Ely Eleandre Basiño Buendia or commonly known as Ely Buendia, is a Filipino musician, singer, songwriter, and author who was discovered as the guitarist, lead vocalist and main songwriter of the famous ‘Eraserheads’ (a Filipino alternative rock band formed in 1989) and also the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ‘Pupil’ (a Filipino rock band which was formed in late 2004 to 2005).
On November 2, 1970, around 6:20 in the morning, Buendia was born in Naga City at his parents’ house. He is Ely Revilla Buendia and Lisetta Ruiz Basiño’s second child. In Ragay, Camarines Sur, on October 30, 1964, his parents got married. When he began playing the guitar at the age of seven, his mother taught him Kundiman for the first time. Buendia completed his elementary education at Pasig Catholic College in Pasig in 1983, his high school education at University of Perpetual Help in Rizal, and his preparatory education at Naga Parochial School, a Catholic institution in Naga City, Camarines Sur. After enrolling at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Ely went on to create a number of bands, including ‘Sunday School’ and ‘Bluidie Tryste’, before becoming the ‘Eraserheads’.
At the University of the Philippines Diliman, when Buendia was majoring in cinema at the College of Mass Communications (having started his first year of college in 1987), he, Raimund Marasigan, Marcus Adoro, and Buddy Zabala established the band Eraserheads in December 1989. After realizing they were not very good at covering other people’s songs, the band decided to write more of their own songs.
Soon enough, the Eraserheads and BMG Pilipinas agreed to a three-year contract. Their first album called ‘Ultraelectromagneticpop!’ featured a number of novelty songs that got people listening and learning more about the band, including their number-one song ‘Pare Ko.’ The record also made the public aware of the nascent underground college rock movement. The surge of “Eraserheadsmania” in 1993 was fueled by their string of hit singles, packed arenas, and devoted fan base.
Buendia kept penning songs for the group, several of which went on to become band standards and major singles. With the departure of Buendia and Adoro, Eraserheads eventually broke up after ten years together. The band released eight studio albums, many EPs, and singles over its ten-year tenure. Their trips around the US and other nations carried them outside of the nation for their engagements. The Asia-Pacific area saw the publication of one album, Aloha Milkyway. In addition, Eraserheads became the first Filipino group to ever win the “Moon Man” award for their popular song “Ang Huling El Bimbo” music video, which took home the 1997 MTV Asia Viewer’s Choice Award. Buendia also wrote the latter, one of the band’s many releases.
August 30, 2008, was a one-night-only reunion event at The Fort Open Grounds in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, where Buendia performed with Adoro, Zabala, and Marasigan. But once Buendia passed out from emotional strain, the show had to halt. Ely apparently passed out backstage during a break and was taken to the Makati Medical Center, although they had already reached halfway through their scheduled 30-song setlist. The findings indicated that Buendia had hypokalemia and a mild episode. This is Buendia’s third angioplasty since 2007, which was carried out immediately after the physicians at Philippine Heart Center discovered another clogged artery. The hospital released Buendia on September 5, 2008.
The influence of Ely Buendia on Philippine music goes beyond only his compositions. He is regarded as a national treasure and a representation of the lively music landscape of the nation. His compositions, which express the hopes, challenges, and aspirations of Filipinos, have become anthems for successive generations of Filipinos. Numerous bands and musicians who have drawn inspiration from Buendia’s work attest to his effect on Filipino songwriting.
This is proved through his last major appearance on ‘Last Rakrakan Festival.’ Capstone-Intel’s social intelligence report revealed that fans shows continuous support for Ely based on the research company’s study conducted last November 28, year 2022 to November 28 of this year 2023.
On social media platform, Facebook, a comprehensive analysis of 113,600 reactions reveals the following breakdown: 59,071 (52%) were distinguished as likes, 44,751 (39%) were categorized as ‘love’ reactions, 8,252 (7%) ‘wow’ reactions, 1,408 (1%) were ‘haha’ reactions, 99 (0.087%) were ‘sad’ reactions, and 19 (0.016%) were ‘angry’ reactions.
The keyword ‘Ely Buendia’ generated significant engagement on multiple Facebook pages of news agencies and influencers. Specifically, the page belonging to Samsam Gullas received an engagement score of 3,838.4, while GMA News scored 2,186.1. The post from Samsam Gullas’ Facebook page received a total of 2,598 (36%) ‘wow’ reactions, 2,481 (34.36%) ‘love’ reactions, 2,022 (28%) likes, 107 ‘haha’ reactions, 11 ‘wow’ reactions and 1 ‘angry’ reaction.
