Journey Frontman Arnel Pineda Responds to Backlash Over Terrible Rock in Rio Performance: 'I'm Still Suffering'

Arnel Pineda is speaking out amid the criticism over his poor performance at Rock in Rio earlier this month.

On Monday, the Journey frontman took to Facebook to share a lengthy post addressing the backlash and challenging fans to vote him out of the group if they are no longer satisfied with him as a member of the rock band.

Pineda, 57, started his post by thanking everyone who attended the band's shows since February before sharing a link to the viral video of his "Don't Stop Believin'" performance at the biennial multi-day music festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In the 48-second clip, Pineda is seen singing his heart out while roaming around the venue to interact with fans. However, the singer fails to hit the right notes in some instances.

"I'm very aware of this... no one more than me in this world feels so devastated about this... it's really amazing how 1 thousand right things you have done will be forgotten just cause of THIS...and of all the place, it's in Rock In Rio," he wrote in his post.

Pineda went on to admit that he's been suffering quite hard after seeing the harsh criticism toward his performance in the video. "Mentally and emotionally, I've suffered already, and I'm still suffering... but I'll be OK," he admitted.

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Before wrapping up his post, the Filipino artist challenged fans to either vote for him to "Stay" or "Go" in the comments section of his post. "If GO reaches 1million... I'm stepping out for good...are you game folks? Let's star," he wrote.

Many fans quickly voiced their support for Pineda and encouraged him to stay and not pay attention to all the negativity. One commented, "STAY, million times STAY!!! You're a monster singer and amazing person. Period."

Another fan wrote, "STAY Arnel! Haters are always there no matter what you do cos they are envious & jealous. But you have more people & fans that love you & want to hear & see you singing..."

Someone else added, "All entertainers have their haters. There's a lot of people who love to live in the past. Those people can stay home and you can STAY with Journey."

After analyzing the viral video, Billboard reported that the vocalist seemingly struggled to sing the right notes in Journey's hit song due to issues with his ear monitors.

Pineda officially joined the rock band in 2007 as the replacement of its former lead singer, Steve Perry, who left Journey in 1998 after suffering a hiking accident and refusing to undergo hip surgery so they could continue their tour at the time.

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Tags

Journey, Steve Perry