Arnel Pineda on viral post about leaving Journey after gig backlash: 'It was a childish act'
Arnel Pineda assured fans that his journey with Journey will continue as he explained why he struggled to reach the high notes of Don't Stop Believin' during a gig at the Rock in Rio Festival in Brazil.
In an interview with entertainment reporter Gretchen Fullido, the Journey frontman looked back on how the backlash he got for his lackluster performance affected him. "The 1,000 good things that I've done, they've completely forgotten it just because I committed a couple of mistakes or I messed up the whole song or whatever," he said.
"Representing a band—one of the most iconic bands in America—stepping in the big shoes of Mr. Steve Perry, ang hirap. The pressure is always there, there's stress and anxiety," he opened up.
According to the singer, things got "out of [his] control" that's why he wasn't able to give his best during the band's viral performance.
"Fatigue na din. It's out of my control. It's my body talking eh. Parang nagrereklamo na siya so ganun nalang ang kinaya. Maybe I have no excuse but for me, it's a big factor na talagang 'yun na ang naramdaman ko," he recalled.
Arnel also talked about his previous post where he left the public to vote on whether he should step out of the band for good and called it a "childish act."
"I'm embarrassed that I did that. I mean, I'm 57, tapos suddenly parang naging—it was a childish act. But what do you do? It's just me being human," he said, adding that he will stay with the band and make up for his lackluster performance at their upcoming gig this month in Japan.
In a Facebook post on Sept. 22, the Pinoy talent shared a link to a Sept. 21 video uploaded by Behind the Songs, a page with over 430,000 followers, which said in the caption, "Arnel Pineda showed severe vocal flaws in Journey's presentation at Rock in Rio Brazil last Sunday, September 15." In the video, he can be heard struggling to reach the high notes of Don't Stop Believin'.
"I am very aware of this," he wrote. "[N]o one more than me in this world feels so devastated about this."
He then asked the public to comment "GO" or "STAY," and if "GO" reaches one million, he's stepping out of Journey for good.
Fans expressed support in the comments, and many of them asked him to stay. He also received some love from his fellow bandmates and singers.
Journey was formed in 1973 and had a series of lineup changes.
To date, band members consist of Arnel (who joined Journey in 2007), guitarist/vocalist Neal Schon, Cain, keyboard/vocalist Jason Derlatka, drummer/vocalist Deen Castronovo, and bassist Todd Jensen. Schon is the last remaining original member.
Journey had its biggest commercial success between 1978 and 1987 when Perry was its frontman.
Its other hits include Open Arms, Any Way You Want It, and Faithfully.