Journey

Journey's signature mix of melodic hard rock, indelible anthemic hooks, and sweeping balladry helped shape the template for mainstream radio rock, resulting in 25 gold- and platinum-certified albums. After the San Francisco-based group shed its progressive roots with the arrival of vocalist Steve Perry on its fourth album, 1976's Infinity, the band began its climb toward rock stardom. From 1978 to 1987 it delivered a run of enduring singles—“Wheel in the Sky,” “Any Way You Want It,” “Lights,” “Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin',” “Don't Stop Believing,” “Open Arms,” “Separate Ways [Worlds Apart]”—whose muscular guitars, soaring vocals, and communal choruses remain staples of classic-rock playlists. Following a lengthy break, the band returned with 1996's Trial by Fire, Perry's final recording with the lineup. Since that point founding guitarist Neil Schon has steered Journey through two subsequent frontmen—Steve Augeri from 1998 to 2006 and Arnel Pineda since 2007—while issuing five additional studio albums, among them Arrival (2001), Revelation (2008), and Freedom (2022).

Formed in 1973 by Neal Schon, a former Santana prodigy, bassist Ross Valory, drummer Prairie Prince (soon replaced by Aynsley Dunbar), and guitarist George Tickner (who departed after the debut), the band welcomed another Santana alumnus, keyboardist and singer Gregg Rolie, shortly thereafter. This configuration produced the first three modestly successful jazz-rock albums—Journey (1975), Look Into the Future, and Next—largely devoted to instrumentals. Seeking the radio success enjoyed by Foreigner and Boston, the group recruited Bay Area singer Steve Perry in 1977; his soulful, Sam Cooke-inspired tenor proved decisive. The change registered instantly on 1978's Infinity, which reached platinum within a year and spawned the hits “Wheel in the Sky” and “Lights,” by which time Steve Smith had taken over on drums. Evolution (1979) matched that success, yielding the band's first Top 40 single, “Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin',” while Departure (1980) became one of its strongest chart performers and marked Rolie's final studio appearance; he helped select Jonathan Cain, formerly of the Babys, as his successor on keyboards and rhythm guitar.

After the live set Captured (1981), Journey issued Escape, which elevated the group to pop superstardom with three Top Ten hits—“Who's Crying Now,” “Open Arms,” and “Don't Stop Believing,” the last becoming its most emblematic track. The album reached number one and achieved multi-platinum status, earning diamond certification from the RIAA in July 2021. Frontiers (1983) brought another major hit in “Separate Ways” and further commercial triumph, after which Perry issued the double-platinum solo outing Street Talk (1984). When the band reconvened, Valory and Smith were absent; the resulting Raised on Radio (1986), recorded by Schon, Perry, and Cain with bassist Randy Jackson and session drummer Larrie Londin, earned double-platinum certification and featured the singles “Girl Can't Help It,” “Be Good to Yourself,” “Suzanne,” and “I'll Be Alright Without You.”

Tensions following the tour led to a split. Perry withdrew from public view while Schon and Cain formed Bad English with vocalist John Waite, scoring several hits including the chart-topping “When I See You Smile.” Perry resurfaced in 1994 with For the Love of Strange Medicine, which went gold yet underperformed relative to earlier benchmarks. In 1996 Perry, Schon, Cain, Valory, and Smith reunited for the platinum-selling Trial by Fire, which included the Top 20 single “When You Love a Woman,” before embarking on a tour. Perry and Smith then exited; Journey recruited Steve Augeri, late of Tall Stories, and drummer Deen Castronovo, who first appeared on the 1998 Armageddon soundtrack track “Remember Me.” Arrival, the band's eleventh studio album, arrived in April 2001, peaked at number 56 on the Billboard 200, and was supported by a national tour.

On January 21, 2005, Journey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Later that year the group released Generations and launched a 30th-anniversary tour whose shows ran more than three hours and alternated between pre- and post-Escape material. The archival concert recording Live in Houston 1981: The Escape Tour surfaced in 2006, the same year Jeff Scott Soto replaced Augeri, who had developed a throat infection. Soto's tenure proved brief; in 2007 the band parted ways with him and found a new singer in Filipino vocalist Arnel Pineda, whom Schon discovered performing the Journey ballad “Faithfully” online. Pineda debuted with the platinum-certified Revelation (2008), propelled by the adult-contemporary hit “After All These Years.” Eclipse, a 2011 concept album, linked the group's early progressive leanings with its 1980s arena-rock peak. The 2013 documentary Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey chronicled Pineda's discovery and first year in the band. Journey entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 and returned in 2022 with Freedom, its fifteenth studio album and third with Pineda; the release also marked the return of bassist Randy Jackson following the group's 2020 split with Ross Valory.