Wolfrando Lavalan Jr. (September 25, 1957 – March 29, 2022), professionally known as Jun Lopito, was a Filipino guitarist. He worked with most of the Philippines' rock bands and singers such as

Pinoy rock Pinoy rock, or Filipino rock, is the brand of rock music produced in the Philippines or by Filipino people, Filipinos. It has become as diverse as the rock music genre itself, and bands adopting this style are now further classified under more s ...

legend

Pepe Smith Joseph William Feliciano Smith (December 25, 1947 – January 28, 2019) was a Filipino-American singer-songwriter, drummer and guitarist. Known by his stage names Joey Smith and Pepe Smith, he gained prominence as drummer / lead vocalist of Sp ...

and ethnic singer

Grace Nono Grace Nono is a Filipino singer, known for her musical style based on traditional Filipino rhythms. She is also an ethnomusicologist, scholar of Philippine shamanism, and cultural worker. Early life and education Grace Nono was born on May 6, 19 ...

Early life

Born as Wolfrando Lavalan Jr., Jun Lopito was the son of Wolfrando Lavalan Sr. better known as "Lopito", a comedian and the original Filipino TV host of Tawag ng Tanghalan in the 1950s. Jun at the age of 8 was caught up in music after seeing The Beatles in concert in 1966. At the age of 17, he played blues and rock. In 1979, the alternative rock and blues band

The Jerks The Jerks is a rock band from the Philippines formed in 1979, and perhaps, is the original alternative rock and blues band in the country. The band has undergone a lot of member changes and notably a lot of the previous members of the band are n ...

was formed and he joined later in the year.

Career

In 1976, Joey Smith of the

band

Juan dela Cruz Juan dela Cruz or Maria dela Cruz (feminized form) is the national personification of the Philippines, often used to represent the " Filipino everyman". He is usually depicted wearing the native '' salakot'' hat, barong tagalog, long pants, ...

during its hiatus formed the band ''The Airwaves''. The band

was formed in 1979 and Lopito joined as a guitarist and left the band in the 90s. The album ''Bodhisattvas'' was released in 1995 as his first solo album on which he composed four of the eleven songs.

Death

Jun died on March 29, 2022, at the age of 64.

Awards

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopito, Jun 1957 births 2022 deaths Filipino rock guitarists Place of birth missing 20th-century guitarists 20th-century Filipino male musicians 21st-century Filipino musicians 20th-century male musicians 21st-century Filipino male musicians 21st-century Filipino guitarists