Victor Nobleza Wood (February 1, 1946 – April 23, 2021) was a Filipino singer, actor and politician. His voice earned him various titles, including "Jukebox King" and "Plaka King". Before becoming a singer, Wood starred in some productions of

Sampaguita Pictures Sampaguita Pictures was a Philippine film production company. It was named for the Philippine national flower, sampaguita. Though no longer functioning, the company's Sampaguita Compound remains in Quezon City. History Sampaguita Pictures was e ...

. He was a member of

Iglesia ni Cristo The (INC; ; ) is an independent Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church founded in 1913 and registered by Felix Manalo, Félix Manalo in 1914 as a corporation sole, sole religious corporation ...

. He previously hosted the show ''Beautiful Sunday'' every Sunday on the Iglesia ni Cristo-owned Net25. Wood died on April 23, 2021, due to COVID-19 complications.

Early life

Victor Nobleza Wood was born on February 1, 1946, in

Buhi, Camarines Sur Buhi, officially the Municipality of Buhi (Albay Bikol language, Buhinon: ''Banwaan nya Buhi''; Rinconada Bikol language, Rinconada Bikol: ''Banwāan ka Buhi''; Tagalog language, Tagalog: ''Bayan ng Buhi''), is a municipality of the Philippines, ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

to Sgt. Kocky Wood and Rosario "Tiyang Saring" Nobleza. His mother was well known in Buhi and neighboring towns for selling herbal medications and perfumes. He studied and finished secondary school at Jose Abad Santos High.

Musical career

Wood's voice earned him various titles, including Jukebox King and Plaka King in the 1970s when his career bloomed. In 1972, Wood released his third album ''In Despair''. He became a very popular singer of that era and recorded many albums for Vicor Records. ''In Despair'' is an album of

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of popular English songs from the 1950s and 1960s. Three songs on the album, namely "

Jenny Jenny ''Jenny Jenny'' () is a 1966 Greek comedy film directed by Dinos Dimopoulos. Cast * Tzeni Karezi - ''Jenny Skoutari'' * Dionysis Papagiannopoulos - ''Kosmas Skoutaris'' * Andreas Barkoulis - ''Nikos Mantas'' * Mary Lalopoulou - ''Diana Kassan ...

", " Rip It Up" and "

Good Golly Miss Molly In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil. The specific meaning and etymology of the term and its ...

", were originally hits for Little Richard in the 1950s. The album has a combination of slow and fast songs, and the slow ballads include "In Despair", "Vaya Con Dios", "Have a Good Time", "Hurt" and "Return to Me". The album's ballads are highly favorable to karaoke singing, and a number of them are still heard in karaoke nightspots. Among the album's upbeat songs are versions of Roy Orbison's "

Pretty Woman ''Pretty Woman'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall and written by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and features Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy (in his final performance), ...

", Gene Vincent's " Be-Bop-a-Lula" and Del Shannon's "

Runaway Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

". In 1974, Wood released his eleventh album, ''Ihilak''. Eleven of the album's 12 songs are Philippine folk love songs sung in the

Visayan language The Bisayan languages or Visayan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken in the Philippines. They are most closely related to Tagalog and the Bikol languages, all of which are part of the Central Philippine languages. Mos ...

. The remaining song, "Gugma Ko", uses the melody of Neil Diamond's "

Song Sung Blue "Song Sung Blue" is a 1972 hit song written and recorded by Neil Diamond, inspired by the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto #21. It was released on Diamond's album '' Moods'', and later appeared on many of Diamond's live and compilatio ...

" and replaces the original English lyrics with Visayan-language ones. In 1979, Wood covered the

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

version of "

Anak Anak (; , homophone to a word for "giant, long neck, necklace"; ) is a figure in the Hebrew Bible. His descendants are mentioned in narratives concerning the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites. According to the Book of Numbers, Anak was a foref ...

" from the fellow Filipino original artist

Freddie Aguilar Ferdinand "Freddie" Pascual Aguilar (; February 5, 1953 – May 27, 2025), also known by his Muslim name Abdul Farid, was a Filipino musician regarded as one of the pillars and icons of Original Pilipino Music (OPM). He was best known for his i ...

. Wood and his family migrated to the United States in the late 1970s.

Acting career

Aside from singing, Wood was also an actor who starred in various films until 1979.

Later life and death

Wood ran for the

Senate of the Philippines The Senate of the Philippines () is the upper house of Congress of the Philippines, Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House of Representatives as the lower house. The ...

during the

2007 Philippine general election Legislative and local elections were held in the Philippines on May 14, 2007. Positions contested included half the seats in the Senate, which are elected for six-year terms, and all the seats in the House of Representatives, who were elected f ...

under the KBL banner, but lost. According to his third wife, Nerissa, Wood died of complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on April 23, 2021.

Personal life

Wood had two children with his second wife, Ofelia Mercado Ponce, whom he met during his stay in the United States. The couple had a son, Simon, and a daughter, Sydney Victoria.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

*''I'm Sorry My Love'' (June 1970, Vicor) *''Mr. Lonely'' (1971) *''In Despair'' (1972) *''Memories'' (1972) *''14 Bestsellers'' *''Blue Christmas'' *''

Knock on Wood Knock on Wood may refer to: * Knocking on wood, an act of superstition Music * Knock on Wood (Eddie Floyd song), "Knock on Wood" (Eddie Floyd song), a 1966 song by Eddie Floyd, covered by many performers * Knock on Wood (Amii Stewart album), '' ...

'' *''His Majesty'' *''Victor Wood Music'' *''Wood, I Love You'' *''Ihilak'' (1974, Plaka Pilipino) *''Pilipino'' *''Kalyehon 29'' *''Love Is'' *''Wooden Heart'' *''Sincerely'' *''Follow Me'' *''Karon or Visayan Hitsongs Collection Vol. 2'' *''Moods'' *''Victor Wood'' (1979, Blackgold) *''Bintana ng Puso'' *''Kumusta Ka, Mahal'' *''If I See You Again'' *''Padre'' *''Inday ng Buhay Ko'' *''You're My Everything'' (1997, Alpha Music Corporation) *''Victor Wood: Ngayon'' (2002,

VIVA Records Viva Records Corporation, commonly known as Viva Records, is a Philippine record label owned by Viva Music Group, a subsidiary of Viva Communications. History Viva Records was established in 1986, 6 years after Vic del Rosario Jr. left Vicor ...

)

Compilation albums

*''Special Collectors Edition: Malupit Na Pag-ibig'' (1994, Vicor) *''Special Collectors Edition: Mr. Lonely'' (1994, Vicor) *''Carmelita 4CD: Vicor Music 40th Anniversary Collection'' (2006, Vicor) *''Special Collectors Edition: You Are My Destiny'' (2008, Vicor) *''18 Greatest Hits: Victor Wood'' (2009, Vicor)

Live albums

*''One Man Show''

Collaboration albums

*''Jukebox King & Queen'' (with

Imelda Papin Imelda Arcilla Papin (born January 26, 1956) is a Filipino singer and politician. Known as the "Sentimental Songstress," she rose to fame in the late 1970s with hits such as "Bakit (Kung Liligaya Ka sa Piling ng Iba)" and "Isang Linggong Pag-ib ...

) (1999, D'Concorde)

Songs

*"Love Can Fly" *"Take My Hand for a While" *"Oh My Love" *"I Don't Want Your Lovin' Anymore" *"Here's My Happiness" *"I'm Gonna Make You Mine" *"

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical comedy ''Roberta (musical), Roberta''. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. It was first recor ...

" *"

The Great Pretender "The Great Pretender" is a popular song recorded by the Platters, with Tony Williams on lead vocals, and released as a single in November 1955. The words and music were written by Buck Ram, the Platters' manager and producer who was a successf ...

" *"Tiny Bubbles" *"The Miracle of Christmas" *"Young and Beautiful" *"For Mama" *"Rock Around the Clock" *"Rock Your Baby" *"Dick and Jane" *" Don't Cry Joni" *"Where Can She Be" *"Pagbati (Feelings)" *"Love Is a Pain in the Heart" *"Let's Sing a Christmas Song" *"

" (

Version; Original in

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

by Freddie Aguilar)

Notes

References

External links

Victor Wood's Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Victor 1946 births 2021 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines 20th-century Filipino male singers Manila sound musicians Filipino people of American descent Singers from Camarines Sur Male actors from Camarines Sur Politicians from Camarines Sur Bicolano politicians Bicolano actors Filipino actor-politicians Kilusang Bagong Lipunan politicians Members of Iglesia ni Cristo Vicor Music artists Filipino male film actors