Another Filipino gift to the world, Arnel Pineda, was born in Manila, Philippines in 1967. He started his singing career with a band called Ijos when he was 15 years old. Early in his career in 1987and 1988 he bagged the Best Vocalist Award in the World Band Explosion in Tokyo. He did regular gigs in local clubs in Quezon,Olongapo and Makati when he joined the pop/rock group "Amo". When some of the original members of Amo left the band in the late 1990s, he formed a new band New Age and eventually had a successful career as a regular in Igor's restaurant in Hongkong. He also recorded under the Warner Bros record label during his spare time and produced such hits as "Iiyak ka rin" and "Sayang".

 

Pineda was with the band "The Zoo", the group he formed when he made the move back to the Philippines in 2000, when the uploaded videos of the band on Youtube caught the attention of Neal Schon. “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 impostor.” Arnel Pineda was invited to audition in San Fransisco in August of 2007 and he got the job in December 2007. “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.”

According to Journey's official website, an album is in the works with producer Kevin Shirley. It should be released by spring or summer of 2008.


References:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw6VXQ3Fpts&feature=related
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnel_Pineda
http://www.journeymusic.com/index2.html