Watta Journey for Arnel Pineda!

Most of us Filipinos now know that the new lead singer of the band Journey is our kababayan Arnel Pineda, pure home grown talent from the concert bars of Olonggapo.

Arnel Pineda has just embarked on an unforgettable journey from lead singer of the Filipino band The Zoo, to front man of Journey, a post vacated years ago by the legendary Steve Perry.

Here is that inspiring story on the journey of Arnel Pineda, taken from the official announcement of Journey:

Dec 05, 2007

JOURNEY WELCOMES ARNEL PINEDAWITH “OPEN ARMS” TO THEIR FAMILYAS THE BAND’S NEW LEAD SINGER

December 5, 2007 -- After much speculation…the wait is finally over.

JOURNEY--Neal Schon (guitar), Jonathan Cain (keyboards), Ross Valory (bass), Deen Castronovo (drums)--is proud to introduce fans all over the world to their new lead singer, Arnel Pineda (“pin-eh-da”). He replaces Jeff Scott Soto, who parted ways with the band earlier this year after stepping in for Steve Augeri, who had to leave the band in 2006 for medical reasons.

Arnel hails from Quezon City in the Philippines and has been singing Journey songs--in addition to original material--with his band, The Zoo, for the past couple of years in clubs all over his homeland. Joining the legendary band is a dream come true for him. “It’s so exciting to sing with one of the best bands in the world. It’ll be a lot of hard work on my part and I’m actually looking forward to the scrutiny I’ll get from the hardcore JOURNEY fans. I know they’ll expect me to sound exactly like ‘the voice’ (Steve Perry), but that will never happen. I know there's only one Steve Perry in this world.”

When it was time for JOURNEY to look for a new lead singer, the internet came to their rescue. Guitarist Neal Schon wanted someone new to the music business, so he turned to YouTube. After finding Arnel singing “Faithfully,” he knew he had found the perfect frontman.

“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 imposter.”

Arnel Pineda picks up the story: “My friend Noel picked up the message on YouTube and told me it was from Neal. I thought it was a hoax so I ignored it. Noel said, ‘what if it really was Neal and he wanted to offer you the chance of a lifetime?’ So I e-mailed Neal back and the rest is history.”

“Arnel brings a soulful and passionate voice to JOURNEY,” continues keyboardist Jonathan Cain. “His personality is very well-suited to our music. He’s a sincere, authentic person with a great smile and a big heart. I think fans are really going to love him. With Arnel’s soaring tenor, Journey returns to our heritage sound.”

Schon agrees, “We feel reborn. I think there’s a lot of chemistry between the five of us. At first we were going to go into the studio and just write 4 songs, but now it’s escalated to a lot of great new and diverse material. The stuff sounds tremendous. Everyone’s so stoked about it. We feel very fortunate to have found Arnel.”

JOURNEY is currently working on a new album with legendary producer Kevin Shirley, which they hope to release by spring/summer 2008. Details will be announced early next year.

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Arnel was discovered in this internet age through You Tube.

So see that unintended audition of Arnel Pienda as he belts out that hair-raising version of Journey's "Faithfully": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HjcCzgCCX0&feature=related

Here is also Arnel's voice on Journey's "Open Arms": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpnEnt-qOw4&feature=related

Arnel Pineda was also featured on CNN who dubbed it a "fairy tale" rock affair http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nnNji6s3ck

The Marin Independent Journal in the U.S. gave an extended article on Arnel Pienda: http://www.marinij.com//ci_7826224?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com

Belatedly, local Philippine media noticed Arnel's recognition in America, and only then was his new-found internnational fame covered http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akHs40SL-rw