Journey Tickets : The Band Later Regrouped With A Series Of Lead Singers

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 occurred between the late 1970s and 1987, when it temporarily disbanded. During that period, they released a series of hit songs, including 1981 Do not Stop Believin, the top-selling catalog track in iTunes history.The band enjoyed a successful reunion in the mid 1990s, and later regrouped with a series of lead singers.

The original members of Journey came together in San Francisco in 1973 under the auspices of former Santana manager Herbie Herbert. Originally called the Golden Gate Rhythm Section and intended to serve as a backup group for established Bay Area artists, the band included recent Santana alumni Neal Schon on lead guitar and Gregg Rolie on keyboards and lead vocals. Bassist Ross Valory and rhythm guitarist George Tickner, both of Frumious Bandersnatch, and drummer Prairie Prince of The Tubes rounded out the group.

The band quickly abandoned the original "backup group" concept and developed a distinctive jazz fusion style. After an unsuccessful radio contest to name the group, roadie John Villaneuva suggested the name Journey. The band first public appearance came at the Winterland Ballroom on New Year Eve, 1973. Prairie Prince rejoined The Tubes shortly thereafter, and the band hired British drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who had recently worked with John Lennon and Frank Zappa. On February 5, 1974, the new line-up made their debut at the Great American Music Hall and secured a recording contract with Columbia Records.

Journey released their eponymous first album in 1975, and rhythm guitarist Tickner left the band before they cut their second album, Look into the Future. Neither album achieved significant sales, so Schon, Valory, and Dunbar took singing lessons in an attempt to add vocal harmonies to Rolie lead. The following year's Next contained shorter tracks with more vocals, and featured Schon as lead singer on two of the songs.In 1998, Journey replaced Steve Perry with Steve Augeri, formerly of Tyketto and Tall Stories. The band hired drummer Deen Castronovo, Schon's and Cain Bad English bandmate, and drummer for Hardline, to replace Steve Smith.

The band released their next studio album, Arrival, in 2001. All the Way became a minor adult contemporary hit from the album. In 2002, the band released a four-track CD titled Red 13, with an album cover design chosen through a fan contest.
In 2005 the band was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and Steve Perry surprised many attendees by showing up for the event. Also in 2005, Journey embarked on their 30th anniversary tour, and released their twelfth full-length studio album, Generations, in which each band member performed lead vocals on at least one song.

In July 2006, Steve Augeri was dropped from the band while they toured with Def Leppard, with the official statement citing a chronic throat infection. Augeri had been suffering from vocal attrition problems since 2003 and Journey had been accused of using pre-recorded lead vocals. The band hired singer Jeff Scott Soto from Talisman to fill in, and Soto officially replaced Augeri as Journey lead singer in December 2006. On June 12, 2007, the band announced that Soto was no longer the lead singer, and said that they were looking to move in a new direction.