Journey keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jonathan Cain recently spoke with Smashing Interviews. Following is an excerpt from the career-spanning chat.

Q: Is it true that Prince called you and asked if “Purple Rain” was too similar to "Faithfully"?

Jonathan Cain: "He did. He had wanted me to hear the song 'Purple Rain' that he was getting ready to release. It was the end of the song. He said, 'I’ll change those chords if you want me to.' I said, 'I wouldn’t change a thing.' (laughs) It sounded like a hit record to me. Yeah, there was similarity there, but certainly I’m not going to make a fuss over it. I just congratulated him. But it showed class. It showed that he cared."

Q: Why were you and Steve Perry such a magical writing team?

Jonathan Cain: "I think it was just the Lord putting us together for such a time. I didn’t know what to expect when I went up there. The Lord knew before I did that this was going to be something special between the two of us. We bonded pretty strongly, and we liked the same music. I was in awe of his vocal ability being able to sing like that, and he liked the way I played, the way I wrote, and he wanted to be part of it. I wanted to be a part of what he was doing and what Neal (Schon) was doing, for that matter. So it was really cool. It was very fortunate that we landed together in the same space at that time."

Q : Did you and Steve take some flak from the band in the beginning for writing and singing the power ballads?

Jonathan Cain: "Steve actually wanted to try his hand at some ballads and was talking about doing a soul album. I said, 'You don’t need to do a soul album. We can do it right here in Journey.' I told him I thought the rock world was ready to hear him sing a ballad or two. I had heard some things he had done on Infinity. I had that album from ’78 before I was ever in the band, so I knew what he meant. That was easy, you know. I was supposed to bring edge to the band, and I ended up bringing ballads (laughs). So go figure. God has a sense of humor."

Read the complete interview here.

Cain is hopeful that opportunity will come during Journey's summer tour with Def Leppard and lead to hitting the studio later this year.

"After this tour we may have a window to do it," Cain tells Billboard. "It could be a great record. I can almost see it in my mind. I couldn't tell you that a year ago."

As he prepares to release his new album The Songs You Leave Behind - a compendium of both new and older material whose title track is premiering exclusively at Billboard - next month, Cain is feeling optimistic about new Journey music.

"I'd like to revisit that," Cain says. "I'm in a good place musically, mentally, spiritually. I'd like to get with Neal (Schon) and find out what he's got on his mind, get with Arnel (Pineda) and just start gathering (material) and see what we've got."

Read more and listen to Cains' track "The Songs You Leave Behind" at Billboard.

Def Leppard and Journey are teaming up for a massive co-headlining North American tour. Promising to be one of the top tours of the year, the North American trek will be composed of both stadium and arena concerts, with half of the shows being closed by Journey and half by Def Leppard. The tour, promoted by Live Nation, kicks off May 21st in Hartford, Connecticut, at the XL Center and will feature complete sets and all-new production from both bands, and an arsenal of their hits such as “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Lights,” “Photograph,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Rock of Ages” and “Faithfully.”

The 58-city tour will hit ten stadiums - Toronto’s Rogers Centre; Atlanta’s Sun Trust Park; Detroit’s Comerica Park; Chicago’s Wrigley Field; Denver’s Coors Field; Minneapolis’ Target Field; Boston’s Fenway Park; St. Louis’ Busch Stadium; San Francisco’s AT&T Park; and San Diego’s Petco Park - as well as world-famous arenas, such as Madison Square Garden in New York and the ‘Fabulous’ Forum in Inglewood, California.

Def Leppard / Journey dates:

May
23 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center
25 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium
26 - Buffalo, NY - KeyBank Center**
28 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
30 - Cincinnati, OH - U.S. Bank Arena

June
1 - Toronto, ON - Rogers Centre
2 - Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Paints Arena
5 - Raleigh, NC - PNC Arena
6 - Knoxville, TN - Thompson-Boling Arena
8 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
9 - Charlotte, NC - Spectrum Center
11 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center**
13 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
15 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
16 - Baltimore, MD - Royal Farms Arena

July
1 - Atlanta, GA - SunTrust Park
3 - Noblesville, IN - Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
4 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest
6 - Memphis, TN - FedExForum
7 - North Little Rock, AR - Verizon Arena
9 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
11 - Louisville, KY - KFC Yum! Center
13 - Detroit, MI - Comerica Park
14 - Chicago, IL - Wrigley Field**
16 - Wichita, KS - INTRUST Bank Arena
18 - Sioux Falls, SD - Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
19 - Lincoln, NE - Pinnacle Bank Arena
21 - Denver, CO - Coors Field
23 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena**
25 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center**
27 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Field
28 - Fargo, ND - Fargodome**

August
11 - Boston, MA - Fenway Park**
13 - Virginia Beach, VA - Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
15 - Columbia, SC - Colonial Life Arena
17 - Ft Lauderdale, FL - BB&T Center
18 - Tampa, FL - Amalie Arena
20 - Birmingham, AL - Legacy Arena @ The BJCC
22 - Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center
24 - St. Louis, MO - Busch Stadium
25 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
27 - New Orleans, LA - Smoothie King Center
29 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
31 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T Center

September
1 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center**
5 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater
7 - Phoenix, AZ - Talking Stick Resort Arena
8 - Las Vegas, NV - T-Mobile Arena**
21 - San Francisco, CA - AT&T Park
23 - San Diego, CA - Petco Park
25 - Salt Lake City, UT - Vivint Smart Home Arena
26 - Nampa, ID - Ford Idaho Center Arena
28 - Portland, OR - Moda Center
29 - Seattle, WA - Gorge Amphitheatre

October
1 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
4 - Sacramento, CA - Golden 1 Center
6 - Los Angeles, CA - The Forum