Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco, by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success was in the late 1970s until 1987, when it temporarily disbanded. During that period, they released a series of hit songs, including 1981's "Don't Stop Believin'", the top-selling catalog track in iTunes history;[1][2][3] and their highest-charting U.S. hit, "Open Arms". The band enjoyed a successful reunion in the mid 1990s with a Grammy-nominated hit, "When You Love a Woman", and later regrouped with a series of lead singers.

Sales have resulted in two gold albums, eight multi-platinum albums, and one Diamond album (including seven consecutive multi-platinum albums between 1978 and 1987). They had 18 Top 40 singles, six of which reached the Top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Allmusic has described Journey as "one of America's most beloved (and sometimes hated) commercial rock/pop bands."[4] According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Journey has sold 47 million albums in the United States, making them the 28th best selling band. Their worldwide sales have reached over 80 million albums.[5][6] A 2005 USA Today opinion poll named Journey the fifth best American rock band in history.[7][8] Their songs have become arena rock staples and are still played on rock radio stations across the world.

Arnel Pineda, the vocalist, was born in Sampaloc, Manila, in the Philippines. His mother instilled his love for singing at an early age, encouraging him to sing along to songs from his favorite singers like Karen Carpenter and Barbra Streisand. Growing up, his parents entered him in many singing contests.[2]

His mother, who had been suffering from rheumatic heart disease, died when he was thirteen. Her illness had left their family deep in debt.[3] Being 6 months or one year behind on their rented apartment and unable to sufficiently provide for the family, his father decided to move out and ask relatives to take in Pineda's siblings. To ease his father's burden, Pineda quit school and volunteered to strike out on his own.

For about two years his life was spent out on the streets, sleeping wherever he could: in public parks, or on a narrow bench outside a friend's crowded house. He earned meager money by collecting glass bottles, newspapers, and scrap metal and selling them to recyclers. He would also go to the pier with his friends and take on odd jobs like cleaning scrap metal and docked ships. He didn't have much to eat, sometimes rationing a small package of Marie biscuit as his meal for two days.[4]