JOURNEY Singer ARNEL PINEDA Says 'Good Has Won' After He Invited Fans To Vote Him Out Of Band

JOURNEY vocalist Arnel Pineda has thanked fans for their support after he received criticism for his performance with his bandmates at the Rock In Rio festival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on September 15.

In a recent social media post, the 57-year-old singer, who has been fronting the legendary rockers since 2007 when JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon discovered him leading a Manila cover band on YouTube, shared a video where he had issues with his ear monitors and struggled to hit the right notes during the Rock In Rio performance. After saying that he felt "so devastated" about the gig, he offered to walk away from the band if fans voted for him to do so.

"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 1million…I'm stepping out for good..are you game folks?" Pineda wrote.

Schon shared his support of Pineda in a Facebook post, accusing AVENGED SEVENFOLD — who performed later in the evening at Rock In Rio — of compromising JOURNEY's sound. In a separate post, he also accused "owed and bought blogs" for fabricating the original story. JOURNEY drummer Deen Castronovo also expressed his support for Pineda, writing in a post: "Arnel has RISEN to the challenge of JOURNEY's catalog, NIGHT after NIGHT, YEAR after tiring YEAR! He gives to YOU ALL and JOURNEY, the best that he can give you. Out of maybe a handful of shows in 17 years, Arnel has faced the facts. The voice is a BIOLOGICAL INSTRUMENT, subject to weather, fatigue, virus, bacteria, jet lag etc. Sometimes it DOES NOT, CANNOT or WILL NOT cooperate when needed. So, what's the point of hammering a human being over something they have no control over??"

Earlier today (Wednesday, September 25),Arnel shared a video message in which he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Hello, everyone. Firstly, I want to apologize for the inconvenience I have caused all of JOURNEY's faithful fans out there. I know the band's not perfect right now and in turmoil, but it is not going through some bad stuff these days anyway. My friends, again, you know who you are.

"I've waited a while before I wanna post something again, so here I am. Bottom line, good has won, and no matter how screwed our world is, maybe it's caused evil in us in general, or the politicians or the religious leaders that's making us believe in their eccentric point of view are influencing us. But, yeah. Again, I said that good has won.

"I read most of your comments for my post. Thank you so much. 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. 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. 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. And they're not even sure what kind of life or episode screw-up they're all going through and still, yeah, there's still so much good in this world. Really, I believe so. And I'm so grateful to each and every one of you. I'd also like to thank the ones who relentlessly exploited my imperfections for your own selfish intentions. Remember, our universe is so alive, guys, and it knows how to give back all the time, good and bad. Depends on what we all did from the past, and with god by our side, nothing could ever go wrong.

"So thank you everyone. To all the rock stars who've reached out and said something to defend me, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Now let's all try to agree on walking with good every day. I love you all, really. Muito obrigado, Brazil. Muchas gracias, Chile, especially the whole America, Canada, Scandinavia, U.K., South America, and especially my fellow man who stood by me. Thank you really so much. Love to all of you."

Pineda was a bar and club singer working in Manila, Philippines when he got an e-mail from Schon who had seen videos of Pineda performing on YouTube and asked him to come to San Francisco and audition to become the band's new frontman.

Classic JOURNEY singer Steve Perry left the band in 1998 and was replaced by Steve Augeri. Jeff Scott Soto replaced Augeri in JOURNEY in December 2006 after Augeri began suffering throat problems on the road. But Soto lasted less than a year, and in December 2007, JOURNEY hired Pineda, who fronts the band to this day.

A vocal doppelganger for Perry, Arnel helped put JOURNEY back in arenas once again. But some fans were not happy about the addition of Pineda, complaining about his ethnicity and dismissing his voice as a "copycat" of Perry.

Pineda and Perry finally crossed paths when JOURNEY and its former singer shared the stage at their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in April 2017. While accepting the award, Steve spoke warmly about his former bandmates, as well as the man who replaced him. "I must give a shout-out to a man who sings his heart out every night, Arnel Pineda," Perry said.

Although Pineda did not get inducted with his bandmates, he did get up and join them at the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, singing "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Lights".

Six years ago, Perry told SiriusXM that he didn't perform with JOURNEY at the Rock Hall ceremony because he is "not in the band. I haven't been in the band for quite some time," he explained. "Arnel's been in the band for almost 10 years, I think. He's a sweet kid — he's a wonderful kid. He sings his heart out every night. It's his gig."

As for meeting Pineda before the induction, Perry said: "There was something endearing about the way he looked at me. He was meeting, like, a grandfather. [Laughs] He's got the gig. It's his gig. He's doing great."

Pineda has overcome a tremendous number of obstacles throughout his life, including the loss of his mother at a young age, homelessness and borderline starvation, making him an inspiration and providing hope for millions of people around the globe. Blessed with the ability to give back, Pineda mobilized his team to join the battle against poverty and its ensuing havoc on Philippine youth.