Journey has a new singer. He got the gig from this video he posted with his band called "The Zoo"

Here's the link to the video


http://youtube.com/watch?v=6HjcCzgCCX0


Here's the story:

JOURNEY WELCOMES ARNEL PINEDA WITH "OPEN ARMS":
Official Press Release / After much speculation…the wait is finally over.
Journey--Neal Schon (guitar), Jonathan Cain (keyboards), Ross Valory (bass), Deen Castronovo (drums)--is proud to introduce fans all over the world to their new lead singer, Arnel Pineda ("pin-eh-da"). He replaces Jeff Scott Soto, who parted ways with the band earlier this year after stepping in for Steve Augeri, who had to leave the band in 2006 for medical reasons.
Arnel hails from Quezon City in the Philippines and has been singing Journey songs--in addition to original material--with his band, The Zoo, for the past couple of years in clubs all over his homeland. Joining the legendary band is a dream come true for him.
"It's so exciting to sing with one of the best bands in the world. It'll be a lot of hard work on my part and I'm actually looking forward to the scrutiny I'll get from the hardcore Journey fans. I know they'll expect me to sound exactly like 'the voice' (Steve Perry), but that will never happen. I know there's only one Steve Perry in this world."
When it was time for Journey to look for a new lead singer, the internet came to their rescue. Guitarist Neal Schon wanted someone new to the music business, so he turned to YouTube. After finding Arnel singing "Faithfully," he knew he had found the perfect frontman.
"I was frustrated about not having a singer," explains guitarist Neal Schon, "so I went on YouTube for a couple of days and just sat on it for hours. I was starting to think I was never going to find anybody. But then I found The Zoo and I watched a bunch of different video clips that they had posted. After watching the videos over and over again, I had to walk away from the computer and let what I heard sink in because it sounded too good to be true. I thought, 'he can't be that good.' But he is that good, he's the real deal and so tremendously talented. Arnel doesn't sound synthetic and he's not emulating anyone. I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him that night, but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an imposter."
Arnel Pineda picks up the story: "My friend Noel picked up the message on YouTube and told me it was from Neal. I thought it was a hoax so I ignored it. Noel said, 'what if it really was Neal and he wanted to offer you the chance of a lifetime?' So I e-mailed Neal back and the rest is history."
"Arnel brings a soulful and passionate voice to Journey," continues keyboardist Jonathan Cain. "His personality is very well-suited to our music. He's a sincere, authentic person with a great smile and a big heart. I think fans are really going to love him. With Arnel's soaring tenor, Journey returns to our heritage sound."
Schon agrees, "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."
Journey is currently working on a new album with legendary producer Kevin Shirley, which they hope to release by spring/summer 2008. Details will be announced early next year.

Wow, what a voice! And what a cool opportunity for that guy. Imagine if he didn't answer that e-mail! LOL!

What a great "discovery" story!
That's on par with "Hollywood Icon discovered waiting tables"; a Publicist's wet-dream!
Arnel has a great voice and it sounds like he'll help get Journey back where they belong, on top.

Yes Arnel has a great voice and I wish him well. I just hope he doesn't get caught up in the negativity that surrounds that camp. It would be a shame to see Arnel get hurt by this so I hope they treat him right. It was bad enough to continue on with Augeri, although Augeri is a dear friend of mine. I know the REAL reason he was kicked out. This 4th rendition (don't forget Soto) is just a attempt to keep the money machine flowing. If anything, they should have talked with Perry about a reunion.

If they had Jeff and if he wanted to be in the band why would they ever wanna let him go?
Well well I bet Arnel is REALLY good but something smell like old fish in the Journey camp and have been smelling for some time.
This is just my own humble oppinion of course.

Jeff is a great singer, but he didn't work for Journey in my opinion. Augeri and Arnel have voices that are closer to Perry's. I think that Arnel will be great for the band, because they are very popular overseas. He will increase their fan base. It might take American's a while to warm up to him, but with a great voice like that he will be accepted.

JV, Can you tell us the real reason? What is the new guy walking into?

Augeri is a friend of mine. All I can say is what we've spoken between friends stays between friends;)

I can't say ANYTHING bad about this dude's pipes because he is a terrific singer. That being said, in those You Tube clips, he can't even command the stage at the dive they're playing. They expect him to stand on a huge stage and own a crowd of 15k people? When it comes to stage presence, Augeri was just as good if not better than Steve Perry. This dude can't hold your attention at the "Tick Tock Inn."

I don't mean to be negative cause that's a bad ass opportunity he's been given, but don't expect it to last.

Journey are done.