In a recent interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Gregg Rolie, the original lead singer of Journey, shed light on the band’s ethos, challenges, and their approach to music. He also shared one thing that makes him proud about Journey.
Journey witnessed the transformative music scene of the late 1970s. During the peak of the disco era, there were external pressures suggesting that the band should venture into disco. Rolie reminisced:
“I can actually go back to the days of Journey early on. After our three albums, disco was in. Somebody went, ‘You need to do a disco song’ and we went, ‘I don’t think so!’ You know, that isn’t us. So we stuck to our guns and look what happened.”
He then said the Foo Fighters had a shared resistance to bending to fleeting music trends:
“I bet Grohl heard some of the same kind of stuff and just went, ‘Sorry, no.’ It’s not what they do. It’s not what he does. It’s not where he lives. Me neither. Same!”
Speaking of Grohl, Gregg Rolie made an unexpected appearance at a recent Foo Fighters concert at the Austin City Limits festival on October 14. In a spontaneous jam session, they celebrated Santana’s rendition of ‘Oye Como Va.’
On the other hand, Journey is getting ready for their 50th-anniversary tour, the ‘2024 Freedom Tour,’ set to commence on February 9, 2024, in Biloxi, Mississippi, and culminate on April 29, 2024, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. You can grab your tickets here.
Below, you can watch Rolie perform ‘Oye Como Va’ with the Foos.
