‘RJ na, gising na!’ says Ramon Jacinto, our 80-Year-old teenager

Hi there! This is RJ! I just turned 80 and I’m still here!” Ramon Jacinto said as he welcomed guests to his birthday celebration.

It was a rainy Tuesday evening, but the storm outside was no match for the electric energy inside the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium at RCBC Plaza, where guests arrived in their evening best — some in sleek leather, others in denim and pearls — for a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of Ramon Jacinto, more popularly known simply as “RJ.”

To mark his milestone 80th birthday, the multihyphenate icon — rock star, entrepreneur and radio pioneer — threw a private “Thank You Concert” attended by the who’s who of Manila society, business, law, and the arts. It was RJ’s way of expressing gratitude to family, friends, and collaborators who have accompanied him on his 65-year musical adventure — a journey that began in 1960 when, at just 15, he strummed the first notes of a movement that would reshape OPM forever.

Despite the downpour, guests filled the hall. Many could be seen clapping — even dancing — as Mel Villena’s AMP Big Band opened the show with a brassy, big-band bang, followed by the celebrant playing his original musical songs which he composed as a high school teenager at the Ateneo.

Sitti Navarro kicked things off with a bossa take on Gloria Estefan’s Conga, followed by Jose Mari Chan’s duet with RJ on the 1960s Italian classic, Legata Ad Un Granello di Sabbia. The Divine Diva herself, Zsa Zsa Padilla, channeled Chuck Berry’s spirit with Back in the USA, while concert king Martin Nievera and RJ charmed the crowd with You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling and Hound Dog. The surprise showstopper was Journey’s global frontman Arnel Pineda who brought the house down with Unchained Melody and Summer of ’69.

The concert closed in a fever of nostalgia, with RJ leading a rock ‘n’ roll medley that ended in a gleeful chant of “Rock, rock, rock everybody!” Truly, a night that was more than a concert — it was history, heart, and harmony rolled into one.