True Faith co-founder Ferdie Marquez dies

FERDIE MARQUEZ, one of the founding members of Original Pilipino Music (OPM) band True Faith, passed away on Sunday due to a heart attack.

His passing was confirmed by the band’s lead vocalist, Medwin Marfil, in a post on True Faith’s Facebook page the same day.

“It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news of (True Faith original member) Ferdie Marquez’s passing,” Mr. Marfil wrote in the post.

He described Mr. Marquez as a “talented, gifted musician and a caring friend,” and extended his condolences to his family.

“Thank you for sharing your great talent and music with everyone,” he said.

Mr. Marquez, alongside Mr. Marfil and Kiko Guevarra worked for Fullerton Studios in 1991 and jammed in their spare time which led to the creation of their demo song, “Perfect,” a ballad with “jangling guitars and longing vocals a la the Railway Children and the Lotus Eaters.”

Mr. Marquez played the drums for the band.

The song became a hit on radio and the band released their debut album, Perfect, a year later after having signed with record label Octo Arts.

The band, initially known for its New Wave leanings (the band name was taken from New Order’s 1987 hit, “True Faith”) got its biggest break in 1995 with the release of Build under EMI Records. The album featured songs such as “Kun’di Rin Lang Ikaw” and “Alaala.”

The 1994 hit, “Huwag na Lang Kaya,” from the album Beyond Doubt, won the Awit Award for Best Pop Recording and for Best Engineered Recording.

In 2006 the group sang the theme song for ABS-CBN’s drama series Sa Piling Mo, which starred Judy Ann Santos and Piolo Pascual. The song, “Dahil Ikaw,” won the Favorite Media Soundtrack in the 2007 MYX Music Awards. The song was also part of their 11th album, Stray to be Found, released in 2006.

The band has released 14 albums to date, with the latest, Sentimental, released in 2018.

After the announcement, singer/songwriter Moy Ortiz of The CompanY commented on the post with “My deepest condolences to you, to the band and the families.”

Singer/songwriter Ogie Alcasid also extended his condolences in a comment.

“Ferdie Marquez, one of True Faith’s founders, passed away today. My heart is heavy. Salamat Ferdie for always being a good friend to me,” Ebe Dancel wrote on Twitter. — ZBC