The story of Journey’s latest lead singer – this guy sounds better than the original!
Posted on 12 August 2008, at 10:20 pm, by Wayne Schulz
From an email that I just sent to the GearDiary team:
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Wayne Schulz
Date: Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 10:26 PM
Subject: Journey
To: “geardiaryteam”Ok, I didn’t know that when Journey had their big resurrection by having a song featured on the season finale of The Sopranos — they didn’t have a lead singer.
This meant that they couldn’t immediately tour on the popularity of that song.
So they found a guy on YouTube – from the Phillipines!
Here’s the story which I didn’t know. My friend Mark just forwarded the link. Pretty cool.
This has to be one of the most amazing rock stories in a long while. For a chuckle, watch the YouTube video at 5:20 where Arnel (A Filipino attempting to enter the USA and pass through immigration) explains how he told skeptical officials that his reason for visiting America is to “Audition for Journey” as their lead singer. You can imagine the skepticism and chuckles of immigration officials. Then listen as Arnel demonstrates how he sang a few lines of “Wheel In The Sky” and erased their doubts. Obviously he passed the audition and is currently touring with Journey as their lead singer.
Original YouTube where Arnel Pineda was discovered (Faithfully)
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8 Comments For This Post
August 12th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I don’t know that I would say, better than the original. Steve Perry was pretty blinkin’ awesome. I hate it that he doesn’t talk to any of the band members. It doesn’t sound like there are any hard feelings on the band’s part; but there must be something there for him to make all the communication go through his lawyer…
August 13th, 2008 at 7:54 am
If you close your eyes, he sounds so similar to (and IMHO just as good as) Steve Perry that it is spooky; my first thought after hearing this last night was “Steve Perry has got to be so mad!”
August 13th, 2008 at 8:12 am
I’m playing the original YouTube of this guy while my kids are making pancakes — it’s scary how close it is. And the guy comes across as pretty likable in the story.
I can never figure out why these guys can’t get past their petty squabbles. I think the music business is only going to get tougher as live music appears destined to be the prime way that performers earn money thanks to the file sharing that goes on.
August 13th, 2008 at 9:15 am
A few weeks ago my wife played the new Journey album while we were in her car. I said, “you still listen to Journey? Come on, let’s put something else on.” She replied, “I really like the new songs. Just listen to the first one.” I did and it wasn’t bad. So I looked briefly at the cd and asked her why they also included a bunch of their old songs on it. She told me they had a new lead singer and rerecorded the songs. I was shocked, but skeptical. “Ok, put on one of the old songs.” She played Faithfully and it blew my mind how much Arnel sounds like Steve. It was fantastic.
This YouTube video shows his versatility. He sounded just like Sting and Robert Plant. This guy is amazingly talented. And his story moved me. Thanks for a great post Wayne!
August 13th, 2008 at 9:30 am
I wonder why the newer album is available on iTunes and only via a third party seller on Amazon?
I bought two Journey albums this morning. Watching these comeback stories always has that effect on me…
August 13th, 2008 at 9:31 am
…and Amazon has the Revelation album ($23) for about 2x what Walmart ($11) shows it for..
August 13th, 2008 at 9:51 am
I like the way that the new guy sounds in live settings, but I can’t say I care for the new album or the rerecordings – they don’t have the same life that the hit-making lineup had. Sounding “just like Steve Perry” isn’t enough to make it work for me.
By the way – you might also want to note that the original lineup of Asia just released a new album recently. They reformed based on the success of a British television special done by 2 of the original 4 members last year. The new album is good, but not quite as good as their “hits”.
August 30th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Thanks for sharing this! Just got around to watching, but was an amazing piece. That guy seems so nice. This was my thought also…
my first thought after hearing this last night was “Steve Perry has got to be so mad!”
But that goes to show why it never pays to turn your back on people and not make peace, especially long time friends that you have disagreements with. Things can easily change or past issues can lose their importance over time anyway. But with all the multitude of people we can enjoy and call friends, how many are really tried and true close friends that held up across the decades? That sort of friendahip is like gold.