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Journey's Arnel Pineda brings act back to Manila
2009-03-02
MANILA (AFP) - Filipino rocker Arnel Pineda on Monday spoke of the intense pressure of his rise to fame as the high-energy frontman of legendary American band Journey. An unknown singer-songwriter on Manila's club circuit, Pineda was recruited by the group after they saw his high-wire performance covering their hits on the video sharing website YouTube. He joined the Journey, whose hits included "Who's Crying Now" and "When you Love a Woman", for tours in Latin America and the United States last year and was also at February's Super Bowl pre-game show. "It took me 25 years to get noticed," said Pineda, a 42-year-old father of three, who is now a regular on Philippine television. He said he had so far been able to cope with the "intense pressure" of singing for Journey, who were so impressed with the rocker that they gave him the job immediately after flying him to the US for a "nerve wracking" audition. "This is the best job and this is something I will not take for granted," Pineda said as the group appeared before the local press to announce the Manila leg of their Asian tour on March 14. He said he was having a hard time speaking in perfect American-accented English but was continuously pushing himself to learn. Band member Neal Schon said he was blown away by Pineda's talent when he saw the TouTube clip of the singer performing with Philippine band Zoo, and said they were lucky to have found him. "He's an amazing musician," he said of Pineda. Pineda began singing when he was very young in a poor part of downtown Manila. He started out on Karen Carpenter and Barbra Streisand covers but gradually became influenced by U2, Deep Purple, The Police, and other rock groups. He formed his first band at 15 in 1982, after two years of aimlessly living on Manila's streets. Journey were formed in 1973. Frontman Steve Perry left in 1982 but they kept going with a number of lead vocalists said to have lacked the power of Perry's vocals, including the latest, Jeff Soto. Interest in the band was rekindled with the final episode of hit US show The Sopranos, when Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" played the show out. They will tour Japan and Macau after performing in Manila.
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