Neal Schon

Neal Joseph Schon was born at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, the son of Matthew and Barbara Schon.[4] He is of German and Italian ancestry.[5][6] 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.[7] Schon started playing guitar at age 10.[8] He attended Aragon High School in San Mateo, California.[8]

A quick learner, he joined Santana at age 17, in 1971.[1][8] Schon has said he was asked by Eric Clapton to join Derek and the Dominos,[4] but that he joined Santana instead, performing on the albums Santana III and Caravanserai. According to Bobby Whitlock,

he's a great guitar player. When he was a kid, his daddy brought him to one of our shows … when Derek and the Dominoes were doing our American tour. And [his dad] tried his best to talk Eric into letting him play in our band. He didn’t have a lot to say but he sat in with us. And it was just … it didn’t fit. He was real talented, young guitar player, early teens. His career happened anyway ... without us but we didn’t need a teenager in the band. I was only a few years out of being a teenager myself so I knew what to expect. And his playing was entirely wrong for us. If Neal Schon was anywhere, he was backstage and I saw him. We always kept tight, Eric didn’t have a dressing room, it wasn’t like that, we carried our own suitcases, and they only brought two guitars. If Eric broke a string he changed his own strings on stage. We didn’t know who [Neil Schon] was, he showed up with his daddy. And twice. Like I said, he had a great career anyway, when you’re talented like that it’s going to happen. The bands he got with, they needed that kind of playing ... He did alright without us. He didn't need us and we didn't need him. He was just one of the many people who wanted to play with us.[9]

Schon also played in the band Azteca. In 1973, he and Gregg Rolie co-founded Journey.[10]

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.

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 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".

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.[11][12]

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.[13]

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.[14][15] 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).[14] 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.[16]

As of 2008, Schon currently prefers guitar pedals from Xotic, a Vox Satriani model and occasionally uses a Buddy Guy wah pedal.[17]

On December 15, 2013, Neal Schon married Michaele Salahi at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. For this occasion, a white tent (photo) had been erected in the rotunda of the Palace.[18]

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 and were very happy together.[19][20]

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.[21]

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.[22] The marriage is Schon's fifth and Salahi's second.[23]

Schon has confirmed that he has tinnitus which causes constant ringing in the ears, common in musicians who have toured extensively.[24]

• Neal Schon Official Site
• Neal Schon Official FaceBook Page
• Neal Schon Official YouTube Channel
• Neal Schon Biography
• Neal Schon at the Internet Broadway Database