Welcome to the ARNEL PINEDA International Fans Site

Early life

Pineda began singing at age 5. His parents, both tailors, encouraged him to enter amateur singing contests[3]. When Pineda was 12, his mother died after a lengthy illness, leaving his family in serious debt. Pineda's father took his three siblings to live with relatives. Pineda, as the eldest, had to quit school and collect scrap metal and bottles at the pier to earn money. This resulted in Pineda being homeless and sleeping in Luneta Park or, when possible, staying on a wooden bench at a friend's house. In a TV interview with Jessica Soho ("Kapuso Mo")[4], Pineda described waiting and watching while his friend's family ate breakfast in the mornings, hoping some food would be left over for him to eat. Pineda dreamed of becoming an engineer[5].

Singing career

In 1982, when Pineda was 15 years old, he became the lead singer of the Filipino musical group called Ijos Band (later renamed "Hijos".) In 1987 and 1988, he won the Best Vocalist award at the World Band Explosion, with the finals held in Budokan Hall, Tokyo. Pineda then joined a pop/rock Filipino band called Amo as their lead singer. Amo played in clubs in Quezon City, Olongapo and Makati, which are located on the biggest island of the Philippines. Amo was very popular in the renowned Chinese owned Cal Jam club in Olongapo City, which was frequented by United States Military personnel. During his tenure in Amo, Pineda made regular TV appearances in the Philippines, and toured the country performing before audiences of 10,000-15,000.

In late 1990, five of Amo's original members split from the band leader, Ulysis Ablang (Uly) and formed another band behind Pineda, "New Age". This occurred prior to the release of Amo's one-and-only album released in 1990 titled "Ang Tunay na Amo" ("The Real Master") on BMG records which spawned one popular radio hit called "Running Away". (The song was popularized again in 2006 by another Filipino artist Erik Santos, who won an American Idol type Filipino TV show, Star In A Million.) The remaining members of Amo went on to become "The Boss Band", while Pineda's band, New Age played regularly at Fire and Rain in Makati, a city on the outskirts of Manila.

During those performances, a talent agent spotted Pineda and asked him to move to Hong Kong to perform at a very popular entertainment restaurant called The Cavern. With New Age, Pineda performed six nights a week, Tuesday through Sunday, at Igor's for nine years thereafter. New Age also performed at Grammy's in Hong Kong.

After separating from his live-in partner in 1994, Pineda suffered health problems, which almost destroyed his voice. He returned to the Philippines. After six months of recuperation, he was able to sing again[6]. He returned to Hong Kong and resumed singing with his band.

In 1999, Pineda caught the attention of Warner Bros. record label and flew back to the Philippines on his days off to record a solo album, the self-titled "Arnel Pineda". Most of the album's ten original songs are slow ballads, with only two upbeat numbers, one of which carries a Latin style. One of the songs, "Iiyak Ka Rin" became very popular and is now a karaoke favorite in Asia, while another song "Sayang" became a radio favorite. Pineda wrote and arranged several songs. Pineda continued to perform with New Age while making his album and for several years thereafter.

In 2001, Pineda sang one song with Filipino band, South Border's album "The Way We Do". The song is called "Looking Glass".

In 2002, Pineda's band changed their name to 9MM and played at "The Edge" in Lai Kwai Fong, in Hongkong.

In 2004, three members of the New Age band reformed with a female singer sharing lead vocals with Pineda and called themselves "Most W@nted". This band played 3-4 hour sets Monday through Saturday at The Cavern Club in Hong Kong[7]. On their only day off, Sundays, the band often performed at Filipino community events.

During this time, Pineda recorded the theme song of the short-lived Filipino radio show, "Dayo."

The Zoo

In 2006, encouraged by legendary Filipino talent manager and TV director, Bert de Leon, Pineda moved back to the Philippines with Monet Cajipe, the guitarist who has been in all Pineda's bands during the last 24 years. They formed the The Zoo. They signed on with de Leon's company, Sundance Entertainment. The Zoo Band performed several nights a week at clubs in Manila and Olongapo during 2006 and 2007. Shows regularly spanned 3-5 hours. The Zoo’s first album "Zoology" was released by MCA Universal in September 2007 featuring 13 original tracks, several of which were penned by Pineda.

Journey

Videos of The Zoo performing cover songs by Journey, Survivor, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Air Supply, The Eagles, Kenny Loggins and other popular acts from the 70s, 80s and 90s, began appearing on YouTube.com in February 2007 and now number more than 200 in total. In August 2007, Neal Schon of Journey contacted Noel Gomez, a longtime fan and friend of Pineda who uploaded many of these videos, and then asked for Pineda's contact information. Schon then sent an e-mail to Pineda inviting the latter to audition for Journey. Pineda initially dismissed the e-mail as a hoax, but after persistent persuasions by Gomez he finally replied to Schon's e-mail. Ten minutes later Pineda received a phone call from Schon.[8] Later in that month Pineda, along with his manager Bert de Leon, flew to Marin County in San Francisco to audition.[9][10]

On December 5, 2007, Pineda was announced as the lead singer of Journey. CNN Headline News ran the story as part of their "News to Me" segment.[11]

Pineda debuted as the lead singer of Journey on February 21, 2008 at the Vina del Mar International Song Festival held at the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater in Vna del Mar, Chile. [17][18] Videos of the Vina del Mar performance are available at the Festival's home page and on YouTube.

The band also performed at the Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo in Santiago on February 23rd (with Peter Frampton and Earth, Wind and Fire).

There was supposed to be a third concert at Viña del Mar Casino in Valparaíso on February 24th[17][18] but this was cancelled due to electrical problems at the venue. [19]

Chilean media acclaimed Pineda's performance: "Journey made an outstanding show making clear that Pineda's choice is the best choice to fill front-man's position."[citation needed] Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain described Pineda's performance in a radio interview: "We went to Chile just recently, where we had never played and they went crazy, they absolutely went nuts...Arnel's first show - talk about a stressful thing - we had a televised concert for 25 million people...Is the guy a winner? Yeah, he's a winner. He's a clutch player." [20]

Journey returned to the US for a private Remax Convention event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on March 6, 2008. Their concert in Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood on March 8, 2008 will be released on DVD in June.

Upcoming Tour and Album

Journey will next tour Europe in June. Three concerts are scheduled for Germany (June 11, 13 and 14) and one in the Netherlands (June 15). UK concerts are scheduled for June 17 (Carling Apollo Hammersmith - London), June 19 (Carling Apollo Manchester), June 20 (SECC Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow), June 22 (Wolverhampton Civic Hall), June 23 (Cardiff International Arena), and June 25 (National Stadium Dublin, Ireland). The official US tour begins on July 4 and continues through the end of September, 2008. In the closing months of 2008, Journey plans to tour Japan, Australia, and the Philippines.

Journey recently completed a new studio album called "Revelation" which is slated for release on June 3, 2008 in the US. The first disc will consist of 11 re-recorded classics, the second is filled with 11 new songs, and the third is a live, in-concert DVD. All of the music on "Revelation" was produced by Kevin Shirley (who previously worked with Journey on their Platinum-certified "Trial by Fire" album).[21]

Jonathan Cain described the upcoming album in an interview: "We recorded our greatest hits with our brand new singer from the Philippines, Arnel Pineda, and it's unbelievable when you listen to it. We paid a lot of attention to the details because everybody loves those hits and we weren't about to step all over it. We've got that and a brand new CD as well, and then there's a bonus DVD of what the band looks like now, about an hour of songs... It's a 3-disc package... We're excited because we think Arnel is the future for our franchise... We knew that if we were ever gonna move on, we had to get somebody that was really gonna be our future and sound like Journey is supposed to sound...I think Journey fans are in for a real treat." [20]

In an interview soon after Pineda joined the band, Neal Schon said, "We feel reborn. I think there's a lot of chemistry between the five of us. At first we were going to go into the studio and just write 4 songs, but now it's escalated to a lot of great new and diverse material. The stuff sounds tremendous. Everyone's so stoked about it. We feel very fortunate to have found Arnel."[22] In his online diary, Shirley described the recording sessions as "wonderful, successful, stupidly creative" and said that "Sometimes you just know when there's history in the making."[23] In a statement on December 5, 2007, Shirley said "I was stunned at Arnel, who is a monster vocalist. He is the real deal. Just phenomenal."[24] When speaking about the upcoming album in a later entry in his diary, he said: "Just got back from Vegas last night, after mixing seven new Journey songs. They are outstanding... For the record, I think Arnel is 'the business!' - the guy can really sing! He handles the ballads with SO much heart, and belts the rockers as hard, and melodically, as anyone I have heard. The songs are sensational - wonderfully crafted and deep, and so focused, you may wonder where they all came from. And I'm being serious...."[25] Shirley saw videos of Pineda's debut performance at Vina del Mar and remarked that he was "so proud of him. He's a real genuine guy."[26]

Journey's 2008 tour in support of the "Revelation" begins on June 8, 2008, in Spain, followed by four dates in Germany, and one date in the Netherlands. Journey then tours the United Kingdom from June 17 through June 28, 2008, with one already sold out date in Ireland on June 25, 2008. The US tour begins on July 9, 2008, in Denver, CO, and continues through October 4, 2008, in Albuquerque, NM.

In the closing months of 2008, Journey plans to tour Japan, Australia, and the Philippines.

Information about concert dates are available at the Journey Homepage, and at this site APIFS Tour Scheds for schedules and the Forum page for ticket informations.