Journey is in the middle of their farewell tour, celebrating over 50 years of music. However, frontman Arnel Pineda recently revealed to Rolling Stone that he wasn’t fully on board with the idea of going on tour in the first place. In fact, he tried to quit the band twice.
Pineda explained, “I said to [Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain] I wanted to retire because of my personal problems. No answer. Obviously, they don’t want to find another singer.”
Pineda has been the lead singer of Journey since 2007. He replaced Steve Perry, who exited the band in 1998. Since then, singing has taken a toll on his voice. Plus, he has struggled with personal problems in his marriage and family.
“My personal problem really took a toll on me,” Pineda explained. “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.”
Pineda accused his wife, Cherry, of adultery in court filings in 2023. She denied cheating and has accused him of verbal assaults and manipulation.
Since Pineda wasn’t sure whether he wanted to commit to the tour, he asked his bandmates to discuss the schedule with him. However, he claimed that he wasn’t consulted before 60 tour dates were booked across the United States. “I was really not happy with how they scheduled this tour,” he said. “My body has changed. I can’t take the cold weather anymore.”
Despite wanting to leave the band, Pineda insisted that he adores his bandmates. He said, “I love the guys. I respect them so much. And I will remain until the last days of my life grateful, and really feeling blessed, for what they’ve done for me.”
