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For more than 40 years, Journey has told us to “Don’t Stop Believin’,” but last night night, they stopped playin’.
The veteran group was performing its signature track early in its set at NRG Stadium in Houston when its members halted the show abruptly and left the stage, not to return. The cause? A reported electrical fire.
A fan-shot video of the incident shows the video screens and audio cutting out as singer Arnel Pineda was belting out the 1981 hit, leaving the audience sing-along as the only vocal:
I lived in Houston for six years and went to over 30 rodeo concerts—but I’ve never seen anything like this. Journey was in the middle of ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ when the stadium speakers blew out.
The entire concert is on hold! pic.twitter.com/UxbDFbXBr8
Concertgoers reported that an announcer later told the crowd about the fire and said the multiplatinum group wouldn’t continue.
“Don’t Stop Believin’,” from Journey’s smash album Escape, has taken on a borderline-iconic status since it was used during the final scene of HBO’s The Sopranos in 2007. Featuring former lead singer Steve Perry and an unusual structure that includes the chorus at the end, reached the pop Top 10 and has been included on many lists of the best songs of the 1980s. Both the track and compilation disc Journey’s Greatest Hits are certified 18 times platinum by the RIAA.
Overall, the Bay Area native band has sold more than 101.5 million records in the U.S. alone, including more than 9 million copies of Escape. Seven of its albums have sold at least a million units.
Local TV outlet ABC13 reported that the Houston Rodeo, which was hosting Journey’s show Friday night, would go Saturday as planned with a performance by Warren Zeiders and the attending festivities.
