Don't Stop Believin'

I first heard of the rumor that he will be Journey’s new lead singer several months ago. I was skeptical at first not because of his talent but because I never thought not even in my wildest dream that one of my favorite rock bands, Journey will pick somebody outside of the Continental United States much less a Filipino as their new lead singer.

It was the stuff of urban legends but it turned out to be true, in fact too good to be true--that it was guitarist Neal Schon who found him through YouTube and contacted him and invited him to audition for the band.

Here’s Neal Schon in his own words,

“I was frustrated about not having a singer,” explains guitarist Neal Schon, “so I went on YouTube for a couple of days and just sat on it for hours. I was starting to think I was never going to find anybody. But then I found The Zoo and I watched a bunch of different video clips that they had posted. After watching the videos over and over again, I had to walk away from the computer and let what I heard sink in because it sounded too good to be true. I thought, ‘he can’t be that good.’ But he is that good, he’s the real deal and so tremendously talented. Arnel doesn’t sound synthetic and he’s not emulating anyone. I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him that night, but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an impostor.”





And so Arnel Pineda, the lead singer of the Philippines' band The Zoo was named by Journey as their new lead singer on their website dated December 5, 2007.

He replaces Jeff Scott Sotto who parted ways with the band this year. Actually, from what I read in various online forums, Journey fans never really embraced him with Open Arms.

Although the band’s original lead singer, Steve Perry will never be equaled both in voice and in talent, let’s hope that Arnel can be at least up to par if not close enough to the standards that Mr. Perry had set for all the singers that will follow in his big, big footsteps.

The dawn of Arnel Pineda's journey to rock stardom begins…


Here's Arnel Pineda's cover of some of Journey's best with his band The ZOO--



Visit the Official Journey Website