Jonathan Cain

For the New Zealand cricketer, see Jonathan Cain (cricketer).
Jonathan Cain

Cain in 2007
Background information
Birth name Jonathan Leonard Friga
Born (1950-02-26) February 26, 1950
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres Hard rock, pop rock, progressive rock, smooth jazz, contemporary worship music
Occupation(s) Musician, singer-songwriter, producer
Instruments Vocals, keyboards, guitar
Years active 1974–present
Associated acts
Website www.jonathancain.com
Notable instruments

Jonathan Cain (born Jonathan Leonard Friga, February 26, 1950, Chicago, Illinois) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with The Babys, Journey and Bad English.

Early life

At the age of eight Cain began accordion lessons, and by the time he was in his teens he was playing accordion and piano at parties and in clubs. He also plays guitar, bass and harmonica. Cain attended East Leyden High School in Franklin Park, Illinois. He was a survivor of the Our Lady of the Angels School Fire of 1958, in which 92 students and 3 nuns died.[1] He later attended the Chicago Conservatory of Music before moving to Nashville, Tennessee for a time and then eventually to Los Angeles, California.[2]

Career

In 1976, Cain released his first record as the Jonathan Cain Band, Windy City Breakdown, on Bearsville Records. In 1979, he joined The Babys, appearing on their albums Union Jacks and On the Edge. In 1980 Cain left The Babys to join the rock band Journey, taking Gregg Rolie's place on keyboards. Cain aided Journey's rise to the top of the charts with his first collaborations on the album Escape, composing and playing the piano on songs such as "Don't Stop Believin'", described by Allmusic as "one of the best opening keyboard riffs in rock".[3] Perhaps his most notable contribution was as sole author of the classic Journey ballad "Faithfully", a song about life on the road while in a band. Cain would go on to appear on at least 13 other Journey albums and compilations.

The song "Working Class Man" sung by Jimmy Barnes is one of Cain's compositions and is considered to be Barnes' signature song.

Cain reunited with former Babys bandmates John Waite and Ricky Phillips, fellow Journey bandmate Neal Schon, and (former,ex)future Journey drummer Deen Castronovo to form the band Bad English. The band released two albums before disbanding in the early 1990s.

In 1996, the Journey lineup from the album Escape was reunited. They reformed and recorded the album Trial by Fire. Steve Perry then left the band again in 1998, after suffering a hip injury while hiking in Hawaii that required surgery. Journey has continued on with three subsequent lead singers, Steve Augeri from 1998 to 2006, Jeff Scott Soto from 2006 to 2007, and current frontman Arnel Pineda from 2007 to the present.

Cain is known to perform a piano solo at every Journey concert, usually right before the band performs "Open Arms". He started this tradition when Steve Augeri joined the band in 1998. He usually plays exactly the same solo at every concert on a tour, and has changed the solo he performs only four times, in 1998, 2003, 2009, and 2011.

In addition to his work with Journey, Cain has released eight solo albums and contributed to solo albums by fellow Journey member Neal Schon.

Personal life

Cain has been married three times. His first wife was singer Tané McClure. In 1989 he married his second wife, Elizabeth Yvette Fullerton, with whom he has three children, Madison (1993), Liza and Weston (1996). Cain moved from Novato, California to a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee. He divorced again. He is now married to minister Paula White (April, 2015).[4] He has built a recording studio called Addiction Sound in Nashville, where he currently resides.

Solo discography

Awards

He has received two BMI songwriter awards, both for songs co-written with Steve Perry, "Open Arms" and "Who's Crying Now". The Journey song, "When You Love a Woman", which he co-wrote with Perry and Schon, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Jonathan Cain Picture Pages
  2. ↑ JonathanCain.com
  3. ↑ Allmusic
  4. ↑ http://www.christiantoday.com/article/megachurch.pastor.paula.white.marries.rocker.jonathan.cain/53036.htm

External links

Preceded by
Stevie Roseman		 Journey keyboardist
1980 – present 		Succeeded by
incumbent
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