Journey frontman Arnel Pineda has made his first public statement since inviting fans to vote him out of the band.
Pineda took the unusual step of seeking reassurance from fans after footage of his performance at this month's Rock In Rio festival was widely shared on the internet. The clip appeared to show Pineda struggling during the classic Don't Stop Believing, and drew criticism from many, but subsequent support for the singer has been near-universal.
"Firstly, I want to apologize for the inconvenience I have caused all of Journey's faithful fans out there,” Pineda says on Instagram. “I know the band's not perfect right now and in turmoil, but who’s not going through some bad stuff these days.
"I've waited a while before I wanna post something again, “so here I am. Bottom line, good has won, and no matter how screwed our world is, maybe it's caused evil in us in general, or the politicians or the religious leaders that's making us believe in their eccentric point of view are influencing us. But, yeah. Again, I said that good has won.
"It's overwhelmingly humbling. I didn't do it for some selfish reason, not to feed me with such gratifying feeling, more of a spiritual journey for me and my profound curiosity and what's winning in his world these days. Is it a good or is it a bad? And isn't it evident that a lot of people would just cowardly hide behind their cell phones, computers, et cetera, et cetera, to express their hatred, cruelty, bigotry, or discriminatory and racist remarks to me?
"Well, it's been happening since 2007… And yet here comes the good people to my rescue. No matter what they are going through, good or bad, as soon as they saw my post, quickly and bravely they did not hesitate to send their kindness, sincerity, top-notch generosity of their precious time, just to express how genuinely caring and willing they are to fight for me, to reason with me."
In the meantime, Journey bandmates Neal Schon and Deen Castronovo have also offered public support to Pineda, praising his contributions to the band, and Schon has appeared to blame Avenged Sevenfold for Journey's sound problems in Rio.
Journey's next live show is at the Sub Arena, in Osaka, Japan, on October 19.
