Journey lead guitarist Neal Schon has come to the defense of bandmate and vocalist Arnel Pineda, days after the singer told fans he will quit the band “for good” if they want him to leave following their Rock in Rio 2024 set.
Earlier this month, the band performed at the Brazilian festival, where Pineda’s performance was slammed by fans. This was further amplified by a Facebook video that went viral after showcasing the Filipino singer struggling to hit the right notes for ‘Don’t Stop Believing’.
On Sunday (September 23), Schon shared a clip from the Rock In Rio stage in hopes of clearing the situation with fans. He states that the band only found out “much later” that their PA setup was “extremely limited by Avenged Sevenfold”, who were set to perform at the stage at midnight, hours after Journey’s 7pm slot.
“That means that hardly hardly any sound can get out of the PA to the audience,” he writes. “It’s a bullshit move. Check out the audience. They loved it the rest of its fabricated crap.”
“We found out much later that we got extremely limited by Avenged Sevenfold that means that hardly hardly any sound can get out of the PA to the audience. It’s a bullshit move.”
He then told his followers to “check out the audience”, saying that “they loved it” and that “the rest of its fabricated crap”, the latter likely referring to the online criticism that came after Journey and Pineda after the set.
This clip is from Rio, even though we found out much later that we got extremely limited by Avenged Sevenfold that means…
Posted by Neal Schon on Sunday, September 22, 2024
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Aside from Schon, Journey drummer Deen Castronovo wrote an impassioned Facebook post yesterday (September 24) praising Pineda for rising “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,” he continues. “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??”
On Sunday (September 22), Pineda responded to the online backlash on Facebook. He linked back to the previously mentioned video and wrote: “no one more than me in this world feels so devastated about this… its really amazing how 1 thousand right things you have done will be forgotten just cause of THIS… and of all the place, its in Rock In Rio…”
He continued, “mentally and emotionally, ive suffered already, and im still suffering… but i’ll be ok…” before offering fans the chance to vote for him to stay or leave the band: “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… im stepping out for good”.
It appears by “text”, Pineda means for fans to comment if they want him to “stay” or “go”. Since the post went live, support for the singer has been overwhelming, with an abundance of comments calling for him to “stay”. At the time of publishing, there have only been less than 4,000 comments on Pineda’s post, with the majority remaining positive.
Pineda joined the band in 2007 to take on lead vocals.
At the end of July, the band’s keyboardist Cain filed a lawsuit against guitarist Schon while the band was on a co-headline tour in the US with Def Leppard, along with guests The Steve Miller Band and Cheap Trick. The suit was filed on grounds of frustrations over Schon’s “expenses related to the tour” including “budgeting and spending” of the band’s credit card over personal expenses.
Last month, Schon revealed that the band have opted to bring in “someone impartial” to help smooth over their differences.
In 2020, Pineda shared new details on his upcoming biopic, which will be directed by Crazy Rich Asians’ and Wicked’s Jon M. Chu. At the time, the film’s script was being finalised, but little on its production has transpired since. The film was first announced in 2018.