Hugo Valenti Fulfills His Journey Dream as Steve Perry Stand-In on Final Frontier Tour

Hugo Valenti, a longtime Steve Perry impersonator, joined Journey for two shows in Japan during the band's Final Frontier Tour in 2026. He had spent years preparing for such a moment.

Neal Schon, Journey's only remaining original member, once stood in Valenti's way. In the late 1990s, Schon decided not to invite Valenti to audition for the band. Decades later, keyboardist Jonathan Cain helped open the door for Valenti's recent guest appearances.

Valenti, who grew up on Long Island, traced his passion for Perry and Journey back to his school days. "Early on, I was in junior high school, and I started taking voice lessons," Valenti told MassLive in 2024. "Journey had just hit the scene, and I heard him sing and it was just one of those things."

Valenti said Perry's voice was "powerful but without that rasp" and set him apart from other rock singers. He modeled his vocal style and stage presence after Perry, even mimicking Perry's outfits. Still, he did not join a Journey tribute band until later in his career.

Valenti first signed a record deal with the band Valentine in the late 1980s. Their self-titled debut, produced by Neil Kernon, arrived in 1990. As the music scene shifted in the early 1990s, Valentine became Open Skyz, which released an album in 1993 and opened for acts like KISS and Mr. Big. The group never achieved major commercial success. "You get signed, you get dropped; you get signed, you get dropped. It's just up and down too much," Valenti told Long-Islander News in 2017.

By the 2000s, Valenti saw tribute bands as a new path. "All along the way, I was always compared to Steve Perry. The music was compared to Journey," Valenti said. "So, I said, 'You know what, tribute bands are kind of happening now. Maybe I'll just start a tribute band and see what happens.'"

Valenti's first close encounter with Journey came after Perry left the band following the 1996 album "Trial by Fire." Journey's A&R representative contacted Valenti about joining the group. "I had gotten a phone call from John Kalodner at Sony saying that Perry was out of the band and it was time for me to get my Journey records out," Valenti told Melodic.net in 2003. Schon, who knew Valenti from his Valentine days, decided against an audition. "I remember seeing him in a video and he looked exactly like Perry, which I thought was really weird," Schon told Melodic Rock in 1998. Journey instead hired Steve Augeri.

Valenti formed the tribute band Voyage in 2005. "As it happens, people in the Journey organization decided too many similarities may have been a detriment to the continuation of the band," Valenti said. "It was a hard one to swallow, but hearing Steve Augeri fit so well, it was the right decision for the band."

Voyage became popular among Journey fans, especially while Perry was off the road due to health issues. "It went from just doing clubs, to then clubs and theaters, and then from theaters to casinos and private shows," Valenti told MassLive.

Valenti stayed with Voyage for about 20 years, also releasing original music, including 2008's "The Dream" with Josh Ramos as Ramos-Hugo, the Valentine reunion "Soul Salvation," and 2023's "Inception" with Hugo's Voyage. "What makes Voyage so inviting is the fact that people miss Steve Perry," Valenti told Rock Pages in 2023.

After the pandemic, Valenti completed a set of original songs for Frontiers Music. By late 2024, he left Voyage and launched Hugo: The Ultimate Journey Tribute, which features drummer Adam Augeri, son of Steve Augeri.

"With Journey in particular, they're one of the bands where when you hear it, you want to hear it again, and again, and again," Valenti said. He joked that "Don't Stop Believin'" might be an exception because "everyone's heard it a thousand times."

Journey's invitation to Valenti for the 2026 Japan shows followed Cain's growing connection with Valenti. Cain's wife is a spiritual advisor to former President Donald Trump, and Cain has appeared at Trump-related events. At a May 2025 event for Trump Tower Dubai, Cain performed with a band that included Valenti, who sang "Don't Stop Believin'."

Valenti later joined Journey onstage to sing "Faithfully" during their Aug. 29 show at the Greatest Rock Fukuoka Festival and again on Sept. 1 at Tokyo's Ariake Arena. He also sang "Keep on Runnin'" during the second show.

Valenti will appear again with Hugo: The Ultimate Journey Tribute on Sept. 11 at the Hoboken Italian Festival in New Jersey. Journey will play the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles the next night.