
American singer Danny Vaughn defends Journey band vocalist Arnel Pineda after receiving backlash, insults, and even calls to leave the band due to a poor performance he recently delivered at the Rio Music Festival.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, September 22, Arnel expressed his gratitude to everyone who watched and supported their band's show. He then addressed his poor performance, sharing a link to a video, “No one more than me in this world feels so devastated about this.”
In the video, Arnel was struggling to hit the high notes of the band's hit song, “Don't Stop Believin'.”
“It's really amazing how one thousand right things you have done will be forgotten just 'cause of this and of all the places, it's in Rock In Rio,” Arnel said in his post.
In his Facebook post on September 25, Danny said he felt “obliged to weigh in” on what's happening with Arnel and Journey, and shared his take in a lengthy post.
“I watched the video and it's worth noting that, from what I saw, he is wearing in-ear monitors and is out in the crowd. There is a certain possibility for latency in the sound that can affect pitch in your head. Other than that, yes, it sounds like he had a bad night,” Danny wrote.
The American singer then called out the people “calling for [Arnel's] head” demanding the Filipino singer quit.
“I have to say, 'Are you kidding me?' Do any of these people do their job to 100% of their abilities every single day? Are any of them considered one of the best in the world at what they do? Because Arnel does and Arnel is,” he said.
Danny further clarified that Journey has some of the most difficult songs to sing from any band in the world. He noted that its founding member and first vocalist, Steve Perry, might not be human for his skills in keeping up with the “impossible workload” the band's lead guitarist Neal Schon put them through, revealing that the band would sometimes play for three hours.
“When my buddy JSS [Jeff Scott Soto] had the gig, he dedicated every waking moment of each day to being fit and ready and able to do those songs justice. Saunas, exercise, throat doctors, massage, there was no time for anything else. And he did a great job,” Danny said.
Danny admitted that when he was offered to be the band's vocalist at one point, however, he declined “because I couldn't do it.”
“Yes, I could sing a couple of 'Journey' songs very well. But 2 plus hours of it? Not a chance. And I'm known for being pretty good at this singing thing,” Danny added.
MEANWHILE, TAKE A LOOK AT THE SINGERS WITH FILIPINO ROOTS WHO JOINED THE INTERNATIONAL SINGING COMPETITION 'THE VOICE' IN THIS GALLERY:
Danny also addressed the people who hated Arnel.
“So, the people that have hated on Arnel from the get-go either because he's not white (yeah I said it) or because he's not Steve Perry need to just STFU. You are just whining to hear yourself whine,” he said
“I have never met Arnel Pineda but several of my friends have and describe him as an extremely humble, kind, and grounded human being. So that means that no one is feeling worse about his recent performance than he is. He is a complete pro and I know this because I have seen him sing live. And he was fantastic,” Danny continued.
The American singer admitted that Arnel had a bad night in Rio and expressed how it pained him that Arnel listened to the haters, and asked them to vote on whether he should stay with the band or go.
“They may be Journey fans but they don't deserve that decision. And I bet Steve Perry would agree with me that the keyboard warrior ***** sent Arnel's way has been despicable. He's been dazzling audiences with his vocal range for 17 years now so none of us has the right to throw him under the bus,” Danny said.
In the end, Danny expressed how he understood Arnel's pain about what happened and sent love, respect, and support to the Journey vocalist.
“We performers all have rough nights and we give ourselves a hard time for it but, eventually, we get over them. Getting over the 'fan' abuse will be more difficult. People can be fucking cruel. Maybe we should stop, huh?” he ended.
Aside from Danny, the rest of the band's members defended Arnel with drummer Deen Castronovo posting on Instagram that the Filipino singer “has RISEN to the challenge of Journey's catalog, NIGHT after NIGHT, YEAR after tiring YEAR!”
“He gives to YOU ALL and Journey, the best that he can give you,” Deen added.
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain also expressed his support for the Filipino vocalist and said Arnel would not go anywhere.