Neal Schon

Neal Joseph Schon was born at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, the son of Matthew and Barbara Schon. 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. He is of German and Italian ancestry. Schon first picked up the guitar at "around the age of five." Schon played saxophone and oboe, and by the age of 12 he was sitting in with his father’s big band, playing guitar. A quick learner, he joined Santana at age 17. Schon has said he was asked by Eric Clapton to join Derek and the Dominos, but that he joined Santana instead, performing on the albums Santana III and Caravanserai. Schon also played in Azteca. In 1973, he and Gregg Rolie co-founded Journey.

In 2019, Schon announced a tour to be called Neal Schon's Journey Through Time. The tour was slated to feature Castronovo, Rolie and Mendoza.

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), for Journey keyboardist Gregg Rolie and bassist Marco Mendoza of The Dead Daisies.

Schon was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame on August 23, 2013. Schon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Journey on April 7, 2017.

The couple married on December 15, 2013 in a pay-per-view ($14.95 for three hours) wedding that was broadcast live from the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California. The marriage is Schon's fifth and Salahi's second. On December 1, 2015, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed to a settlement that would pay Schon and Salahi $290,000 in response to a lawsuit that had accused the city-county government of improperly permitting the wedding's organizers to increase their fees after learning of the pay-per-view arrangements.

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.

In September 2011, Schon publicly confirmed he was in a relationship with Michaele Salahi, who previously crashed a White House state dinner, starred in Bravo's Real Housewives and abruptly left husband Tareq Salahi to take up with Schon. The two said they had dated years previously in the 1990s and were very happy together.

As of 2008, Schon currently prefers guitar pedals from Xotic, a Vox Satriani model and occasionally uses a Buddy Guy wah pedal.

In addition to his nine solo albums and 14 studio albums with Journey, Schon's work also includes: a pair of albums with keyboardist Jan Hammer, short-term collaborations with Sammy Hagar (HSAS and Planet Us) and Paul Rodgers, stints with Bad English (a supergroup that featured Journey's Jonathan Cain and Deen Castronovo and Cain's former Babys bandmates John Waite and Ricky Phillips) and Hardline (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.

Schon's first guitar was an acoustic Stella, followed two years later by a Gibson ES-335. 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, and 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 and later Larrivee) and played his own line of guitars. Simply named Schon, about 200 of the Jackson-produced models were made.

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, Betty Davis. 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".

Schon's guitar style has been described as soulful, taking inspiration from 1960s-era soul singers such as Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, and blending it with blues runs similar to B. B. King. He was influenced by guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana and Wes Montgomery.

Neal Joseph Schon (born February 27, 1954) is an American rock guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist, best known for his work with the bands Journey and Bad English. He was a member of the rock band Santana before forming Journey, and was also an original member of Hardline.