Journey's founding guitarist Neal Schon has responded to claims in the press that he has put the band on hiatus for 2019 to tour with his Journey Through Time project via his official blog. He has issued the following update:

"There is absolutley zero truth to the statements. I was told by management (John Baruck) that we all would take all of 2019 off except for possibly a few dates near the end of the year leading into 2020 and that Jonathan Cain, Steve Smith and other things they wanted to do. At that point I decided to go out and have some fun with Gregg Rolie, Deen Castronovo, Marco Mendoza, Marti Frederiksen and Chris Collins and dip into our catalog - deep tracks (from the beginning and beyond), and that my friends is the way it REALLY went down instead of trying to blame me for us not playing next year. So as always, you get the truth here always. Have  a great and safe holiday and see you soon into the New Year."

Schon, while on the current Journey & Def Leppard 2018 Tour, paid tribute to former lead singer Steve Perry with a nightly dedication and moving performance of the band's 1978 hit single, "Lights". Co-written by Schon and Perry, "Lights" was featured on the band's fourth full length album, Infinity, and has become one of Journey's most popular and easily recognizable songs.

Schon, who will be releasing his solo album in early 2019, has also expressed his wishes to work with Perry, who will be releasing his own solo album in October, 2018, again, as both recognize the timeless music they created together and their brotherhood.

"I’ve been hearing that he’s been showing up in the same coffee joint that I go to all the time," Schon says. "Hopefully I’ll run into him soon. We had a great meeting when we met for the Hall of Fame. I realized there was still a very deep connection there. He’s had nothing but very kind words to say about myself. I’ve done the same for him. The mutual respect is there. One step at a time. I’d just like to get to know him again and see where he’s at. But I can surely tell you that I would love to just have him come and just mess around one day at Narada’s studio with the three of us, because I think we would turn out something that he would really dig.'”

Go behind the scenes with Journey and Def Leppard at Comerica Park in Detroit, courtesy of Click On Detroit / NBC:

(Photo - Erik Kabik / Kabik Photo Group)