OPM icon Joey Albert sa pag-alis noon sa music industry: The second most painful time in my life

BAKIT nga ba umalis ang OPM icon na si Joey Albert sa music industry mahigit dalawang dekada na ang nakararaan?

Inamin ng veteran singer at OPM hitmaker na ang pamamaalam noon sa minahal niyang industriya ang “second most painful thing” na nangyari sa buhay niya noon.

Taong 1995 nang lisanin niya ang entertainment industry at kalimutan muna ang pagiging singer matapos nagdesisyong manirahan na lang sa Canada.

“I never talk enough about how painful it was. But I have admitted this in concert, only when it’s live and intimate, that it was really… maybe the second most painful time in my life, second after losing my mom,” aniya sa panayam ng “Headstart” sa ANC.

“It was very painful. It literally felt like you are standing on stage with so much people applauding you, then suddenly nag-brownout. Parang ganu’n. Ang dilim, di ko makita. It was very difficult, it was very painful,” lahad ni Joey.

Aniya, halos tatlong taon daw niya itong iniyakan, “I never wanted to let people know in Manila, It was embarrassing to admit that people might say, ‘Oh tingnan mo, umalis-alis ka kasi.’ And I didn’t want to face that then because I wasn’t ready. I was dealing with enough.

“Remember that when I left in 1995, I just had my first cancer. It was a bit too much for me, so I just pretended na lang that everything was okay, but it wasn’t,” kuwento pa niya.

Ngunit naniniwala siya na “it’s God’s purpose” na lisanin niya ang entertainment industry, “Everything that happened to us is God’s purpose, even the hard ones, even the hard times. 

“Because can you imagine after I left, I had cancer two more times. And I could be in no better place than here (Canada) having to face cancer,” sabi pa ni Joey na siyang nagpasikat sa mga OPM classic na “I Remember the Boy,” “Points of View, “Yakapin Mo Ako,”, “Tell Me” at marami pang iba.

Samantala, nabanggit din niya nakakatanggap pa rin siya ng compensation mula sa mga kantang isinulat niya ngunit aniya, ito na ang panahon para isama na ang pagbabayad sa mga performance royalties. 

“I think that they are already working on it. Hindi naman nagpapaiwan ang Pilipinas. I think that now is the time to work on it because, you know, now especially after the pandemic, there are more people with all these new mediums and platforms for music. 

“There are so many young people writing songs. So now is the time get all these royalties and copyright laws right.

“We’ve had it wrong for so long. So now is the time. There’s a lot of fresh blood, new artists braving the new platforms. And I think that the industry owes it to them, to give them a good future,” aniya pa.

Naghahanda na rin si Joey para sa kanyang first virtual major concert bilang bahagi ng kanyang 40th anniversary celebration sa music industry.

Mapapanood ang”Life Begins @ 40: 40 years of Joey Albert’s Music,” sa July 11 sa  KTX.ph habang ang global streaming nito ay sa July 12.