Journey Chords

Looking for Journey chords? You came to the right place! The American rock band Journey was formed in 1973 in San Francisco. The group initially consisted of Neal Schon and George Tickner on guitar, Ross Valory on bass, Gregg Rolie on keys and Prairie Prince — quickly replaced by Aynsley Dunbar — on the drums, yet over the years the band would see musicians come and go many times over. Previous to Journey, all its members had been part of other groups, making them veteran musicians. For instance, Schon and Rolie used to play with the hugely successful Santana. Believing the group to be another smash hit, Journey was signed by Columbia Records. Although their initial sound proved unable to fulfill this expectation, the band would evolve and become one of the most popular American rock groups of all time. They have accrued 19 top 40 singles, and earned 25 gold and platinum albums. Furthermore, Journey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

Rocky start and breakthrough

Initially, by combining progressive rock with jazzy melodies and chords, Journey employed a fusion style of music. This is showcased on their self-titled debut album, issued in 1975. The record, as well as their next two releases, contains mostly instrumentals and failed to reach a mass audience. Due in part to pressure from Columbia, the band added a lead singer to the group, Steve Perry, and their musical style took a more popular direction. This proved to be a successful move, as their next album, Infinity, released in 1978, would be Journey’s first to reach platinum status. It would be followed by two more albums attaining similar results. At this time, Rolie was replaced by Jonathan Cain; also, Dunbar had already been relieved earlier by Steve Smith. In 1981, Journey released their seventh studio album, Escape, which gained the band a real breakthrough to the mainstream. It contained three top 10 singles, including one of their best-known songs: “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Interested in learning which chords Journey used on this track? You will find them below!

Continued popularity

Journey released two more albums during the eighties, Frontiers and Raised on Radio, both of them best-sellers holding multiple hits. However, the group subsequently disappeared under the radar for a decade. They re-united in 1995 and issued the album Trial by Fire in 1996. Again achieving commercial success, it showed Journey’s sound still resonated with a wide audience. Albeit with constantly changing lineups, the band would release multiple new albums. Also, demonstrating their global popularity, Journey’s tours saw them perform all over the world.