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Hajji Alejandro

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In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Toledo and the surname or paternal family name is Alejandro.
Hajji Alejandro
Alejandro performing in a well-decorated room
Alejandro performing in Bayambang in 2024
Background information
Birth nameAngelito Toledo Alejandro
Born(1954-12-26)December 26, 1954
Manila, Philippines
DiedApril 21, 2025(2025-04-21) (aged 70)
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Musician, actor
InstrumentVocals
Years active1973–2025
Formerly ofCircus Band
(1973–1976)
Lovelife

Angelito Toledo "Hajji" Alejandro[1] (Tagalog: [ˈhadʒi ʔɐlɛˈhandɾɔ]; December 26, 1954 – April 21, 2025) was a Filipino singer[2] and actor who was a major pop star in the 1970s and 1980s.[3]

One of the first original Pilipino music (OPM) icons,[1] Alejandro's singing career started from being a member of the Circus Band[4] within almost three years, along with Basil Valdez who had discovered him,[1] before going solo in 1976.[4] At that time, he was dubbed the original "Kilabot ng mga Kolehiyala"[a][4]

Alejandro interpreted the song "Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika", which eventually won grand prizes at the first editions of the Metro Manila Popular Music Festival and the International Seoul Song Festival in South Korea in 1978.[1] He was also best known for songs, "Tag-Araw, Tag-ulan" and "Panakip-butas" (both adaptations of foreign songs), as well as "May Minamahal" and "Nakapagtataka."[4][5]

Early life and education

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Angelito was born in Manila on December 26, 1954, to Edgardo Alejandro and Aida Toledo.[2] He was the oldest of two sons from a family which had been involved in music. His relatives in the mother side consisted of professional musicians mostly playing percussions, including his uncle, 1950s popular singer Paquito Toledo. His nickname, "Hajji", came from the song "Hajji Baba" by Nat King Cole.[1]

Alejandro took a management course at the Ateneo de Manila University,[1][4] where he was discovered.[1] However, he left college after his second year to concentrate on his music career.[1]

Career

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Music career

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With the Circus Band and Lovelife

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Alejandro was the youngest member of the Circus Band,[1] one of the popular music groups in the 1970s,[6][7] where his career began.[8][9] The band also produced other soloists,[1] including Tillie Moreno,[6][7][8][9] Pat Castillo,[6][7][9] and balladeer Basil Valdez.[8][9]

Alejandro once recalled that Valdez, an Ateneo alumni, "discovered" him and recruited him to join the band following his performance at the university with his classmates from San Beda.[1]

He had been singing professionally since June 1973,[4] at the time he was an Ateneo freshman,[1] when he was paid to sing "If You Don't Know Me By Now" by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, with the band at the Wells Fargo nightclub on Dewey (now Roxas) Boulevard.[1][4] Every night, he received the sum of ₱35 for his acts.[1] During almost three years with the group, Alejandro recorded at least four albums with them.[1]

After the breakup of the Circus Band, Alejandro, Valdez and Moreno formed a band for a while, named Lovelife.[10]

Solo career

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Alejandro went solo in 1976[1][11] with the help of lyricist Willy Cruz,[1][4] then musical director of the rival band, the Ambivalent Crowd,[4] who would be his mentor.[11] He had worked as a singer for Cruz's advertising jingles.[1] Alejandro met Cruz who had left Vicor Records[1] and became the president of the upstart JEM Records,[1][4] where the former became one of the first signed artists.[4]

Among his first hit singles[11] were "Panakip-butas,"[b] an adaptation of the 5th Dimension's "Worst That Could Happen"; and "Tag-araw, Tag-ulan," that of the Bee Gees' "Charade".[1][4] In 2018, Alejandro shared in a concert that "May Minamahal" was the first song he recorded and became a hit.[13]

In 1977, his first album, Hajji, was released.[11] To promote this, he did a nationwide campus tour which subsequently earned him the moniker,[11] the original "Kilabot ng mga Kolehiyala."[a][4]

Alejandro was later introduced by Cruz to (now National Artist for Music) Ryan Cayabyab,[11] also from the same recording label.[1][11] He interpreted "Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika",[6] composed by Cayabyab, for the inaugural Metro Manila Popular Music Festival (Metropop) in 1978[1][11]—his first time to join a singing competition[11]—winning the grand prize.[14][1][11] Later that year, Alejandro and Cayabyab represented the country in the first International Music Festival in Seoul, South Korea,[1][6] where they took the Grand Prix for the song, and Alejandro the Best Singer. That Filipino song became the first to win the highest award in an international song competition.[11]

Alejandro went on hiatus since the late 1980s[1] as he went to the United States for a non-showbiz venture.[14] The hiatus ended prior to the end of his business in early 1990s, as he had his first weekend concert with his daughter Rachel at the Music Museum.[1]

In his later years, he performed particularly for Filipinos abroad,[9] with Rachel in their shows; as well as with the group collectively known as The OPM Hitmakers—also composed of Rey Valera, Marco Sison, Nonoy Zuñiga and Rico J. Puno.[8][9]

Acting career

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His popularity as a pop singer led Regal Films to sign him up to do movies. His initial movie appearance—"Panakip-butas" with Nora Aunor and Trixia Gomez, based on one of his hit songs—became a box office success. However, he later decided to leave the movie industry and to focus more on his singing career, as he felt uncomfortable doing mature scenes on the first shooting day for another movie.[14]

He was also involved in musical theater plays.[14]

Business career

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Leaving his music career, Alejandro moved to Los Angeles, California, where he stayed since 1987, and set up a restaurant along Melrose Avenue with his wife, Rio Diaz. However, Diaz decided to return to the Philippines after about three years. Meanwhile, the business being managed by Alejandro was affected by recession, and eventually closed. He sold his house and likewise went home in 1992.[1]

Political views

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In 1986, Alejandro and his then-partner Rio Diaz campaigned for the reelection of president Ferdinand Marcos in the 1986 snap election, with the two continuing to support him even after his overthrow in the People Power Revolution.[15][16]

Personal life and death

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Alejandro was married twice.[1] His first wife was Myrna Demauro,[17] with whom he had two daughters, Barney and singer Rachel.[1]

The second was beauty queen and actress Rio Diaz; they were likewise separated after Diaz went back to the Philippines from the United States around 1990.[1] They had a son,[1] Delara drummer Ali. Diaz died of colorectal cancer in October 2004.[18]

Alejandro was in a long-term relationship with former New Minstrels (another 1970s music group) singer Alynna Velasquez since 1998.[1] In March 2025, Velasquez revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer.[19] He died from the disease on April 21.[20] His cremated remains were later interred at the Heritage Park after a one-day private wake which was held two days later.[21]

Discography

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Albums

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  • Hajji (first album, 1977)[11]
  • 18 Greatest Hits
  • Collection
  • Pagbabalik (1992)[22]
  • Hajji Alejandro 25: The Silver Anniversary Album (launched May 30, 1999) — released by BMG Records Pilipinas; contains 14 re-recorded songs.[12]

Singles

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b "Kilabot ng mga Kolehiyala" is translated variously: scourge of coeds (young female students);[1] college girls' dream boy.[9]
  2. ^ a b "Panakip Butas"[12] or "Panakip-butas"[1][4] is a Filipino slang for a standby boyfriend.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an Arceo–Dumlao, Tina (February 2, 2014). "Hajji… Now! Heartthrobs Never Die: They Just Get a Second Wind". Lifestyle Inquirer. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Alejandro, Hajji". CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art — Volume VI: Philippine music. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines. 1994. ISBN 971-8546-40-5. Retrieved April 25, 2025 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Lockard, Craig A. (1998). Dance of Life: Popular Music and Politics in Southeast Asia. University of Hawaii Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-8248-1918-7.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Arceo-Dumlao, Tina (2021). Himig at Titik: A Tribute to OPM Songwriters. Makati: Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. pp. 152–153. ISBN 978-971-8935-41-5. Retrieved April 22, 2025 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "Hajji and Rachel Alejandro in Tagaytay". Manila Bulletin. February 14, 2003. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  6. ^ a b c d e Salterio, Leah (March 4, 2003). "Bringing back the glorious '70s through artists and hits". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Makati. p. A30. Retrieved April 22, 2025 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ a b c Torre, Noelani (September 13, 2003). "Satisfying mix of clubby and sentimental tunes". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Makati. p. D2. Retrieved April 22, 2025 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ a b c d "For Hajji Alejandro and Rico J. Puno, performing 'never gets old'". Interaksyon. Philstar.com. May 22, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Martinez, Maridel (November 7, 2024). 'It isn't a job, it's something I love to do': Hajji Alejandro on his fifty-one years in the industry (Audio). SBS Filipino (Podcast) (in Tagalog). Crows Nest, New South Wales: Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  10. ^ Ramos Balasbas–Gancayco, Dot (September 25, 2012). "Tillie shares her gift of song". The Philippine Star. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Salterio, Leah (January 9, 2021). "Behind the Music: 'Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika' by Hajji Alejandro". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  12. ^ a b c "Artists & Music". Billboard — Asia Pacific Quarterly. New York City: Billboard Music Group. August 7, 1999. p. APQ-7. Retrieved April 22, 2025 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sabio, Nikka (April 22, 2025). "Honoring the Philippines' 'Kilabot ng Mga Kolehiyala': The music of Hajji Alejandro". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d Sicam, Edmund (October 20, 2001). "Rachel and Hajji Alejandro perform at Captain's Bar". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Makati. p. E2. Retrieved April 22, 2025 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ "Top advertisers withdraw from movie talk shows". Manila Standard. Standard Publications, Inc. March 17, 1987. p. 13. Retrieved May 20, 2021. Marcos loyalist couple Rio Diaz and Hadji Alejandro [sic] were spotted by our staff in Laoag, Ilocos Norte a few days ago.
  16. ^ "More stars join KBL campaign". Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. January 30, 1986. AS THE Feb. 7 election nears, more and more showbiz personalities have signified their support for the KBL campaign.
  17. ^ Salterio, Leah (April 22, 2025). "OPM legend Hajji Alejandro passes away". ABS-CBN. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  18. ^ "Ex-NegOcc solon Cojuangco passes away". Panay News. February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  19. ^ Pasajol, Anne (March 21, 2025). "Hajji Alejandro diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, recovering after surgery". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  20. ^ Requintina, Robert (April 22, 2025). "Hajji Alejandro passes away at 70: The OPM icon who fought colon cancer". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  21. ^ Amoyo, Aster (April 24, 2025). "Hajji na-cremate na, Rachel 'di umabot" [Hajji was cremated, Rachel never reached [Hajji's interment]]. Pang-Masa (in Tagalog). Philstar Global Corp. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
  22. ^ Paras, Mina (August 22, 1992). "A much mellowed "kilabot" is back". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 20. Retrieved November 3, 2020. These days, Hajji, whose latest album, "Pagbabalik," has recently been released and hitting the airlanes...
  23. ^ a b c d e Tunac, Hermes Joy (April 22, 2025). "Hajji Alejandro: 5 songs to remember the OPM icon by". GMA Integrated News. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
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