It is not unusual for the music of Jose Mari Chan to be heard in many Filipino homes, and even commercial establishments, especially during the holiday season. Certainly, the son of a Chinese immigrant who is proudly Filipino and excels in singing and songwriting, never imagined his would be the image symbolizing something so important to Filipinos: family togetherness, as Christmas means to all.
For many years, the songs of Jose Mari Chan have served as landmarks of original Pilipino music because he has been a consistent hitmaker.
Not too many may know that he is the only Filipino artist to have attained unprecedented record sales of 20 times platinum for the Christmas in our Hearts album and 16 times platinum for the Constant Change album. His other albums do not fall below double platinum.
Since 1971, he has also been an active jingle writer in the music industry, creating for a wide range of consumer products and business institutions.
“He writes his songs from the heart, and that makes him more enduring. His songs are lyrical and he has captured the Filipino sentiments,” said back-up singer Kitchie Molina.
Joe’s songs, said musical director Archie Castillo, are influenced by Richard Harris and Henry Mancini. “He has his own distinct sound and style, very distinctly Jose Mari Chan.”
In 1974, Jose Mari Chan was awarded the TOYM as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines. He received the Dangal ng Musikang Pilipino award from the Philippine Association of the Recording Industry and the Antonio C. Barreiro Lifetime Achievement Award from the Metropop Foundation.
It is interesting to note that he starred in several TV specials spotlighting his music. As a concert star, he has performed in major cities all over the Philippines. Abroad, he has headlined shows in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Atlantic City, Washington D.C., Rhode Island, Cherry Hill in New Jersey, Chicago, Virginia, Seattle, San Francisco, Reno in Nevada, San Jose in California, Los Angeles, Guam as well as Toronto. He has also performed in Zurich, Vienna, Paris, Rome, Oslo and various Asian cities like Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bandung and Jakarta.
His songs have been recorded by the biggest names in Philippine music, like Lea Salonga, The Company, Nora Aunor, Pilita Corrales, Sharon Cuneta, Regine Velasquez, the APO Hiking Society, Celeste Legaspi, Anthony Castelo, Jaya, Janet Basco, Cris Villongco and Joey Albert; and also by foreign artists like Kamahl of Australia, Aaron Kwok of Taiwan, Sandy Lam, Sally Yee and Paula Tsui of Hong Kong, Yasuo T. and Tomomi Akimoto of Japan.
When Pope John Paul II was still alive, he, together with Cris Villongco (Armida Siguion-Reyna’s granddaughter), had the privilege of singing at St. Peter’s Square in Rome, Italy, at a Holy Mass for the migrant pilgrims, attended by more than 50,000 people of different nationalities.
“Italy has always been one of my favorite destinations when going on holidays. In fact, it was in Naples and Sorrento where my wife Mary Ann and I had our honeymoon,” reminisced Joe to this journalist with alacrity. “We’ve since gone back to Italy many times, rediscovering San Gimignano, Venice, Florence, Rome and other Italian cities through the eyes of our children (Liza, Jose Antonio, Michael, Franco and Angelica).”
As a child, Joe was not contented with singing nursery rhymes, so he would invent his own music. At 12, he began composing songs. Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka, Teddy Randazzo and Little Richard were his inspirations. That, he remembers, was “an era in the late ‘50s when singing-songwriting became popular.”
He spent his elementary days in a Chinese school and high school at St. Clement’s, both in Iloilo, where he was exposed to literature — to Walt Whitman, Percy Bysshe Shelly, John Keats — who inspired him to write a bit of poetry. But music is “still the dominant thing in me.”
Perhaps, much of the blessings he has now in life must have come because there was a time that his wife Mary Ann and he served in Japan as lay missionaries.
“God expects you to do your best... Life is short, and we cannot always just think of ourselves. The quality of our lives will be measured by how much we have shared with others and by what we have contributed to society,” said Joe, who enjoys what he does and gets a great deal of satisfaction from it.
Asked what he would want his legacy to be, Jose Mari Chan, promptly said, “As a businessman, to substantially improve the lives of all those who work for me. As a father, to bring to this world responsible citizens who will constructively contribute to our society. As an artist and songwriter, to be able to write songs that not only touch lives but will live on long after I’m gone.”