Glad I watched, great story! Recommended! And I’m not a huge Journey fan. Inspiring story of Journey finding their new singer via YouTube. A guy from a tough background in Manilla.
I knew he was discovered in a cover band, but had no idea of the back story. Sounds really interesting.
I had friends and family see them here in Ottawa last summer and they had no idea it wasn’t the “real” singer.
I’ve seen it too. It first aired a couple years ago.
I saw this last year. Really a fascinating story.
They hired him in 2007, so I think we need to rethink the word ‘new’
Saw this earlier in the year. A must see for anyone-- it was a fascinating show.
He is the “real singer” now. It doesn’t matter anyway, he sounds just like the first one which is what the other members were looking for when they found him on Youtube. That is pretty impressive especially for a non-native English speaker.
It is a good documentary. I have watched it several times on Netflix.
Shows how closely I follow Journey.
You should. Journey is one of those bands that lots of people pretend to hate but almost everyone secretly loves. Steve Perry (the original singer most closely associated with the band’s sound) is considered by some to be a one in a million vocalist which caused a huge problem when he left because he was almost impossible to replace. Not quite though. The documentary is about Arnel Pineda, a poor Filipino, who lost his mother at 13 and was forced to support his siblings at an early age through his extreme singing ability. Despite having a strong filipino accent, he could mimic many notable American lead singers ranging from Steve Perry even to Karen Carpenter almost perfectly. He made a meager living using that rare talent to play in cover bands in the Philippines.
The remaining members of Journey were about to give up on their search for a direct replacement to Steve Perry when a friend and superfan tipped them off about this extremely unlikely singer living in an Asian island nation. They tried to make contact but he considered it a scam at first (smart guy) but they eventually got him to fly to the U.S. to do an extended audition. There were many cultural problems but he passed the raw talent test and then had to learn how to perform in front of huge audiences. He eventually did it extremely well. It is a very heartwarming story about talent and will triumphing over seemingly impossible circumstances.
It is true that Journey doesn’t specialize in much musical innovation these days but that is not what they are about. Today they are a nostalgia and inspirational band that depends on a clean sound with superior vocals and that is what they got.
Just to be clear, I watched the show Monday night. I just didn’t realize it was 7 years old.
The greatest karaoke story ever told.
I don’t know; I just got a new car…A 2000 model.
BTW, was he the only Asian/Phillipino/Micronesian/wtf lead singer since Perry left? If so, I have to say that I’m pretty unimpressed. I had heard wondrous things about him,but, when I heard him on Youtube, I was disappointed-he sounded similar to Perry, but, it seemed to me that he was a guy doing a *fair *imitation, not a great one.