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Arnel Pineda

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Arnel Pineda

Arnel Pineda (born September 5, 1967) is a singer and songwriter, and the spouse of Egay Ignacio, Philippine's award-winning beautician. He is currently the lead singer of the American rock band Journey.[1] Pineda has enjoyed a successful musical career in Asia for the last 25 years. His singing style was influenced by Steve Perry (Journey), John Farnham (Little River Band), Freddie Mercury (Queen), Sting (musician) (The Police), Survivor, Heart, The Beatles, Van Halen, Aerosmith, U2, Warrant, Deep Purple, and other bands from that genre.[2]

Biography

Early life

Pineda, born in Sampaloc, Manila, in the Philippines, began singing at age 5. His parents, both tailors, encouraged him to enter amateur singing contests.[3] In elementary school, Pineda represented his school singing Celeste Legaspi's "Gaano Kita Kamahal" (How Much I Love You) and was featured on national television.[4] When Pineda was 12, his mother died after a long illness at age 35, leaving his family in serious debt. Pineda's father took his three younger brothers Russmon, Roderick and Joselito to live with relatives.[5] Pineda, as the eldest, had to quit school and collect scrap metal, bottles and newspapers at the pier in Manila to earn money. Pineda was living in the streets, sleeping at Luneta Park or, when possible, on a wooden bench at a relative's house. In a TV interview with Jessica Soho ("Kapuso Mo"),[6] Pineda described waiting and watching while his relatives ate breakfast in the mornings, hoping some food would be left over for him to eat. Pineda dreamed of becoming an engineer.[7] Reflecting on his childhood, Pineda said he felt no self-pity. He always kept a positive outlook, thinking, "Gaganda rin 'to." (Things will get better). [8]

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 "Yjoz"). In 1986, some members of Yjoz formed a group called Amo. Amo entered and won the Rock Wars contest in the Philippines. [5]

In 1988, Amo entered and won the Philippines leg of the Yamaha World Band Explosion. They went on to the finals in Hong Kong but due to a technicality, they did not win. (The rules stated the winning song had to be an original composition. However, they also stated that the song entry in the finals had to be the same song with which the band won their country's leg of the competition. Amo's winning song in the Philippines was Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", obviously not an original.) After the contest, the band continued as Amo, performing live. They opened for Robert Palmer in Manila in 1989. [5]

Amo played in clubs in Quezon City, Olongapo City and Makati City, which are located in Luzon, the biggest island in the Philippines. Amo was very popular in the renowned Chinese-owned California Jams club in Olongapo City, which was frequented by United States military personnel. [5]

In 1990, Pineda and other members of Amo formed another band called Intensity Five and once again entered the Yamaha World Band Explosion. Pineda won the Best Vocalist award and the band came in as first runner up. [5]

Later in 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 City.

In 1991, during one of those performances, a talent agent spotted Pineda and New Age and asked them to move to Hong Kong to perform at a very popular entertainment restaurant called Grammy's. With New Age, Pineda performed six nights a week, Tuesday through Sunday, for several years thereafter.[5]

After a long-term serious relationship failed 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.[5][9] He returned to Hong Kong and resumed singing with his band.

In 1998, the owner of Igor's, the premiere theme restaurant/nightclub in Hong Kong, asked New Age to perform there. Dressed in skeleton outfits, they called themselves "The Rolling Bones". [5]

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 were slow ballads, with only two upbeat numbers, one of which carries a Latin style. One of the songs, “Iiyak Ka Rin” (You Will Cry Too) became a karaoke favorite in Asia, while another song "Sayang" (Too Bad) 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, Hong Kong.

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.[10] On their only day off, Sundays, the band often performed at Filipino community events.

In 2005, Arnel recorded the theme song of the short-lived Filipino radio show "Dayo". A band named The Visitors was briefly formed for promotion purposes of the "Dayo" soundtrack consisting of three members from Ijos/Yjoz, Amo, New Age and Most W@nted. [5]

Zoo

In 2006, encouraged by well-respected Filipino talent manager and TV director, Bert de Leon, Pineda moved back to the Philippines with Monet Cajipe, the guitarist who had been in all of Pineda’s previous bands. They formed The Zoo with Emil Bondoc on bass, Edgar Mendoza on keyboards, and Makoy Alcantara on drums. They signed on with de Leon's company, Sundance Entertainment Corporation. Zoo 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, five of which were penned by Pineda, and another was co-written by Pineda and Mark Valliente.

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. On June 28, 2007,[11] Neal Schon of Journey contacted Noel Gomez, a longtime fan and friend of Pineda who uploaded many of these videos, to ask for Pineda's contact information. Schon sent an e-mail to Pineda inviting the latter to audition for Journey. Pineda initially dismissed the e-mail as a hoax, but after being persuaded by Gomez, he finally replied to Schon's e-mail. Ten minutes later, Pineda received a phone call from Schon.[12] On August 12,[13] Pineda, along with his manager Bert de Leon, flew to Marin County, just north of San Francisco, for a two-day audition.[14][15] The star-struck Pineda was welcomed warmly but he described the audition as "nerve-wracking, tense".[16]

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.[17]

Pineda debuted as the lead singer of Journey on February 21, 2008 at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival held at the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater in Viña del Mar, Chile. [18][19] 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[18][19] but this was cancelled due to electrical problems at the venue. [20]

Chilean media acclaimed Pineda's performance (translated to English): "The new vocalist fit very well with the band, his vocal aptitudes shining through, which are very similar to the legendary musician of the band, Steve Perry."[21] 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." [22]

Journey returned to the US for a private Remax Convention event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on March 6, 2008, then performed at Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood on March 8, 2008.

Recent Album and Tour

Journey recently completed a new studio album called "Revelation" which was released on June 3, 2008, in the US. The second disc consists of 11 re-recorded classics, the first is filled with 10 new songs (plus one song re-recorded from Journey's previous studio disc), and the third is a live, in-concert DVD filmed during the March 8, 2008 concert in Las Vegas.

All of the music on "Revelation" was produced by Kevin Shirley (who previously worked with Journey on their Platinum-certified "Trial by Fire" album).[23]

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." [22]

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."[24]

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."[25] 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."[26] 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...."[27]

Shirley saw videos of Pineda's debut performance at Viña del Mar and remarked that he was "so proud of him. He's a real genuine guy." [28]

Journey's 2008 tour accompanying the release of "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.

Family

Arnel's father still works as a tailor in the Philippines. His three brothers are married and live in the Philippines. Arnel supported his youngest brother, Roderick (Erick), through university.

Arnel has three sons: Matthew (19 years), Angelo (13 years), and Cherub (2 years). When he's not on tour with Journey, he lives in Quezon City, a suburb of Manila, with his girlfriend, Cherry, and their son, Cherub.[5]

Discography

Albums

Solo Albums

With Zoo

With Journey

Other Lead Vocals

  • 2001 - South Border - The Way We Do (track "Looking Glass")

References

  1. ^ Rolling Stone (December 5, 2007). "Journey Finds New Singer the Old-Fashioned Way: On the Internet", Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  2. ^ Dizon, David (December 30. 2007). "Journey's new lead singer is Filipino", ABS-CBN News Online. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  3. ^ Mandap, Daisy C.L. (January 14, 2008). "Arnel Pineda: Rebirth with Journey at 40", GMANews.TV. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  4. ^ Pineda, E. (May 6, 2008) "Biography: Arnel Pineda – his journey in my eyes"
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j ArnelPinedaFans.com (2008). "Unofficial Biography". Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
  6. ^ Soho, Jessica (January 26, 2008), "Pinoy singing sensations, Sto. Niño, green honey" episode, Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho public affairs TV program. Video of the TV episode uploaded on YouTube, retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  7. ^ Sicam, Edmund L. (January 22, 2000), "Arnel Pineda wants to make a name in the Philippines", Inquirer.net. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  8. ^ Concepcion, Pocholo (January 14, 2008) "A life straight out of a movie" Inquirer.net. Retrieved on February 28, 2008.
  9. ^ ClickTheCity.com (January 17, 2008). "Zoo's Arnel Pineda: Journey's New Voice". Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  10. ^ Julve, Smiley D. (January 2005), "What it takes to be Most W@nted", The Sun Internet Edition. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  11. ^ Noel Gomez's statement in reply to a comment on his video of The Zoo covering Journey's "Faithfully" on YouTube. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  12. ^ Dizon, David (January 19, 2008), "Journey's Pineda: Proud to be Pinoy", ABS-CBN News Online. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  13. ^ Arnel Pineda in an interview with Boy Abunda on the TV show Boy & Kris. Video of the interview uploaded on YouTube, retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  14. ^ Amoyo, Aster (January 17, 2008), "If I Know", Journal Online. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  15. ^ ABS-CBN News Online (January 21, 2008). "YouTube gives Filipino singers the big 'cyber break'", Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  16. ^ Concepcion, Pocholo (January 14, 2008) "A life straight out of a movie" Inquirer.net. Retrieved on February 28, 2008.
  17. ^ CNN Video (December 24, 2007). "Viral Videos on the Web". Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  18. ^ a b JourneyMusic.com. Tour Schedule, Retrieved on February 17, 2008.
  19. ^ a b El Mercurio Online (October 31, 2007) "Nelly Furtado, Marco Antonio Solís y Journey son los nuevos confirmados de Viña 2008". Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  20. ^ JourneyMusic.com (February 25, 2008). "Vina Del Mar Casino Date Canceled" Retrieved on February 25, 2008.
  21. ^ 123.cl (February 21, 2008) "Journey prendió al "Monstruo" Retrieved on April 4, 2008.
  22. ^ a b KNBR (12 March 2008). "Interview with Jonathan Cain by San Francisco radio station KNBR" Retrieved on March 15, 2008.
  23. ^ JourneyMusic.com (March 11, 2008). "Journey set to release 'Revelation' June 3 exclusively at Wal-Mart" Retrieved on March 12, 2008.
  24. ^ JourneyMusic.com (December 5, 2007). "Journey welcomes Arnel Pineda with "Open Arms" to their family as the band's new lead singer" Retrieved on December 6, 2007.
  25. ^ Shirley, Kevin (November 14, 2007), "Wednesday November 14th 2007 Malibu, CA", Caveman's Diary. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  26. ^ MelodicRock.com (December 5, 2007). "Wednesday, December 05, 2007", Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  27. ^ Shirley, Kevin (December 7, 2007), "Friday December 7th 2007 Malibu, CA", Caveman's Diary. Retrieved on February 5, 2008.
  28. ^ Shirley, Kevin (February 22, 2008), "Friday February 22nd 2008 Malibu, CA", Caveman's Diary. Retrieved on March 1, 2008.
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