Neal Schlon is an American rock performer. He writes songs and performs them as well. He is associated with two rock bands, Journey and Bad English. His journey with Journey has been quite long, right from its inception, and has been involved in all their tours and albums that have been released till date. Prior to joining Journey, he was also briefly associated with the legendary bands Santana and Hardline. He became an inductee into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2013. This is a brief biography of the personality.
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Early Life and Beginning of Career
Neal Schon was born in San Mateo, California on February 27, 1954. He was a child prodigy with the guitar, and when he was just fifteen years old, he met Carlos Santana and became part of his band titled Santana a little later. Then, in 1973, he quit Santana and with fellow Santana member Gregg Rolie, he formed his own band named Journey. Their music was quite different from Santana’s music, as they focused more on progressive rock and instrumental music. In 1978, Steve Perry joined the band and then they began producing vocal hits such as Wheel in the Sky and Anyway You Want It, which were huge radio hits in those days.
Further Success
Journey received its highest popularity with the release of the album Escape, in collaboration with Jan Hammer, which topped all charts. It had several hits that made their way to the best lists. Some of the songs that reached the zenith of popularity were Don’t Stop Believin’, Open Arms, and Who’s Crying Now. He again joined hands with Jan Hammer and brought out Here to Stay, which also became successful. Then in 1986 after Journey’s Raised on Radio, he temporarily left the band and formed a new group called Bad English.
Bad English had two albums named Bad English and Backlash and then it disbanded in 1991.
Neal Schon was then instrumental in regrouping and rebranding Journey with new members. In 1993, this band was reformed and he released an acoustic hit Beyond the Thunder. This was follows by a two-disc album named Electric World and was later followed by Piranha Blues.
Personal Life
Neal Schon was involved in a relationship with Michaele Salahi since before 2011. She was a star of Real Housewives and was earlier the wife of Tareq Salahi. This relationship faced its share of controversy because Salahi was still married when she was dating Neal Schon. The two got married in 2012 at Maryland and the wedding was famously presented in the media, mainly because of the huge diamond ring that he gifted her.
Before this wedding, Neal Schon has been married four times, all of those ending in divorce. The names of his last three wives are Beth Buckley, Dina Gioeli, and Amber Kozan and he has several children with them.
Neal Schon widely followed on Twitter for both his music and his celebrity lifestyle. He is considered to be an expert in guitars and a connoisseur. Currently, his net worth is believed to be in the range of $30 million.
Last Modified: Apr 7, 2020
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