Journey singer Arnel Pineda has revealed that he will quit the band “for good” if fans want him to leave.
Earlier this month, the band performed at the Rock In Rio festival, where Pineda’s performance was slammed by fans. This was further amplified by a Facebook video that went viral after showcasing the Filipino singer struggling to hit the right notes for ‘Don’t Stop Believing’.
In response, Pineda took to Facebook on Sunday (September 22) to share that he’s been thankful for his time with the band. He linked back to the previously mentioned video and wrote: “no one more than me in this world feels so devastated about this… its really amazing how 1 thousand right things you have done will be forgotten just cause of THIS… and of all the place, its in Rock In Rio…”
He continued, “mentally and emotionally, ive suffered already, and im still suffering… but i’ll be ok…” before offering fans the chance to vote for him to stay or leave the band: “I am offering you a chance now (especially those who’s hated me and never liked me from the very beginning) to simply text GO or STAY right here… and if GO reaches 1million… im stepping out for good”.
See the full post below.
once again,thank u so much everyone who came to @journeyofficial show since #february this year ..i appreciate uou all…
Posted by Arnel Pineda on Sunday, September 22, 2024
It appears by “text”, Pineda means for fans to comment if they want him to “stay” or “go”. Since the post went live, support for the singer has been overwhelming, with an abundance of comments calling for him to “stay”. At the time of publishing, there have only been less than 4,000 comments on Pineda’s post, with the majority remaining positive.
Pineda joined the band in 2007 to take on lead vocals.
In recent news, Journey have quietly cancelled their UK and Ireland 50th anniversary arena tour. The tour was meant to kick off on November 2 and run through November 17, but has seemingly been scrapped after The shows were listed as cancelled on Ticketmaster. Their planned London concert has also been removed from The O2’s website.
At the end of July, the band’s keyboardist Cain filed a lawsuit against guitarist Schon while the band was on a co-headline tour in the US with Def Leppard, along with guests The Steve Miller Band and Cheap Trick. The suit was filed on grounds of frustrations over Schon’s “expenses related to the tour” including “budgeting and spending” of the band’s credit card over personal expenses.
Last month, Schon revealed that the band have opted to bring in “someone impartial” to help smooth over their differences.
In 2020, Pineda shared new details on his upcoming biopic, which will be directed by Crazy Rich Asians‘ and Wicked‘s Jon M. Chu. At the time, the film’s script was being finalised, but little on its production has transpired since. The film was first announced in 2018.
