The band has had many members over the years. Then there's their "Escape"-based video game, Journey Escape. Not to be confused with 3 video games of the same name, the 1983 one actually being based on one 'Frontiers' album. They hit a snag in 2020 due to lawsuits and countersuits involving Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Ross Valory, and Steve Smith, but all parties involved reached a settlement in 2021, allowing the band to continue with a refreshed lineup. The band still tours today with Arnel Pineda as the current lead singer and has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent years. Tuning in to any soft rock or easy-listening radio station gives you a roughly 80% chance of hearing one of their songs at any given moment. Along the way, they became one of the most popular rock and roll bands in America, and quite possibly the definitive Arena Rock group of the decade.Īsk anyone to name an '80s band and Journey will probably be one of the first names that pops out. They went on to release a string of multi-platinum hits from the late seventies to mid- eighties. Enter Steve Perry, and the band immediately shifted to a more commercial pop/rock sound. Initially a jazz-based progressive rock group with keyboard player Gregg Rolie as the lead vocalist, the label eventually requested they get a full frontman. He wrote this for this newspaper.An American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1973. A job can truly transform a life, and you don’t need to be in a rock band to experience it.Īrnel Pineda is the lead singer of Journey, which performed a benefit concert in San Francisco Thursday in support of the Bay Area nonprofit REDF. It provides a sense of dignity and belonging, it gives you the opportunity to learn, grow, and be part of a team, or in my case, part of a band.Įvery person should have an equal opportunity to take care of themselves and their families through hard work, determination and initiative. We need nonprofit organizations, governments, and businesses to continue to pave the way and bring this model to more places where people need it the most.Ī job provides so much more than a paycheck. We need more social enterprises, not just in the Bay Area but across the country. We need more long-term solutions that can positively affect the lives of people now struggling on the economic fringes. The development fund has helped to employ more than 10,000 people in California. Research has shown that the model works for every dollar social enterprises spend, they return $2.23 in benefits to society. The growing social enterprise model is a proven way to deliver solutions for people who face multiple challenges.Ī social enterprise is a mission-driven business that earns and reinvests its revenue to provide jobs to people who are the hardest to employ. Last week, I traveled to the Bay Area to perform at a special concert with the nonprofit Roberts Enterprise Development Fund to celebrate job creation for people who face barriers to entering the workforce.Ĭommunity leaders are working tirelessly to reverse these statistics through creating job opportunities for people who are the hardest to serve, but more average Bay Area residents need to step up. I found my sense of purpose and pride.Īround the world, there are hundreds of millions of people without jobs, living in a world of insecurity and poverty. When I gained full-time employment through my job as a cover band singer, I realized I could change the course of my life. When you grow up in poverty and learn how to survive it, it’s something that stays with you forever. But despite my newfound fame, not a day goes by that I do not remember where I have come from. It’s an amazing story that even today I can hardly believe. Today, I am proud to be the lead singer of Journey. This led to a series of YouTube videos, which found their way into the inbox of one of the most iconic rock bands in the world. My talent for singing led to jobs as a cover band singer across Asia. I spent my teenage years on the streets, and it was no surprise that I never finished high school.īut my path changed. To earn enough money for food, I resorted to collecting scrap metal and plastic bottles for cash. Money was always something to worry about. When I was 12, my mother passed away from heart failure, leaving us in grief and in debt from her medical bills. Growing up in the Philippines, I watched my parents juggle part-time jobs at the corner shop and as tailors, barely able to make ends meet for my three brothers and me. I’ve known what it’s like to survive without a steady job.
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