Rock legends Journey are currently in the midst of their recently-launched farewell tour. Singer Arnel Pineda has been with the group since 2007 after the band discovered him performing Journey and other classic rock covers online. Like any frontman singing the amount and frequency that Journey performs, Pineda has had a few vocal struggles in recent years, but he’s largely been praised by his bandmates and fans alike.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Pineda made a surprising admission that he tried to pull out of the group’s final trek. “Back in 2024, I said to the band, ‘If you’re planning to do a farewell tour, you better tell me, because my issues and my personal problems are getting more intense, and I don’t know if I want to go with you,’” Pineda explained. “I said, ‘I want you to discuss the schedule with me.’ It is what it is now. But then, I was really not happy with how they scheduled this tour. My body has changed. I can’t take the cold weather anymore.”
Pineda said the band didn’t even respond to him, and he also shared that recent divorce left him in a bad head space. “As they say, silence can be louder than explaining,” the frontman remarked. “I said to them I wanted to retire because of my personal problems. No answer. Obviously, they don’t want to find another singer.”
He continued: “My personal problem really took a toll on me. That’s why I wanted to prioritize my family. It’s not that I hate touring with Journey. It’s like the same thing that happened with Steve Perry. He has a hip problem. Me, I have a personal problem that’s taking a toll on me. It’s getting in my head, emotionally. I told them that I was a wreck and needed a little more time so that I could fix my family. But I still have to do this.”
Journey’s farewell tour runs into 2027.
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