Arnel Pineda Thanks Fans After Fallout From Journey’s Rock in Rio Set
Arnel Pineda is thanking Journey fans for their support after the fallout from the band’s Rock in Rio set, which featured a subpar vocal performance from the usually on-point singer.
Journey’s Rock in Rio set last week featured some vocal issues from Pineda during “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which was captured and can be heard in the video here. Pineda was criticized for his performance, and he really took that criticism to heart. Pineda wrote on Facebook, He wrote, “No one more than me in this world feels so devastated about this…It’s really amazing how 1 thousand right things you have done will be forgotten just cause of THIS..and of all the place , it’s in Rock In Rio…”
Pineda continued, “Mentally and emotionally, I’ve suffered already, and I’m still suffering..but I’ll be ok…So, here’s the deal here now..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 1 million…I’m stepping out for good..are you game folks?”
Thousands of fans showed up in the comment section and offered their support of Pineda. Among the support was Journey guitarist Neal Schon, who wrote, “Arnel dont listen to these blogs. They are all bought. You’ve kicked ass!” Schon further defended Pineda in some follow-up posts on Facebook, where he blamed hard rock/metal band Avenged Sevenfold for audio issues during their Rock in Rio set.
Pineda later addressed fans in a video via Instagram and said “good has won.” He noted of his call to fans to vote him out of the band, “It’s overwhelmingly humbling. I didn’t do it for some selfish reason, not to feed me with such gratifying feeling, more of a spiritual journey for me and my profound curiosity and what’s winning in his world these days.”
Pineda continued, “Is it a good or is it a bad? And isn’t it evident that a lot of people would just cowardly hide behind their cell phones, computers, et cetera, et cetera, to express their hatred, cruelty, bigotry, or discriminatory and racist remarks to me? Well, it’s been happening since 2007… And yet here comes the good people to my rescue.”
He added, “No matter what they are going through, good or bad, as soon as they saw my post, quickly and bravely they did not hesitate to send their kindness, sincerity, top-notch generosity of their precious time, just to express how genuinely caring and willing they are to fight for me, to reason with me.”
