Arnel Pineda was just a regular singer for a local band in the Philippines, singing in the clubs with his band, The Zoo.
However all these changed late last year when the legendary band Journey was looking for a new frontman after their replacement singer backed out of the band after a year. Their original lead singer, Steve Augeri was diagnosed with a throat infection that took out his voice.
So the band wanted someone new, one of the member took to the internet to find a solution, specifically youtube. He was impressed with Arnel’s vocal talents as the videos of him covering songs from his band Journey, Aerosmith, Queen and other great bands played on his computer.
It didn’t take long for them to contact him. I’d think it was faster for Arnel to accept their offer to be Journey’s frontman.
It was a dream come true for Arnel. Previously he would cover songs from the band, now he’s the lead singer of the band. He’ll have youtube to thank and the fan who uploaded his performances online.
Here’s Arnel singing one of Journey’s famous song, Open Arms.
Personally, I can’t wait to see what China has in store for us for the Olympic opening night. However, the internet censorship that they will apply on all journalists covering the event is a minus point. It just reminds us why many groups didn’t accept the news gladly when they won the rights to the games.
However, since they say we can’t mix politics with sports, everyone will have to adopt the stance:
See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.
