tour, was named the official singer that December and was let go in June 2007.

Why did rhythm guitarist George Tickner leave Journey after the 1975 debut album?

To study medicine: George Tickner quit Journey after the 1975 debut album, and instead of hiring a replacement the band had its lead guitarist take over all of its guitar parts.