The excitement from North American stepdads about their co-headlining summer tour with Def Leppard notwithstanding, it's been a bit of a rough year for Journey: keyboardist/rhythm guitarist Jonathan Cain and lead guitarist Neal Schon wouldn't stop fighting about the band's credit card to the point where, last month, a legal custodian was forced to intervene.
Following a recent not-so-great performance at Rock in Rio (Schon accused headliners Avenged Sevenfold of sabotaging their set), singer Arnel Pineda — who, in 2007, took over the role originally held by Steve Perry — has offered detractors the opportunity to vote him out of the band on Facebook.
Answering the "Who even uses Facebook anymore?" question with a resounding "Journey fans," Pineda took to the social media platform on Sunday (September 22) to respond to the criticism that his performance in Rio had amassed. Again, if anyone was wondering, the singer clarified that he is "very aware of this," posting a video clip of him mangling "Don't Stop Believin'" (hey, we've all been there) that has made the rounds online.
"[N]o one more than me in this world feels so devastated about this," Pineda continued, noting that people will forget everything you've ever done right as a vocalist if you have one shitty set that happens to be professionally recorded.
He continued:
mentally and emotionally, ive [sic] suffered already,and im still sufferring..but i'll be ok.."so here's the deal here now..i am offering you a chance now (especially those who's hated me and never liked me from the very beginning) to simply text GO or STAY right here.. and if GO reaches 1million… im stepping out for good.. are you game folks?
So far, the overwhelming majority of the people (again, notably) active on Journey's Facebook page, are being quite supportive of Pineda and asking him to stay. It's nice to see! Bad performances are inevitable, especially with all of the extenuating circumstances in play in a festival setting (and if you were allegedly sabotaged, per Schon, who has also voiced his support for Pineda).
You can weigh in on Journey's fate below, where you'll also find the incriminating video clip.