MANILA, Philippines?It?s been a long way?almost an improbable journey?from Shakey?s Cubao to America?s Super Bowl.

Arnel Pineda, the Manila-born singer whose first professional band performance took place in a pizza parlor in 1982, has scored a big touchdown for fans?and for Filipino pride.

Pineda on Sunday relished his dream role as lead vocalist of the American pop-rock band Journey with a high-profile gig in the pre-game entertainment program of the 43rd Super Bowl?the championship of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States?at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

Beamed to over 230 countries, the annual sports spectacle is considered the most watched TV program in history.

Following Pineda?s Super Bowl performance, Journey is resuming its international tour which includes a concert in Manila on March 14 at the Fort Bonifacio open field in Taguig City.

?It was fun,? Pineda told Inquirer Entertainment through a text message on Monday night from Tampa.

?There was so much excitement already due to the game and we were there to warm up the crowd. It?s a big deal for me ?cause (Bruce) Springsteen was also there.?

Some 70,000 people packed the stadium for the NFL finals that saw the Pittsburgh Steelers edging the Arizona Cardinals, with millions more cheering the battle on television. More than 148 million people in the United States alone watched last year?s Super Bowl on TV.

Journey?s guest stint was shown live on TV and, within a few hours, was ready for playback on the video-sharing website YouTube.

With superstars

Pineda fired up the crowd with the band?s 1981 hit ?Don?t Stop Believing,? the same song that put Journey back into the limelight in 2007, when it supplied the soundtrack to the final scene of the US mob drama TV series ?The Sopranos.?

He shared the pre-game stage with US recording stars, among them ?American Idol? finalist Jennifer Hudson, who sang ?The Star-Spangled Banner? in her first public appearance since the murder of her nephew, brother and mother.

R&B singer-songwriter John Legend also performed several numbers shortly before the game, country singer Faith Hill sang ?America the Beautiful,? and superstar act Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band played four songs at halftime.

Pineda was only 15 and living a hard life in Manila when he auditioned as a singer for Ijos, a cover band that played regularly at Shakey?s Ali Mall and New Frontier theater in Cubao, Quezon City.

P35 per gig

Although the band members were impressed with his voice, they thought his timing was off and that polishing this raw talent would take a while.

But the band leader saw his potential and Pineda got the job. He was paid P35 per gig.

The stint with Ijos reached a high point in 1987, when the group joined the World Band Explosion in Budokan, Japan, and Pineda won the Best Vocalist award.

After joining other bands and helping form new ones that played the club circuit in Quezon City, Makati and Olongapo, Pineda went abroad and spent 13 years singing in Hong Kong, where he rose to become one of the highest paid entertainers.

Bowled over

By 2006 Pineda was back in Manila and playing at the Hard Rock Café with Zoo, a group he formed with Monet Cajipe, the band leader who first vouched for his talent on his first audition.

A year later Neal Schon, founding member and lead guitarist of Journey, was on the phone, convincing Pineda to try out as the band?s lead vocalist.

Schon?a highly esteemed alumnus of the group Santana and once invited by Eric Clapton to join his 1970s band Derek and the Dominos?was bowled over by what he saw on YouTube: Pineda singing note-for-note covers of rock classics, including hits by Led Zeppelin and Journey.

Pineda, incredulous at first, took a chance and flew to San Francisco to audition again?this time for one of the biggest selling and enduring bands in America.

The rest is history.

In June 2008, the latest Journey album ?Revelation? was released, with Pineda singing in all 22 tracks?half of which were re-recorded versions of the band?s greatest hits. The album sold a million copies in just four months.

Following a 68-city tour that brought him around the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom, the Filipino rock star came home for the holidays last year and, straight from the airport, treated his family to a good time at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.