(born September 5, 1967
A Filipino singer-songwriter who has served as the lead singer of the American rock band Journey since 2007.Pineda has had a successful musical career in the Philippines for the last 25 years.
On December 5, 2007, Pineda was announced as the new lead singer of Journey.
He mentions that joining the legendary band was a dream come true for him. He states, "It's so exciting to sing with one of the best bands in the world." Arnel's grace and spirit along with his amazing talent are now being shared worldwide. It's well deserved for this humble and extremely talented man.
Videos of Arnel Pinedaa bandThe Zoo performing cover songs by Journey, Survivor, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Air Supply, The Eagles, Kenny Loggins, Stryper and other popular acts from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, began appearing on YouTube.com in February 2007. On June 28, 2007, Neal Schon of Journey contacted Noel Gomez, a longtime fan and friend of Pineda who uploaded many of these videos, to ask for Pineda's contact information.
Schon sent an e-mail to Pineda inviting him to audition for Journey. Pineda initially dismissed the e-mail as a hoax, but after being persuaded by Gomez, he finally replied to Schon's e-mail. Ten minutes later, Pineda received a phone call from Schon.
On August 12,Pineda, along with his manager Bert de Leon, flew to Marin County, just north of San Francisco, for a two-day audition.] The star-struck Pineda was welcomed warmly but he described the audition as "nerve-wracking, tense".
On December 5, 2007, Pineda was announced as the lead singer of Journey. CNN Headline News ran the story as part of their "News to Me" segment
Pineda debuted as the lead singer of Journey on February 21, 2008 at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival held at the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater in Viña del Mar, Chile.
Chilean media acclaimed Pineda's performance (translated to English): "The new vocalist fit very well with the band, his vocal aptitudes shining through, which are very similar to the legendary musician of the band, Steve Perry." Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain described Pineda's performance in a radio interview: "We went to Chile just recently, where we had never played and they went crazy, they absolutely went nuts...Arnel's first show — talk about a stressful thing — we had a televised concert for 25 million people...Is the guy a winner? Yeah, he's a winner. He's a clutch player."
Arnel now resides in Quezon City in the Philippines.