Legendary guitarist, Wally Gonzalez, 71, of the Filipino rock group Juan de la Cruz Band, died on Friday, July 23.
His son, John Gonzalez, confirmed his father’s death in a Facebook post that said Wally “passed away peacefully in his sleep earlier this morning.” A short wake for Wally’s friends will be arranged post-cremation.
Wally formed the Juan de la Cruz Band in 1968, along with drummer Edmund Fortuno and after its initial success the band split up with Edmund and other members forming the Anak Bayan band.
The guitarist reconvened the band with Mike Hanopol on bass and the late Joey “Pepe” Smith on lead vocals and drums.
The band went on to release songs like “Himig Natin,” “Beep Beep,” “Titser’s Enemy No. 1” and “Rock and Roll sa Ulan,”.
Wally released the albums Tunog Pinoy (1977) and On The Road (1978) with the latter featuring guitarist’s trademark song of four-and-a-half-minute instrumental track, “Wally’s Blues.”
Wally gave up music in 1988 to take up corporate jobs and playing only once in 10 years before he performed at a reunion concert with his Juan de la Cruz bandmates.
He returned to the music scene after retiring from the corporate world in 2002 and performed again with Pepe and Mike and later formed the group, Wally and Friends.
He was afflicted with health issues in recent years and underwent colon surgery in 2018 and suffered from a stroke in January. (AW)
