Arnel Pineda, lead singer of the band Journey, was left frustrated after receiving harsh criticism for his performance at the recent Rock in Rio festival in Brazil.
Pineda, 57, found a video circulating online showing him having problems with his earphones and struggling to hit the right notes during a concert last week in Rio de Janeiro.
The singer, who has been with the band since 2007, was so impressed with his performance and the criticism he received that he offered to run an online poll for fans to vote for him to be removed from the rock band.
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Journey frontman Arnel Pineda has given fans the option to vote him out of the band. (Getty Images)
“No one in this world is more saddened by this than I am,” Pineda wrote on Facebook. “It’s truly amazing how a thousand good things I’ve done will be forgotten just because of this.”
“I’ve already suffered mentally and emotionally, and I’m still suffering… but I’ll be okay,” Pineda said.
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The “Don’t Stop Believin'” singer offered his fans the opportunity to have their say on how the band should move forward after the upsetting show.
“So here’s the deal now,” he wrote. “I’m offering you (especially those who hated and disliked me from the beginning) to send a text message saying ‘go’ or ‘stay here.’”
“If GO reaches a million fans… I’ll leave forever… Are you fans of the game?” Pineda added.
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He thanked “all the fans and friends” who believed in him since “day one.”
Pineda’s headphones were not working properly during the concert, affecting his voice. (Getty Images)
Guitarist Neal Schon, who discovered Pineda on YouTube years ago, encouraged his bandmate to fire the haters.
“Arnel don’t listen to these blogs,” he wrote online. “They’re all fake. She’s outdone everyone!”
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Steve Perry, known as “The Voice”, left the band for good in the late 1990s after the band gained huge popularity with hits including “Faithfully”, “Open Arms” and “Wheel in the Sky”.
Jonathan Cain, Steve Perry, Neal Schon, Ross Valory, and Steve Smith (left to right) of the original rock band Journey. (Roger Resmeier)
After Perry’s departure in 1998, the band brought in Steve Augeri to replace him. When Augeri left the band in 2006 due to vocal problems, lead guitarist Neil Sean discovered Pineda, a Filipino club singer, while browsing YouTube videos.
Pineda flew from Manila to the United States to join the band in 2007.
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