On September 15th, the legendary rock band Journey performed at Rock in Rio. Arnel Pineda, who joined the classic rock group in 2007, carried out a not-so-great performance of the band’s most-known song “Don’t Stop Believing”. See their performance here.

The video depicts Pineda “struggling to hit the right notes,” as described by NME. Pineda took to Facebook an offer for fans: to choose whether he stays or leaves the band: “so here’s the deal here now..i am offering you a chance now ( especially those who’s hated me and never liked me from the very beginning) to simply text GO or STAY right here..and if GO reaches 1million…im stepping out for good..are you game folks? let’s start…” Seen in the comments is the immense support by fans commenting for him to stay in the band. See his full statement here.

Lead guitarist Neal Schon has posted statements of support for his bandmate Pineda on Facebook: “All this absolute garbage fabricated bullshit about AP. Does this look like nobody had a good time? I’m asking you. All fabricated, owed and bought blogs, bullshit,” including a video of the crowd in his post. He also states that their band allegedly “got extremely limited by Avenged Sevenfold that means that hardly…any sound can get out of the PA to the audience.” See his posts of support below:

According to Loudwire, “When a follower asked if Journey’s sound tech couldn’t have resolved the problem, Schon replied: ‘No,’ while another fan explained that ‘sound equipment [can be] locked up and password protected.’ Asked why Avenged Sevenfold had been the headliner rather than Journey, Schon said simply: ‘Politics.’” Journey is set to continue their tour throughout this year, with stops in Japan and the United Kingdom, as well as a U.S. show in Lincoln California. 

Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado