Overview
- Journey announced Friday that Deen Castronovo has stepped away from the Final Frontier tour to focus on personal health matters and that Steve Murphy will serve as a temporary replacement through the end of November.
- Steve Murphy played the full Cleveland show on Nov. 12 after Castronovo left the Boston concert on Nov. 10 and after a separate medical emergency forced Castronovo offstage in Tulsa on Oct. 8, with longtime drum tech Steve Toomey filling in at those earlier stops.
- The band said Castronovo has its full support and extended his thanks to fans, and Journey confirmed it will continue the current North American leg, which is scheduled to conclude on Nov. 28 in San Francisco.
- Castronovo first joined Journey in 1998, was dismissed in 2015 after legal issues that led to probation, and rejoined the group in July 2021, a history that coverage has cited as context for his recent absences.
- Band members have signaled they may rethink the tour’s billed ‘final’ status, and the use of guest musicians to finish dates could influence whether this run truly ends the group's touring era.