September 25, 2024 | 8:25am
MANILA, Philippines — Singer Arnel Pineda is leaving to fans of rock band Journey the decision on whether he should depart the group as its lead vocalist following a viral performance in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Filipino artist, who has been with Journey since 2007, brought up the decision in social media posts where he referenced the band’s performance at Rock in Rio earlier this month.
Pineda struggled to hit the notes of “Don’t Stop Believin’,” arguably the band’s most famous song.
“No one more than me in this world feels so devastated about this,” Pineda said. “It’s really amazing how [a] thousand right things you have done will be forgotten just ’cause of THIS.”
The 57-year-old singer admitted to suffering mentally and emotionally from the experience then gave the decision, even mentioning “those who’s hated me and never liked me from the very beginning.”
He asked people to say “Go” or “Stay” and if the latter reached a million votes, he would step away from Journey for good.
“Are you game folks? Let’s start…” Pineda ended. “God bless all of you and thank you once again to all of the fans and friends who believed in me since Day 1.”
A majority of comments below Pineda’s posts — as of writing over 10,000 — were related to “Stay,” many praising him for his years of contributing to Journey.
A decade ago, Pineda offered to leave Journey if former lead vocalist Steve Perry wanted to return to the band after departing in 1998, with Pineda saying it would even let him spend more time with his family.
“As long as [Journey] needs me I will be there, I’m never gonna quit on them,” Pineda added at the time.
Apart from “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Journey is also known for their hit tracks “Open Arms,” “Faithfully,” and “Stone in Love.”
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