Journey Vocalist Won't Stop Deceivin'

In 1998, when Journey hired Steve Augeri to replace vocalist Steve Perry, they gave the former Gap employee a simple instruction: Sing exactly like Perry, which he managed to do with extraordinary precision. About a year ago, fans started to notice that, at every show, Augeri's vocals were identical down to the smallest detail from. One Journey fanatic documented this apparent lip-syncing in thoroughly dork-tastic detail, complete with audio clips. When a couple radio DJs picked up the story, Augeri seemingly sang live, with disastrously croaky, off-key results. Last week, Journey put out a press release claiming Augeri was suffering from an "acute throat infection" and would be replaced by former Yngwie Malmsteen sideman Jeff Scott Soto. For those keeping track, Soto will be Journey's fourth frontman.

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Song Stories

“Helen Wheels”

Paul McCartney | 1973

A rollicking good-time hard rocker, "Helen Wheels" was not about a woman but about Paul McCartney's Land Rover, the anthemic chorus voicing the vehicle's reckless joy as "she" took to the road. The song was added to the U.S. version of Band on the Run but was issued only as a single in McCartney's native U.K. "I like that because it's a British road song and there's not many of those around," said McCartney. "It's always Route 66. But Carlisle? How many songs have got Carlisle in them?"

More Song Stories entries »

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