Journey have had a complicated history, and it may be about to get more complicated still, as frontman Arnel Pineda has hinted that he may be ready to "step back" from the band.
The hard rock legends are several months into their Final Frontier farewell tour, which launched on February 28 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and is set to run through to November 28, back where it all started for the band, in their hometown San Francisco.
During the past week, the tour reached Japan, and on August 29, when the group kicked off their Japanese dates at the Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka, they surprised fans by bringing out Hugo Valenti, who has been fronting Journey tribute bands for 21 years, to sing 1983 single Faithfully with them for the first time, while frontman Arnel Pineda took a break from the stage.
"I wrote this next song in 1982 about the road life we live, how it takes people dedicated, people who are loyal, like you Journey fans out there," keyboardist Jonathan Cain told the Fukuoka crowd ahead of introducing Valenti. "Thank you for coming tonight. We got a special treat for you tonight. We have a dear friend that's coming all the way from New Jersey to visit Japan, and I thought we’d have him sing a song for you tonight. So give it up for our friend Hugo Valenti."
It's not uncommon for Arnel Pineda to step back during concerts and allow other members of the band to take lead vocals. Setlist FM reports that, in Fukuoka, drummer Deen Castronovo sang Lights and shared lead vocals on Anytime with Cain, while Jason Derlatka sang lead on Of A Lifetime and Suzanne.
But when Valenti showed up again with the band in Tokyo to sing both Faithfully and deep cut Keep On Runnin' some eyebrows were raised.
Now, responding to an Instagram post showing photos of Valenti onstage at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Pineda has shared his own thoughts.
"that’s the band right there," the singer posted. "now i can step back..congratulations @journeyofficial 🔥🔥🔥"
Earlier this year, Steve Perry shot down rumours that he is going to rejoin his former band on the tour.
The singer had been the subject of speculation that he would be returning to the group he fronted from 1977 to 1987 and again for a short stint in the 1990s.
In a statement on social media in February, Perry said: "To all my friends, I've been hearing these recent rumours, and I wanted to speak to you all directly.
"While I’m always grateful for the love people still have for Journey, the rumours about me rejoining the band are simply not true, and I want to gently put them to rest.
"I completely understand why people would hope for that. The music we created together means a great deal to me too.
"But I'm continuing to explore new creative work and really enjoy working on new music that reflects where I am today."
Journey's Final Frontier tour will continue at Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena on September 12. Full dates here.
