Arnel Pineda, the singer for a rock band based in Quezon City in the Philippines, has become the new lead vocalist for Journey.
Guitarist Neal Schon discovered Pineda by watching a video of him and his band, The Zoo, on YouTube.
“I was frustrated about not having a singer,” Schon said in a statement released yesterday, “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."
Pineda is Journey's third lead singer in the past two years. He replaces Jeff Scott Soto, who in turn had replaced Steve Augeri. The band is working on a new album to be released in spring or summer of next year.
Here's The Zoo covering "Don't Stop Believin'."