\n\tBut as Journey have proven time and time again over the past five decades, they\u2019re able to endure just about any lineup change as long as guitarist Neal Schon remains in the fold. For evidence of this, check out these videos of the band performing their timeless classic-rock staple \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin\u2019,\u201d with eight different singers or groups, in some cases.<\/p>\n
\n- \n
\tSteve Perry (1977 to 1987, 1995 to 1998)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Paul Natkin\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tSteve Perry wasn\u2019t Journey\u2019s first frontman. That honor goes to original Santana lead singer Gregg Rolie. And if we\u2019re getting very technical, they worked with singer Robert Fleischman for a few months in 1977, long enough for him to co-write \u201cWheel in the Sky\u201d and a couple of other songs. But Journey didn\u2019t enter the world of mainstream pop until they hired Perry in 1977. And four years later, he co-wrote \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin’\u201d with Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain. Here\u2019s video of them performing it on the Escape tour in 1981.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\tKevin Chalfant (Oct. 9, 1993)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Dan Matusik\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen Steve Perry walked away from Journey in 1987, Schon teamed up with Rolie, the Escape-era rhythm section of bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith, and vocalist Kevin Chalfant to form the Storm. And when original Journey manager Herbie Herbert was honored with a roast at the San Francisco club Bimbo\u2019s 365 on Oct. 9, 1993, and Perry didn\u2019t didn\u2019t want to reform Journey for the event, the remaining members of the classic lineup brought in Chalfant to fill his shoes. There\u2019s no publicly available audio of the night of the night, but Chalfant now fronts the tribute band Kevin Chalfant\u2019s Journey Experience. Check out their take on \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin’\u201d for at least a vague idea of what it sounded like when he wore the Journey crown for about 20 minuets in 1993.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\tSteve Augeri (1998 to 2006)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Jeffrey Mayer\/WireImage\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tFor a wonderful moment in the mid-1990s, it seemed like Journey were on the verge of their own Hell Freezes Over period. After nearly a decade apart, with the sole exception of the 1991 Bill Graham memorial concert, Steve Perry came back to Journey to record the 1996 LP Trial by Fire. They even scored a hit with \u201cWhen You Love a Woman.\u201d They hired Eagles manager Irving Azoff to run the show, and a big arena tour was in the works. Everything came to a stop when Perry injured his hip, and delayed the tour as he mulled his options. After a couple years of waiting, Perry\u2019s frustrated bandmates made the tough decision to fire him and recruit vocal doppelganger Steve Augeri to replace him. At the time, Augeri was working for the Gap as a maintenance manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\tJeff Scott Soto (2006 to 2007)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Ethan Miller\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tJourney toured relentlessly with Steve Augeri for eight years, but it\u2019s not easy singing \u201cFaithfully\u201d and \u201cOpen Arms\u201d that many times without a break or even many nights off. By 2006, his voice was shredded, and a co-headlining tour with Def Leppard was on the horizon. After a brief period where many fans accused Augeri of lip-syncing, he left the band.\u00a0Without much notice, they pulled in former Yngwie Malmsteen vocalist Jeff Scott Soto to fill the void. He did an extremely good job under challenging circumstances, but he wasn\u2019t a long-term solution since he didn\u2019t sound very much like Steve Perry. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t really Journey,\u201d Cain told Rolling Stone earlier this year. \u201cSo we went on another hiatus.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\tArnel Pineda (2007 to present)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Brian Ach\/Getty Images \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Journey hiatus happened to coincide with David Chase\u2019s decision to use \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin’\u201d during the final moments of The Sopranos, creating an enormous resurgence of interest in the band. But without a lead singer, they were unable to capitalize on the moment. That\u2019s when Neal Schon went onto YouTube, stumbled upon a video of Arnel Pineda singing \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin’\u201d at a club in the Philippines, and offered him a job as their new singer. The incredible Cinderella story was catnip for the press, and even landed the group on Oprah. Suddenly, Journey were back headlining arenas.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\tRichard Goodall (Sept. 24, 2024)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Trae Patton\/NBC\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen Richard Goodall, a 55-year-old school janitor from Terre Haute, Indiana, auditioned for America\u2019s Got Talent in 2024, he stunned Simon Cowell and the rest of the judges by belting out \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin.\u201d He went on to easily win the season, and Journey (minus Jonathan Cain) joined him for an encore performance of \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin’\u201d on the final episode. The spectacular moment was yet more proof that \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin’\u201d will never, ever fade from the culture. It\u2019s gone from one of Journey\u2019s many hits to their signature song to one of the most famous songs of the 1980s to one of the most famous sings, period, ever written.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\tSnoop Dogg, Michael Bubl\u00e9, Reba McEntire, and the Cast of \u2018The Voice\u2019 (Dec. 16, 2025)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Trae Patton\/NBC\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tJourney were temporarily without a singer in late 2025 when Arnel Pineda was back home in the Philippines dealing with the aftermath of this messy divorce. But that wasn\u2019t an issue when they guested on the finale of The Voice and had Snoop Dogg, and Michael Bubl\u00e9, Reba McEntire, and the cast of The Voice lend their voices to a mega-medley of Journey classics, wrapping up, of course, with \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin.’\u201d We think Snoop Dogg will be in the running if Arnel decides to step aside in the future, but he gave it all his all.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\tDeen Castronovo (Dec. 28, 2025)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Rick Kern\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tJust 12 days after The Voice finale, Journey were booked as halftime entertainers at the San Francisco 49ers\/Chicago Bears game.\u00a0And with Arnel still home in the Philippine, drummer Deen Castronovo pulled a Levon Helm and handled lead vocals. It\u2019s notoriously difficult to drum and sing at the same time, but he pulled it off with ease. And every night on Journey\u2019s ongoing tour, Castronovo takes over on lead vocals for a couple of sings to give Arnel some vocal rest.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
\tBonus Video: Steve Perry solo (1994)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Ed Perlstein\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 1994, shortly before his brief return to Journey, Steve Perry hit the road to promote his ill-fated solo album For the Love of Strange Medicine. The tour mainly hit theaters since this was a real low point for Journey\u2019s popularity, and it\u2019s been largely lost to time, but one fan had the foresight to sneak a camcorder into the balcony at New York\u2019s Beacon Theatre and capture the full set \u2014 including \u201cDon\u2019t Stop Believin.\u201d Despite all of the love for the song over the past 20 years, Perry hasn\u2019t performed the song publicly even a single time since this tour. Diehard Journey fans continue to fantasize about his return to to the band one day, but it\u2019s simply never happening for a multitude of reasons. However, Schon will certainly keep the band alive in one form or another, and that means more singers will have a chance to step up and sing about that city boy raised in the non-existent area known as \u201cSouth Detroit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The classic-rock titans, who are currently on a farewell tour, have had many lead singers over the years.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[264],"tags":[18,117,19,17,8180,337,186525,186526],"class_list":["post-518543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-journey","tag-music","tag-neal-schon","tag-steve-perry"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116692724116332357","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}