Arnel Pineda is the newest member of the rock band Journey. He is the bands lead singer. Arnel was born on September 5, 1967 in Sampaloc, Manila in the Philippines. He is a Filipino singer-songwriter and is the lead singer for the American rock band Journey. Throughout his 25 year recording career he has won a Best Vocalist award and played with numerous bands. http://journeysarnelpinedabiodata.blogspot.com/2008/08/arnel-pinedas-biography.html
Arnel’s childhood was not the easiest, his parents who were tailors didn’t have much money. At the age of 5, Arnel was encouraged to start singing when they entered him into amateur singing contests. He was shy, but with his mothers encouragement, he was able to sing in front of audiences.
His mother passed away after a long battle with heart disease when he was 12 years old. The illness took its toll on the family finances and her death took a huge toll on Arnel’s father who found himself no longer able to care for his children. Relatives took in the younger children but Arnel was left to fend for himself. He was occasionally able to stay at a friend’s house, sleeping outside on a cot and watching through a window while the family ate. If there was any food leftover he would get something to eat. He was not able to finish school as he needed to earn money to support himself. His dream was to become an engineer but he was destined to become an entertainer. http://journeysarnelpinedabiodata.blogspot.com/2008/08/arnel-pinedas-biography.html
When he was 15 years old, he was introduced to a band called Ijoswhich was later renamed to Yjoz. It was them who encouraged him to audition for the frontman position of their band. He auditioned and got the job. In 1986 some of the band members including Arnel left to form a new band called Amo. The band entered and won a Rock Wars contest in Makati.
In 1988, the band Amo opened for Robert Palmer at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila.
In 1990, some members of the Amo band including Arnel Pineda, formed another band called Intensity Five so that they could perform in another contest. They entered and Arnel won the Best Vocalist award, their keyboardist won the Best Keyboardist award and the drummer won the Best Drummer award. The band as a whole was awarded as a first runner up. Later that year, the Amo band split into two groups some moved on to form the New Age band, the remainder went on to be The Boss Band.
The owner of a popular Hong Kong club noticed New Age in 1991 and asked them to move to Hong Kong and play six night a week at his club. New Age played at the club Grammy’s for several years.
1994 was a turning point for Arnel. His long-time relationship ended, he found himself deep into drugs and alcohol. He was broke and unhappy. He returned home to Manila and spent the next six months recouperating. When he was better he returned to sing with the New Age band.
By 1999, Arnel had caught the attention of the Warner Bros. Record label who wanted him to record a solo album. The self-titled Arnel Pineda contained mostly slow ballads, became very popular in Asia.
Throughout 2001 and 2002, Arnel performed songs on a few other artists albums. When his band, New Age, regrouped in 2002 they played at The Edge in Hong Kong. In 2004 a female singer joined vocals with Arnel and they started playing at the very popular The Cavern Club in Hong Kong.
By 2006, Arnel and his long-time bandmate Monet Cajipe decided to leave the band and return to the Phillippines where they formed a new band called Zoo Band. Over the next few years they played clubs in Manila and released an album titled Zoology with MCA Universal. Videos of their songs began appearing on YouTube in 2007.
Neal Schon, the guitarist and founding member of the band Journey contacted Arnel and asked him to audition for the band. They flew him to San Francisco and after two auditions with Journey, they were convinced they had the right guy for their band. He recorded an album with Journey and started a tour in 2008. The album was a success as well as the tour. As a result of this album, the Journey band has been on The Ellen show, they have been published in GQ Magazine and been on the CBS Sunday Morning Show.
When Arnel Pineda is not touring with Journey he lives in Quezon City, Manila with his long time girlfrien], Cherry and their son Cherub.http://journeysarnelpinedabiodata.blogspot.com/2008/08/arnel-pinedas-biography.html
