Neal Joseph Schon (born February 27, 1954) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist for the rock band Journey. He is the last original member to remain throughout the group's history. He was a member of the rock band

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

before forming Journey. He was also a member of the group

Bad English Bad English was an American/British hard rock supergroup formed in 1987. It reunited Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in the Babys, along with Journey guitarist Ne ...

during Journey's hiatus from 1987 to 1995, as well as an original member of

Hardline In politics, hardline or hard-line is an adjective describing a stance on an issue that is inflexible and not subject to compromise. A hardliner is a person holding such views. The stance is usually far from the centrist view. People, policies, ...

. Schon was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2013, and into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

as a member of Journey in 2017.

Early life and career

Neal Joseph Schon was born at

Tinker Air Force Base Tinker Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, adjacent to Del City and Midwest City. The ba ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, the son of Matthew and Barbara Schon. He is of German and Italian ancestry. His father was a big band musician, arranger, and composer, and played and taught all reed instruments with emphasis on jazz tenor saxophone; his mother was a big band singer. Schon started playing guitar at age 10. He attended Aragon High School in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

, later dropping out to pursue his music career. A quick learner, he joined

at age 17, in 1971. Schon has said he was asked by

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

to join Derek and the Dominos, but that he joined Santana instead, performing on the albums '' Santana III'' and ''

Caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...

''. Schon also played in the band Azteca. In 1973, he, Gregg Rolie and manager Herbie Herbert co-founded the Golden Gate Rhythm Section, which had later been re-named to Journey after a suggestion by roadie John Villaneuva. Schon's guitar style is influenced by guitarists such as B.B. King, Albert King, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Jimmy Page and Peter Green. Neal Schon in July 2013

In addition to several solo albums and his work with Journey, Schon's work also includes: a pair of albums with keyboardist

Jan Hammer Jan Hammer () (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He rose to prominence while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as with his film scores for television an ...

, short-term collaborations with Sammy Hagar ( HSAS and Planet Us) and

Paul Rodgers Paul Bernard Rodgers (born 17 December 1949) is an English-Canadian singer. He was the lead vocalist of numerous successful rock bands, including Free (band), Free, Bad Company, The Firm (rock band), the Firm and The Law (English band), the L ...

, stints with

(a supergroup that featured Journey's Jonathan Cain and Deen Castronovo and Cain's former Babys bandmates

John Waite John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English rock singer and musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single "Missing You (John Waite song), Missing You", which reached No. 1 on th ...

and Ricky Phillips) and

(which also featured Castronovo). Even as Journey's latest lineup plays to a still-faithful body of fans, Schon has immersed himself in side projects such as ''Piranha Blues'' (1999); "Black Soup Cracker", a funk outfit that features former Prince associates Rosie Gaines and Michael Bland; and Soul SirkUS with

Jeff Scott Soto Jeff Scott Soto (born November 4, 1965) is an American Rock music, rock singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is perhaps best known for being the vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums, and the lead vocalist for Journey (band), Journey i ...

. Schon can be heard on other albums including three tracks on Michael Bolton's '' The Hunger'', with the Schon sound most recognizable on "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay". He also joined Larry Graham to play in an all-star band for cult funk artist and ex-wife of

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

Betty Davis Betty Davis (born Betty Gray Mabry; July 26, 1944 – February 9, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and model. She was known for her controversial sexually oriented lyrics and performance style, and was the second wife of trumpeter ...

. In addition, Schon (along with then Journey manager Herbie Herbert) also contributed to Lenny White's 1977 album ''Big City'', specifically the instrumental jam "And We Meet Again". On February 9, 2018, Schon played a charity show at San Francisco's ''The Independent'', benefiting North Bay Fire Relief. The group recruited featured former Journey drummer Deen Castronovo (who also sang some of the vocals), former Journey keyboardist Gregg Rolie, and bassist Marco Mendoza of The Dead Daisies. The concert was released as a live album and DVD on May 19, 2023. In 2019, Schon announced a tour to be called Neal Schon's Journey Through Time. The tour was stated to feature Castronovo, Rolie and Mendoza. Schon played "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

" on electric guitar for the opening game of the 2022 NBA Finals.

Guitars

Schon's first guitar was an acoustic Stella, followed two years later by a

Gibson ES-335 The Gibson ES-335 is a semi-hollow body semi-acoustic guitar introduced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its Gibson ES Series, ES (Electric Spanish) series 1958 in music, in 1958. It has a solid maple wood block running through the cente ...

. When the 335 was stolen, he replaced it with a '56 Les Paul Goldtop reissue that he used for many years. Schon has used Gibson guitars over the years, having also used Fender and Ovation guitars during Journey's Departure tour. He had a limited edition signature Les Paul model called the ''Neal Schon Signature Model Custom Les Paul'', of which Gibson made only 35, according to the Gibson Custom website (80 according to Neal Schon's website). He has previously employed Godin guitars on his 1995 solo album ''Beyond the Thunder'', and more recently uses Paul Reed Smith guitars. In the late 1980s, Schon manufactured (through

Jackson Guitars Jackson is a brand of guitars sold by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. Jackson was originally an independent manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars named after its founder, the American luthier Grover Jackson. Th ...

and later Larrivee) and played his own line of guitars. Simply named Schon, about 200 of the Jackson-produced models were made. As of 2008, Schon currently prefers guitar pedals from Xotic, a Vox Satriani model and occasionally uses a Buddy Guy

wah pedal A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of effects unit, effects pedal designed for electric guitar that alters the timbre of the input signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeia, onomatopoe ...

Personal life

Schon's first marriage was to Tena Austin in 1976. After divorcing Austin in 1986, Schon married Beth Buckley a year later. They were together for approximately five years and had two children together. In 1993 he married Dina Gioeli, divorcing in 1999. In 2001, he married Amber Kozan, with whom he had two more children. They divorced in 2008. In September 2011, Schon publicly confirmed he was in a relationship with Michaele Salahi. The two said they had dated years previously in the 1990s. On October 14, 2012, Schon proposed to Salahi onstage during a charity concert at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, offering her an oval 11.42 carat diamond engagement ring. The couple married on December 15, 2013, in a live broadcast wedding that was held in the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California. Schon has confirmed that he has

tinnitus Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of sound when no corresponding external sound is present and other people cannot hear it. Nearly everyone experiences faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely ...

, a constant ringing in the ears, common in musicians who have toured extensively.

Discography

Solo albums

* '' Late Nite'' (1989) * '' Beyond the Thunder'' (1995) * '' Electric World'' (1997) * ''Piranha Blues'' (1999) * ''

Voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound produ ...

'' (2001) * ''I on U'' (2005) * ''The Calling'' (2012) * ''So U'' (2014) * ''Vortex'' (2015) * ''Universe'' (2020) * ''Journey Through Time'' (2023)

with Santana

* '' Santana III'' (1971) * ''

'' (1972) * ''

Santana IV ''Santana IV'' is the twenty-fourth studio album (and the thirty-eighth album overall) by American rock band Santana, released in April 2016. Overview The album reunited most of the surviving members from the early 1970s lineup of the band (i ...

'' (2016)

with Azteca

* '' Azteca'' (1972) * ''Pyramid of the Moon'' (1973)

with Journey

* '' Journey'' (1975) * '' Look into the Future'' (1976) * ''

Next NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...

'' (1977) * ''

Infinity Infinity is something which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is denoted by \infty, called the infinity symbol. From the time of the Ancient Greek mathematics, ancient Greeks, the Infinity (philosophy), philosophic ...

'' (1978) * ''

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

'' (1979) * '' Departure'' (1980) * '' Dream, After Dream'' (1980, Japanese movie soundtrack) * '' Escape'' (1981) * '' Frontiers'' (1983) * '' Raised on Radio'' (1986) * '' Trial by Fire'' (1996) * '' Arrival'' (2001) * '' Generations'' (2005) * ''

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

'' (2008) * ''

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

'' (2011) * ''

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

'' (2022)

with Jan Hammer

* '' Untold Passion'' (1981) * '' Here to Stay'' (1982)

with HSAS

* '' Through the Fire'' (1984)

with Bad English

* ''

'' (1989) * ''

Backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), a comic book character from ...

'' (1991)

with Hardline

* ''Hot Cherie EP'' (1992) * '' Double Eclipse'' (1992) * ''Can't Find My Way EP'' (1992) * '' II'' (2002)

with Paul Rodgers

* '' Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters'' (1993) * '' The Hendrix Set'' (1993) * '' Now'' (1997; co-writer of "Saving Grace") * ''Paul Rodgers & Friends Live at Montreux 1994'' (2011)

with Just·If·I

* ''All One People'' (1991)

with Abraxas Pool

* '' Abraxas Pool'' (1997)

with Soul SirkUS

* '' World Play'' (2004)

Guest appearances

* Betty Davis – ''

'' (1973) * Robert Fleischman - ''Perfect Stranger'' (1979) * Sammy Hagar - '' Danger Zone'' (1980) * Tané Cain - ''Tané Cain'' (1983) * Silver Condor - ''Trouble at Home'' (1983) * Hear 'n Aid - ''Stars'' (1985) * Gregg Rolie - ''Gregg Rolie'' (1985) * Eric Martin - ''Eric Martin'' (1985; co-writer of "Just One Night") * Joe Cocker - '' Cocker'' (1986) * Gregg Rolie - ''Gringo'' (1987) * Michael Bolton - '' The Hunger'' (1987) * Jimmy Barnes - '' Freight Train Heart'' (1987) * Glen Burtnick (ex Styx) - ''Heroes and Zeroes'' (1987) * The Allman Brothers Band - '' Where It All Begins'' (1994; co-writer of "Temptation Is a Gun") * Frederiksen/Phillips - ''Frederiksen/Phillips'' (1995) * Fergie Frederiksen – ''Equilibrium'' (1999) * Carmine Appice - ''Guitar Zeus - Safe'' (1996) * Various artists - ''Merry Axemas, Vol. 2: More Guitars for Christmas'' (1998) * Trichromes - '' Trichromes'' (2002) *

- ''Lost in the Translation'' (2004) * Mickey Thomas - '' Over the Edge'' (2004) * Beth Hart - "Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played" (2005) * Radioactive - ''Taken'' (2005) * Sammy Hagar - '' Cosmic Universal Fashion'' (2008) * Gary Schutt - ''Loss 4 Words'' (2008; guitar solo on "Road Trip") *

Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born in 1952, in Los Angeles, California. At the age of eight he started playing guitar and four years l ...

- ''Lee Ritenour's 6 String Theory'' (2010) * Two Fires - ''Burning Bright'' (2011; co-writer of "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid") * Eric Martin - '' Mr. Rock Vocalist'' (2012) * Sammy Hagar - '' Sammy Hagar & Friends'' (2013) * Jimmy Barnes - '' 30:30 Hindsight'' (2014) * Revolution Saints - '' Revolution Saints'' (2015) * Jason Becker - '' Triumphant Hearts'' (2018) * Steve Augeri - ''Seven Ways 'til Sunday'' (2022; co-writer of "Desert Moon") * America's Got Talent - "Richard Goodall - finale performance" (2024)AGT 2024 appearance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HP_RKV7f6o

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Neal Official website

Official Facebook page

Official YouTube channel

Neal Schon biography
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schon, Neal 1954 births American rock guitarists American male guitarists Bad English members Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve members Hardline (band) members Journey (band) members American lead guitarists Living people American people of German descent American people of Italian descent Musicians from Oklahoma City Planet Us members Santana (band) members Soul SirkUS members American heavy metal guitarists Guitarists from Oklahoma 20th-century American guitarists Favored Nations artists Frontiers Records artists Higher Octave Music artists Shrapnel Records artists Columbia Records artists People from San Mateo, California Glam metal musicians Jazz fusion guitarists Azteca (band) members