Legendary rockers JOURNEY, who were formed in the San Francisco area more than 50 years ago, performed their smash hit “Don’t Stop Believin'” at halftime of the NFC Championship between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers on Sunday (January 28),but changed the lyrics from “just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit” to “born and raised in San Francisco.”
It is not clear if most of the crowd at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California noticed the change because the band’s new lyrics were drowned out by Detroit Lions fans still screaming the original words, “South Detroit.”
JOURNEY‘s set at the game consisted of four songs: “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)”, “Be Good To Yourself”, “Any Way You Want It” and the aforementioned “Don’t Stop Believin'”.
The rest of the entertainment Sunday included pregame performances by Amp Squad DJs and singer Nate Smith. The national anthem was performed by Puerto Rican pop singer Luis Fonsi, and the San Francisco Police Department Color Guard team presented the colors.
JOURNEY features founder Neal Schon (lead guitarist),Jonathan Cain (keyboards, backing vocals),Arnel Pineda (lead vocals),Jason Derlatka (keyboards, vocals),Deen Castronovo (drums, vocals) and Todd Jensen (bass).
Since the group’s formation in 1973, JOURNEY has earned 19 top 40 singles, 25 gold and platinum albums, and has sold over 100 million albums globally. Their “Greatest Hits” album is certified 15 times-platinum, making JOURNEY one of the few bands to ever have been diamond-certified, and their song “Don’t Stop Believin'” has been streamed over one billion times alone.
JOURNEY was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017, and 2018’s co-headlining tour with DEF LEPPARD was the band’s most successful tour to date, landing them in the Top 10 year-end touring chart with more than one million tickets sold, and earning them the prestigious Billboard “Legends Of Live” touring award. March 2019 saw the release of “Escape & Frontiers Live In Japan”, a live DVD/CD set from their concert at the Budokan in Tokyo featuring the band’s first-ever performances of the albums “Escape” and “Frontiers” in their entirety. JOURNEY has also received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and were inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall Of Fame. Additionally, the band is the subject of the award-winning documentary “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey” about the band’s resurgence upon adding Pineda as lead singer after Schon discovered the Philippines native on YouTube.
JOURNEY will team up with DEF LEPPARD for a 2024 stadium concert tour of North America. The 23-city tour opens July 6 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis and concludes September 8 at Coors Field in Denver. The opening act for most of the tour dates will be fellow Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Steve Miller and his band. Two other Rock Hall inductees will alternate as opening acts for the seven shows Miller is not playing — CHEAP TRICK and HEART.
