The iconic musician Jonathan Cain is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who has played the world’s biggest stages for more than 40 years. As keyboardist for the iconic rock band Journey, he’s written or co-written the group's classic hits, such as “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Open Arms,” and “Faithfully.” So no one would fault Jonathan Cain for resting on his considerable laurels but that’s not how this rock icon rolls. Jonathan has written and recorded six solo albums in six years and Journey will release Freedom, the band’s first album of all-new songs in over a decade this summer.
The fuel behind Jonathan’s creativity is his faith and it permeates his new album Arise. “I've learned so much in scripture and being with Paula and teaching together that it moves me across all that I am and do. Like faith in action, the music of Arise moves to the spirit of revival,” says Jonathan who leads worship at the City of Destiny Church in Apopka, Florida where his wife, Paula White-Cain, is pastor.
He’s also the host of the “Anchored” podcast, where he discusses everything from faith, family, and marriage to manhood and music. And he regularly appears on his wife’s television shows, “Paula Today” and “Faithfully,” seen on the Life Network for Women and Daystar Television.
The Chicago native has spent decades pouring out his musical gifts in front of huge audiences, but when not touring with Journey, he serves at his home church as a worship leader.
“Worship is ‘What do you have for me?’ God wants to know what you're bringing,” he says. “A lot of times people come to worship thinking that they’re going to get something out of this when really, it's the exact opposite. You need to lay it down at the altar for God. That’s what worship is.”
Faith Journey
Jonathan’s faith journey has been complicated by challenges and heartbreaking tragedy. “My father gave me a relationship with Christ when I was very young. So, I learned early on the enemy was after me,” he shares. “When I was four years old, I nearly drowned in a lake in Arkansas. I should've been dead, but some guy saw me at the end of the pier and managed to grab me by the arm as I was sinking, as my lungs were filling up with water. He pulled me out and he gave me mouth to mouth and brought me back. I looked at my father and said, ‘Only God could've done this.’ I'll never forget that day and that's when I knew I was His son, and I knew He loved me.”
When Jonathan was only in third grade, a fire at his school killed 92 children and three nuns. Before that, the young choir boy had considered going into the ministry. “I had a lot of questions,” Jonathan says admitting it shook his faith for years.
“I finally got resolve and it was from the Lutheran pastor who baptized my children. He said to me, ‘Sometimes great change requires great sacrifice.’ Fire safety laws were changed in schools around the world. There’s a sprinkler mandate in every school. They’ll never build another school without a sprinkler system. That’s what they did. Movement out of the tragedy.”
This year, Jonathan will return to Chicago as they dedicate a statue at the site of the school to honor the fireman who battled the blaze and those who lost their lives.
“I prayed that I would see that before I would die. That I would go back to that spot and see the statue. They're going to have a ceremony and they're going to dedicate it finally, 60 some years later. I went back for the 60th anniversary and I sang a song that I wrote about the fire called ‘The Day They Became Angels.’”
Working In Ministry
Working in ministry with his wife Paula and leading worship at the City of Destiny has strengthened Jonathan’s faith and inspired his music. He frequently shares new songs with the congregation. “It’s always been the testing grounds. When I write something, I will usually play it at church and see if it moves people. I don’t force my music on our people. I just kind of drop it on them once in a while,” he says. “I’ve enjoyed getting away from the piano and just leading worship and getting people to connect. That’s our job, really. My wife, Paula, always teaches that God rides on the waves of sound.”
Past Works
The last few years have been some of the most productive in Jonathan’s prolific career. He has released What God Wants to Hear (2016), Unsung Noel (2017), The Songs You Leave Behind (2018), More Like Jesus (2019) Piano Worship (2020) and Oh Lord Lead Us in 2021. He also authored a 2018 memoir, Don’t Stop Believin’: The Man, the Band, and the Song That Inspired Generations, which chronicles his early days with The Babys and his accomplishments with Journey and rock band Bad English.
New Music
His new album, Arise, mixes brand new songs with tracks from his EP Oh Lord Lead Us including the title anthem. “Oh Lord Lead Us” began as a prayer for the new year as 2021 arrived and the world was still reeling from the pandemic and social upheaval.
Recorded at his Addiction Sound Studios in Nashville, the project was produced by Jonathan, mixed by David Kalmusky (Justin Bieber, The Fray, Keith Urban), mastered by GRAMMY Award-winning Adam Ayans (Paul McCartney, Carrie Underwood, Foo Fighters), and features Journey background vocalist Jason Derlatka.
“Oh Lord Lead Us” is anchored by a passage in 1 Chronicles 16:11, taking its lyrics directly from scripture. “Being around all this Bible teaching, I get excited when I see something that triggers my imagination,” Jonathan says. “Being beaten down, closed up, and churches shuttered. The lockdown. Quarantine. All this stuff. It seemed like this is a new season. We’ve got to make ourselves brand new again. The song was a prayer for a reset and renewal. I just thought we needed something that had a little joy in it.”
Arise resonates with joy and a profound sense of God’s power and grace. “We're coming out of this Covid thing, I think,” Jonathan says hopefully. “God is trying to make his presence felt here on earth and it's up to us to wake up, to feel it, feel the revival and just dig in. Don't back down. We have to live in this world of censorship and cancel culture. It's very disturbing. And so, what do you do? You have to rise up. You have to stand, and we've got to stand together. We have each other. So, I hope that this music stirs up and awakens people in a way that they can maybe become a part of that.”
Jonathan views the powerful song “Roar” as a wake-up call to believers. “As Christians, we cannot not sit by and say, ‘Well, politics and religion don't matter.’ They surely do. There are a lot of people that just let status quo be, and I'm not one of them. I believe that God can show us in the natural what’s really going on. And I think we need to look at it as an attack. The enemy is at our front door trying to destroy this church. We are soldiers. We wear the armor of God, so be victorious. Stand in the gap with the Holy Spirit and band together. We need to put roar in our praise. We better stand up for our faith.”
Jonathan’s signature vocals are passionate on the stirring ballad “Pour Myself Out.” “You need to lay it down at the altar for God and ‘Pour Myself Out’ expresses that sentiment,” he says. “There’s full surrender involved. Until you repent and fully give yourself to the Lord, you’ll never hear his voice. And that’s what that song's about. I can remember going to Ghana and really being moved at a service, letting go of everything and just being consumed. I fell on my face and all this emotion came out of me. That's what worship is about.”
Jonathan says these songs are fueled by his thankfulness. “This music is my way of offering with a grateful heart thanks for all the blessings that He's given,” he says. “It’s my way of saying, ‘Thank you. Thank you for the life that you've given me. Here's what I have.’ It's just gratitude that drives me to do these songs.”
Overcoming the Odds
Though he was told at the beginning of his career that he’d never make it as a singer or songwriter, Jonathan persevered and has used his gifts to entertain people for more than four decades. One of rock music’s most legendary keyboard players, Jonathan still records and performs with Journey and is thankful for the opportunity it affords him to impact others with the gospel.
“I think in the end it matters that a rock and roll guy has shared his heart for his faith,” he says. “My whole thing is consider Jesus. Just consider. I’m just trying to tell you that your life is not complete unless you consider Jesus. That’s the completeness. That’s where the stillness is. That’s where the peace of mind is. That's where the gratitude is. That's where it all comes from. The promise of eternal life is in Jesus. When people die as Christians, they're simply going through transition. We don't look at it like the end. And what a comforting thought it is. Why wouldn't you want to live your life like that? Why wouldn't you want to have that promise of eternal life? It can only come through Jesus. And that’s what I'm sharing in all these songs: the answer lies with Him.”
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