Arnel Pineda

A biography and more...

Arnel Pineda was born on Sept. 5, 1967 in Sampaloc, Manila. He started singing when he was 5 years old, his parents encouraging him to enter amateur singing contents. His family came into hard times when his 35-year old mother died of a prolonged illness which plunged them into serious debt. His father took his 3 younger brothers to live with relatives while 12-year old Arnel had to quit school and live in the streets or in some relative's house. He would collect scrap metal, bottles and newspapers at the pier in Manila to earn money. But he never delved on self-pity and kept on believing that "things will get better".

At age 15, he became the lead singer of a Filipino band and subsequently had a fairly successful career. He and whatever band he was in at the time would perform at different clubs in different cities in the Philippines. In 1991, he moved to Hongkong where he worked until 2006, only temporarily interrupted by an illness where he almost lost his voice.

In the meantime, he did some recordings: an album with the band Amo -Ang Tunay na Amo (The Real Master) in 1990 ; a solo album entitled Arnel Pineda in 1991; Looking Glass, a song in the South Band's album The Way We Do and the theme song of a Filipino radio show named Dayo.

In 2006, encouraged by Filipino talent manager and TV director, Bert de Leon, Arnel moved back to the Philippines and formed Zoo, and signed on with de Leon's company, Sundance Entertainment Corporation. Zoo performed several nights a week at clubs in Manila and Olongapo during 2006 and 2007. Zoo’s first album “Zoology” was released by MCA Universal in September 2007 featuring 13 original tracks, five of which were written by Pineda, and another was co-written by Pineda and Mark Valliente.

Starting February, 2007, videos of Zoo performing began appearing on You Tube many of which were uploaded by Arnel's friend Noel Gomez. When Neal Schon was scouting for the lead singer for his band, he came upon Arnel's video and knew he found what he was looking for. But Arnel initially dismissed his email thinking it was a hoax. It was only through Noel's prodding that Arnel finally answered Neal and the rest is history. On Dec. 5, 2007, it was announced that Arnel Pineda is the new lead singer of the band Journey.

Arnel debuted as the lead singer of Journey on Feb. 21, 2008 at the Vina del Mar International Song Festival in Chile and has performed in Santiago, and in Las Vegas. He has been called "a winner", "phenomenal". "the future of the franchise". Journey has already recorded a new album Revelation which will be released on June 3, 2008. Promotional tours will follow, starting in Europe, US, then later Japan, Australia and the Philippines.

When he is not on tour, Arnel lives in Quezon City (Philippines) with his girlfriend Cherry and their 2 yr old son Cherub. He has two other sons, Matthew (19 yrs) and Angelo (13 yrs).

So now, things are much better for Arnel. Don't Stop Believing.



Go back to: Fil-Am Pride

Source:
Wikipedia.org

More You Tube Videos:
US embassy interview
Young Arnel singing Open Arms
Arnel Pineda singing Open Arms with Journey, Las Vegas 08
Arnel Pineda/Steve Perry - Faithfully