Entertainment
Final bow: Pepe Smith’s last rock n roll at 71
The Philippine music industry mourns as one of the recognized founding fathers of rock in the country – Joseph William Feliciano “Pepe” Smith – takes his final bow at the age of 71.
Ang himig natin
Ang inyong awitin
Upang tayo’y magsama-sama
Sa langit ng pag-asa
Indeed Juan de la Cruz band’s “Ang Himig Natin” composed by none other than Pepe, resonates with the hearts crying for his passing around 7:00 a.m. on Monday, January 28; for now, they can only hear his trademark rock n roll live in their memories.
The news first broke out as one of his daughters, Daisy Smith-Owen took to Facebook to post about it.
“Thank you for everything (my) papa bear ko. Thank you for being the best dad in the world. I know you’re in the best place now, no more pains papa…,” Daisy writes as a caption to a photo with her father.
Scrolling downward in her timeline though is a series of updates regarding her father’s condition moments before.
On 6:48 a.m. she asked her friends to pray for her dad, whom she said was rushed to the hospital that morning.
7:02 a.m. on the clock, Daisy says, “Papa! Don’t! Please!” which was followed by a “Papa… please come back! Don’t leave us! Please come back!” a couple of minutes after.
Meanwhile, his other daughter Sanya Smith uploaded a photo, captioned with a heart and a cloud icon.
No other details were revealed by his family on his cause of death but he has reportedly suffered from stroke in 2017 and undergone a gallbladder surgery in September last year.
As posted in his Facebook timeline, he had shared to his friends and followers on November 2018 that he has a cataract, elaborating that he is “really depressed” in the state that he is in, as he is “hopeless,” “almost blind,” and “useless.”
In 1971, Pepe joined the Juan de la Cruz band founded by Wally Gonzales as a singer-drummer-composer; forming the iconic trio with Mike Hanopol.
