Tovic Salvador

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Leah C. Salterio

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17572110698871000004462.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Nonoy Zuñiga at his &#x27;Beyond Gold: Songs of a Lifetime&#x27; concert. Ogie Narvaez Rodrigues</div>OPM balladeer Nonoy Zuñiga has been often tagged as the Lou Rawls of the Philippines. He was admittedly flattered to be compared to the noted baritone, but he insisted he is Nonoy Zuñiga and there can be no one else like him.In his concert Friday night at the Newport Performing Arts Theater (NPAT), Zuñiga proved just that. After years of not staging a solo concert, he marked his 50 years in the music scene with a blast.Two weeks before the concert &quot;Beyond Gold: Songs of a Lifetime,&quot; tickets were already sold out. Bossa nova princess Andrea Gutierrez, Raymond Gorospe and Isha Ponti delivered the front act early on to the full-house crowd Gutierrez rendered “Fly Me To the Moon,” “The Way You Look Tonight” and “Salamat Musika.” Gorospe crooned “Basta’t Kasama Kita,” “You Are My Song,” “Kahit Isang Saglit” and “Say That You Love Me.”  Ponti gave the crowd her original songs “Tangan,” “Kabang Kaba” and “Dyahe.”Zuñiga was hoisted up to the stage from a mechanical platform and he started his concert not with two of his songs – “Pure Imagination” and Sadao Watanabe’s “Fill Up the Night with Music” – to mark his 50th anniversary.Then he rendered the line that he instead uses when he greets everyone wherever he goes. He breaks the ice not with one hello, but “Kumusta Ka,” his hit ballad that has been popular with the audience, as well.Understandably, there were a lot of elderly in the crowd, perhaps born on the same decade Zuñiga blazed into the music scene in the mid-&#x27;70s. There were those who made an effort to watch in wheelchairs and came aided with their canes.In whatever way, they made it a point to come and experience anew – perhaps after a long time – the music of Zuñiga. He even reminded them to drink their maintenance medicines. There were those who came with friends, partners, family, significant others and loved ones. Zuñiga got into the world of films by interpreting songs used as themes, particularly those penned by the late Willy Cruz -- “Mahawi Man ang Ulap” and “Init sa Magdamag” (with lyrics by Baby Gil).But Zuñiga also starred in a film with Vilma Santos, Gil Portes’ “Never Ever Say Goodbye” (1983).Zuñiga’s influences in music were his father, a Vietnam War veteran, and his mother, now 93 years old and in the audience that night.Zuñiga sang “Moon River,” the song used by his mom to put him to sleep, along with “Fascination” and “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”Perhaps the mom couldn’t be any prouder when she saw Zuñiga perform with his brothers – Zebedee (a voice coach) and Zoe (who performs with a vintage band) – and they did the ‘60s medley of The Beatles’ “She Loves You,” The Critters’ “Mr. Dieingly Sad” and Turtles’ “Happy Together.”With guests Marco Sison and Rey Valera, Zuñiga rendered “Doon Lang.” They used to be part of The Hitmakers with Hajji Alejandro and Rico Puno. But now that the two artists had passed on, Valera joked they now want to call themselves The Survivors. Sison and Valera were given their spot numbers with Sison dishing out his latest ballad, “Sabik na Puso” and Valera with his old time hit, “Pangako sa ‘Yo.”<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17572111792701000004460.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Nonoy Zuñiga with Marco Sison and Rey Valera. Ogie Narvaez Rodrigues</div>Zuñiga displayed his flair for playing the guitar and carried out the familiar tunes when he started as a folk singer in 1972 – James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain,” Don McLean’s “Vincent” and John Denver’s “CTake Me Home, Country Roads.”“Those were the good old days and I will never forget them because they make me more grateful for what I have now,” Zuñiga told the crowd. “That’s going back further to my roots.“There are many songs, but there are special and memorable ones,” Zuñiga added. “There are special and memorable ones. There are songs that speak of your purpose.”Pop diva Kuh Ledesma joined Zuñiga onstage in “You’ll Never Find Another Me.” They briefly shared about their heyday as members of their respective bands – she as part of Ensalada Band and he as a member of the Family Birth Control Band – after which Ledesma was given her own spotlight with “One More Try.”Lani Misalucha also did a duet with Zuñiga on “Starting Over Again” and “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You,” then she gave the crowd her latest single, “Aking Tatanggapin.”Zuñiga paid tribute to Alejandro by singing “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika,” Anthony Castelo with “Balat-Kayo” and Darius Razon with “Everybody Knows.”He then started rendering his own songs – “Love Without Time,” ‘Araw Gabi” by National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, even “Basang Basa sa Ulan,” “Fragments of Forever,” his biggest hit, “Never Ever Say Goodbye” – and never faltered.  The voice remained the same, as when he first rendered hit that started with the version Zuñiga sang four decades ago and segued to his live version onstage.Calvin Murphy Neria was at the helm, musical director was Bobby Gomez and scriptwriter was Noel Ferrer. Backup vocals were Zebedee Zuñiga, Angie Gomez, Gail Blanco and Mamie Jereza. It was produced by Echo Jham Entertainment Productions, DMC Philippines and Ponti Entertainment Productions.“My life and my extraordinary journey in the music industry has never been easy,” admitted Zuñiga “It has been marked with a lot of challengesIn the audience that night were Dulce, Chad Borja, concert producer Jessie Cambosa and even jazz pianist-composer David Benoit, who, incidentally, performed at NPAT in a one-night concert Saturday night, September 6.Zuñiga thanked his audience for being part of his “extraordinary journey.” A repeat is immediately in the planning stage to be presented within the year, too.

Nonoy Zuñiga marked his 50th year in music with a sold-out concert at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, taking fans on an “extraordinary journey” through his timeless hits, memorable duets, and heartfelt tributes.

Nonoy Zuñiga marked his 50th year in music with a sold-out concert at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, taking fans on an “extraordinary journey” through his timeless hits, memorable duets, and heartfelt tributes.

Concert review: Nonoy Zuñiga proves timeless in sold-out 50th anniversary show

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Concert review: Nonoy Zuñiga proves timeless in sold-out 50th anniversary show

Leah C. Salterio

Published Sep 07, 2025 10:36 AM PHT

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