On Tonight with Boy Abunda, American singer-composer-producer Richard Marx talked about what it feels like to be connected to a country like the Philippines. “I only really came here a few years ago and I sat down and started to sing ‘Hold On To The Night’ and the audience just took over. And I started singing ‘Right Here Waiting’ and the audience just took over … I will say this you know, It’s stunning to me how something I just made up in my head one day, is something that people sing in a country that I had never been to.”

He jokingly adds, “And in the Philippines, you guys sing really well…. And it’s like people sing my songs to me and…. sweet…. but I don't need to hear that…. You guys should record it.”

Host Boy Abunda told Richard that Filipinos love Luther Vandross’s “Dance With My Father,” which Boy surprisingly found out, was co-written and produced by Richard.

Richard told Boy how he made the song with Luther. “It was the last song that Luther ever wrote and he and I were dear friends for a long time… He had the idea for ‘Dance With My Father’ based on his father. Luther lost his father when he was very young, like 12 (years old.) And he knew that I was very close to my father, and when I lost my father, Luther was pretty much the only friend I had at that time who knew how to talk to me… Everybody tried to be of comfort to me, but somehow Luther knew what to say to me, that made me feel a little bit better. So we had that history about our fathers so it made sense for him, he said you’re the only person I could co-write this song.”