Even after the death of composer Renee de la Rosa—also known as Alon—and belated singer of the cult song “Pusong Bato,” the pop hit has been taking the whole country by storm.
It is because the original chanteuse of the song Aimee Torres is still very much around and giving her own interpretation to the creation of Alon.
“Pusong Bato” has left so many memories—good and bad, amusing and amazing—not only to de la Rosa but to Aimee as well.
According to Torres, in every place she sang the song, there were unforgettable memories like when she staged a series of concerts in Laguna Province in the early millennium until before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Ang lagi kong naaalala, ‘yong isang performance ko sa Laguna, nakalimutan ko na lang ‘yong bayan. Sigawan nang sigawan ‘yong mga tao habang kinakanta ko ‘yong ‘Pusong Bato.’ Ako naman, kaway nang kaway habang kumakanta (What I remember was one of my performances in Laguna, I just forgot what town it was. The people were shouting and yelling while I was singing. I was just waving and smiling at the audience).
“Ang hindi nila alam, may pumasok na atangya sa bibig ko. Alam mo ‘yon, mabaho ang atangya, di ba? Ito ‘yong kasama ‘yong bulaklak na kinapitan niya. Grabe. Pero kailangan kong ipagpatuloy ang pagkanta ko kahit na naglalaro sa bibig ko ‘yong atangya. Hindi ako nagpapahalata na nakalunok na ako ng atangya (I didn’t notice, there was an atangya—a sap-feeding insect from flowers—that went in to my mouth. You know how bad the smell was of atangya, right? My God! But I had to go on with my singing even if the atangya was in my mouth. I didn’t show any sign of disgust when I already swallowed it as I smiled warmly and went on singing),” Aimee chuckled.
Torres said she will go on singing her signature song no matter there’s feedback she couldn’t sing it anymore because Renee is already gone.