‘Don’t Stop Believin”: See Every Journey Singer Perform Band’s Hit

Steve Perry wasn’t Journey’s first frontman. That honor goes to original Santana lead singer Gregg Rolie. And if we’re getting very technical, they worked with singer Robert Fleischman for a few months in 1977, long enough for him to co-write “Wheel in the Sky” and a couple of other songs. But Journey didn’t enter the world of mainstream pop until they hired Perry in 1977. And four years later, he co-wrote “Don’t Stop Believin’” with Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain. Here’s video of them performing it on the Escape tour in 1981.

When 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’s 365 on Oct. 9, 1993, and Perry didn’t didn’t want to reform Journey for the event, the remaining members of the classic lineup brought in Chalfant to fill his shoes. There’s no publicly available audio of the night of the night, but Chalfant now fronts the tribute band Kevin Chalfant’s Journey Experience. Check out their take on “Don’t Stop Believin’” for at least a vague idea of what it sounded like when he wore the Journey crown for about 20 minuets in 1993.

For 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 “When You Love a Woman.” 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’s 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. 

Journey toured relentlessly with Steve Augeri for eight years, but it’s not easy singing “Faithfully” and “Open Arms” 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. Without 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’t a long-term solution since he didn’t sound very much like Steve Perry. “That wasn’t really Journey,” Cain told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “So we went on another hiatus.”

The Journey hiatus happened to coincide with David Chase’s decision to use “Don’t Stop Believin’” 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’s when Neal Schon went onto YouTube, stumbled upon a video of Arnel Pineda singing “Don’t Stop Believin’” 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.

When Richard Goodall, a 55-year-old school janitor from Terre Haute, Indiana, auditioned for America’s Got Talent in 2024, he stunned Simon Cowell and the rest of the judges by belting out “Don’t Stop Believin.” He went on to easily win the season, and Journey (minus Jonathan Cain) joined him for an encore performance of “Don’t Stop Believin’” on the final episode. The spectacular moment was yet more proof that “Don’t Stop Believin’” will never, ever fade from the culture. It’s gone from one of Journey’s 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. 

Journey 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’t an issue when they guested on the finale of The Voice and had Snoop Dogg, and Michael Bublé, Reba McEntire, and the cast of The Voice lend their voices to a mega-medley of Journey classics, wrapping up, of course, with “Don’t Stop Believin.’” 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.

Just 12 days after The Voice finale, Journey were booked as halftime entertainers at the San Francisco 49ers/Chicago Bears game. And with Arnel still home in the Philippine, drummer Deen Castronovo pulled a Levon Helm and handled lead vocals. It’s notoriously difficult to drum and sing at the same time, but he pulled it off with ease. And every night on Journey’s ongoing tour, Castronovo takes over on lead vocals for a couple of sings to give Arnel some vocal rest. 

In 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’s popularity, and it’s been largely lost to time, but one fan had the foresight to sneak a camcorder into the balcony at New York’s Beacon Theatre and capture the full set — including “Don’t Stop Believin.” Despite all of the love for the song over the past 20 years, Perry hasn’t 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’s 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 “South Detroit.”