Freddie Aguilar
Arts And Works
Born on February 5, 1953 in Sto. Tomas, Isabela, Phillipines, Freddie Aguilar moved to the old capital city, Manila as a child… started writing songs at 14… first guitar at 17… first time on stage at 20.
HIS CLAIM TO FAME
It began in earnest in 1978 when the young man from Isabela entered his composition entitled “ANAK” (child) in the First Metro Manila Popular Song Festival. The song, with its hunting melody and poignant story about a parent’s love for a wayward child, captured the imagination of the judges and became FINALIST from thousands on entries in spite of an essentially folk style, and thus, out of step with the strictly pop orientation of the competition. Close on the heels of the composition came a recording contract with VICOR Music Corporation, then the leading record label in the Philippines. The “ANAK” single was an immediate smash success, gaining double platinum certification in a matter of weeks. This was followed by an album that contained both the Tagalog and the English versions of “ANAK”, but ironically, it was the Tagalog version that carried the album and brought international success. “ANAK” climbed fast to the top ten charts in Japan and Europe; over six million copies were sold and the song went on to generate 55 conversions in 26 languages. International opportunities followed and Freddie recorded an album in Los Angeles in English. In spite of its commercial success and the fact that the English version of another track off his second album entitled “BUHAY NGA NAMAN NG TAO” entitled in English as ‘THINK ABOUT THE GOOD TIMES,” was eventually recorded by Americas top county singer LEE GREENWOOD, Freddie was not happy with the international projects. He felt that his own songs had been abandoned with some of Los Angeles top songwriters bringing entirely different lyrics to Freddie’s songs. Freddie felt that the resulting album, while technically superior, was not really him.
MINSTREL OF THE MASSES
Freddie went back to continue his career in the Philippines with producer Jose Mari Gonzalez releasing an album in Tagalog entitled “MAGDALENA”. The album went double platinum and Freddie was back in the groove at home in the Philippines. “MAGDALENA” was released in Europe where it was charted in five countries, but Freddie hardly noticed his country was in turmoil. On August 21, 1983, the incarcerated Philippine senator worshipped and loved by many was killed at the Manila International Airport, and everything changed, not only for Freddie but for the an entire nation. Freddie Aguilar emerged as a key player in a complex political and social equation. It was at home in the Philippines that Freddie Aguilar, came of age not as an artist, but as one of the premier leaders of the country, His songs were not so much “SOCIAL PROTEST ANTHEMS”, although there were some of these, as they were honest and heartfelt evocations of the lost values of the people, they were in the true sense “FOLK SONGS’ for they established him in the truest and most meaningful sense as the voice of a nation.
MAKING HISTORY
Freddie’s songs, which had always probed deeply into human values, began to take on an overly political quality. The battle lines had been drawn, and with the Philippine Society in the midst of a protracted upheaval, Freddie took a clear stand with the songs like “KATARUNGAN” (justice), “PANGAKO” (promise), “LUZVIMINDA” (Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, the three main island in the Philippines), songs that became rallying song for the nation. More award winning albums followed and Freddie found himself increasingly identified with the political opposition to the Marcos regime. His songs were banned from the tri-media radio, television, print, but this did not hinder him. His efforts reached a stunning crescendo with “BAYAN KO” (my county), an old and plaintive 1933 Filipino folk song to which he added a verse that called the people to the streets in support of a peaceful democratic change. The song became the anthem of a growing revolution, the med “PEOPLE POWER” movement that swept the Marcos dictatorship from power in February, 1986. The people sang “BAYAN KO” in the streets all over the country, but no one could emote its meaning quite life FREDDIE AGUILAR. The PEOPLE POWER won the revolution. The whole world watched as the nation headed for cataclysm with FREDDIE AGUILAR, the only singer songwriter apolitical figure, at the center of a peaceful upheaval that caught the heart and the imagination of the whole world. Freddie Aguilar is a Pinoy rock musician from the Philippines. He is best known for the hit "Bayan Ko", which became anthem for the opposition to the Marcos regime during the 1986 rebellion. One of his hits "Anak" (Filipino word for child), became a worldwide hit and was translated into at least seven languages. Ferdinand Pascual Aguilar, a native of Isabela, was born in February 5, 1953. He studied Electrical Engineering at De Guzman Institute of Technology but did not finish the course. In 1973, he married Josephine Quiepo. One of their children, Maegan Aguilar, also became a singer. When he entered the Metro Manila Popular Music Festival in 1978, Freddy Aguilar was almost completely unknown; within weeks he was possibly the best-known musician in Manila, and he has since consolidated that position to become the best known Filipino musician in the world. The song that took him to such great heights, heard for the first time at the 1978 competition, was "Anak," a folk-rock ballad sung in the local tagalog language. It has since spawned 54 covers in 14 other languages. He subsequently enjoyed great hits with such singles as "Magdalena" and "Bayan Ko." Prior to the release of "Anak," Aguilar cut his teeth peforming cover songs and original material for U.S. military personnel stationed on the Islands. Never one to shy away from politics, he wrote several anti-Marcos songs, including "Katarungang" and his "Bayan Ko" became the theme song for Cory Aquino's anti-Marcos election campaign in 1986. ~ Leon Jackson, All Music Guide Freddie Aguilar is a Pinoy rock musician from the Philippines. He is best known for the hit "Bayan Ko", which became anthem for the opposition to the Marcos regime during the 1986 rebellion.[citation needed] One of his hits "Anak" (Filipino word for child), became a worldwide hit and was translated into at least seven languages. Biography by: Leon Jackson When he entered the Metro Manila Popular Music Festival in 1978, Freddy Aguilar was almost completely unknown; within weeks he was possibly the best-known musician in Manila, and he has since consolidated that position to become the best known Filipino musician in the world. The song that took him to such great heights, heard for the first time at the 1978 competition, was "Anak," a folk-rock ballad sung in the local tagalog language. It has since spawned 54 covers in 14 other languages. He subsequently enjoyed great hits with such singles as "Magdalena" and "Bayan Ko." Prior to the release of "Anak," Aguilar cut his teeth peforming cover songs and original material for U.S. military personnel stationed on the Islands. Never one to shy away from politics, he wrote several anti-Marcos songs, including "Katarungang" and his "Bayan Ko" became the theme song for Cory Aquino's anti-Marcos election campaign in 1986.
