Spiritual Awakening: Arnel Pineda And Other Inspirational Lessons
I chose to highlight Arnel Pineda today as he shows us all the power of spirituality and using our talents to improve our life and the lives of others. When you read Arnel’s full biography at wikipedia you learn of the hardships he faced and how he never lost faith and kept doing what he loved to do. Being passionate and taking action will often lead to success. I found hos story to be inspirational and it is my hope that when things are challenging on your spiritual path that you will take his story and others shared here to help you face these challenges and continue on your path.
The lead voice in this song is that of Arnel Pineda, a young Filipino who was discovered on YOUTUBE by the lead guitarist of Journey. This is a snipet of Arnel’s story. Videos of The Zoo performing cover songs by Journey, Survivor, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Air Supply, The Eagles, Kenny Loggins, Stryper and other popular acts from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, began appearing on YouTube.com in February 2007. On June 28, 2007,[8] Neal Schon of Journey contacted Noel Gomez, a longtime fan and friend of Pineda who uploaded many of these videos, to ask for Pineda’s contact information. Schon sent an e-mail to Pineda inviting him to audition for Journey. Pineda initially dismissed the e-mail as a hoax, but after being persuaded by Gomez, he finally replied to Schon’s e-mail. Ten minutes later, Pineda received a phone call from Schon.[9] On August 12,[10] Pineda, along with his manager Bert de Leon, flew to Marin County, just north of San Francisco, for a two-day audition.[11][12] The star-struck Pineda was welcomed warmly but he described the audition as “nerve-wracking, tense”.[13] On December 5, 2007, Pineda was announced as the lead singer of Journey. CNN Headline News ran the story as part of their “News to Me” segment.[14]