Why Arnel Pineda Asked Journey Fans on Facebook to Vote Him Out of the Band
Journey drama isn’t exactly surprising news, but it is when it involves singer Arnel Pineda.
Last week, Journey played at the iconic Rock in Rio festival. Unfortunately, Pineda experienced some vocal issues during “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which was captured and can be heard in the video here. Normally, Pineda’s live vocals are on point, so hearing him struggle is definitely surprising.
It was a moment that caused Pineda to take to Facebook and address what happened. 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?”
Clearly, Pineda has taken his uncharacteristically sub-par performance to heart in a very extreme way, which fans took note of and rushed en masse to the comments to try and boost his confidence. As of publishing, this post has around 4,300 comments. A scan of some of the comments shows fans overwhelmingly supporting Pineda. Journey guitarist Neal Schon even left a comment saying, “Arnel dont listen to these blogs. They are all bought. You’ve kicked ass!”
So, what did we learn here today? Even outstanding vocalists, like Pineda, can have off nights. Here’s hoping he doesn’t let the few haters get him down for too much longer.
The Biggest Drama in Journey
Of course, Pineda’s vocal issues don’t hold a candle to the ongoing drama between Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain. Schon and Cain’s recent issues are related to an American Express card. As previously reported, Cain filed a lawsuit on July 30 in Delaware against Schon and Freedom 2020, Inc., the operating entity that handles Journey-related business. (Freedom 2020, Inc. is based in Delaware.) In the lawsuit, Cain accused Schon and his wife, Michaele, of overusing the business’s American Express card for personal expenses, even though the card is meant to be used for Journey business expenses.
Cain’s lawsuit states that he and Schon each have their own card attached to the account. While the account, itself, has a $1 million limit, Cain and Schon’s cards have limits of $30,000. However, Cain’s lawsuit alleges Schon and his wife were able to work around their $30,000 limit to access more value on the account.
Following news of the lawsuit, Journey canceled its upcoming U.K./Ireland tour, which consisted of 11 shows. Fans who purchased tickets to those shows reportedly received an email that states, “Due to circumstances beyond the band’s control, Journey’s UK and Ireland tour is unfortunately canceled. Refunds will be made from your point of purchase.” A reason for the sudden tour cancelation has not been disclosed, but many outlets are pointing to Schon and Cain’s lawsuit as the potential reason.
In August, Cain won a ruling that would require a third-party director to be added to Journey tour company Freedom 2020 to help handle disputes between him and Schon.
The ruling stated, “Mr. Schon is prohibited from unilaterally acting on behalf of the Company and all future deadlock between Mr. Cain and Mr. Schon will be broken by the vote of the Custodian.”
Schon issued a lengthy statement via Facebook on August 22 stating that he and Cain have agreed to bring in a third party to help resolve their current issues. Schon hoped the third party will “bring clarity to what we’re doing and allow us, as a band, to get back to what we should all focus on – making music and performing for our fans.”
