Moms and Dads

EXCLUSIVE: Raymond Lauchengco: “I Just Got Lucky”

by Kevyn Gohu
October 8, 2024

While promoting his “Just Got Lucky” concert, Raymond Lauchengco reflects how his dedication to the arts — music and “unbroken” — all channel the spirit of gratitude towards his fans who have grown with him.

The limelight truly never forgets the charisma that Raymond Lauchengco brought during the 80s. A heartthrob then and still, the multi-hyphenate artist and singer finds himself swelling with gratitude to the audience — the ones he affectionately calls the “kids of Gen X” and the “lovers of anything 80s” — for “growing” with him. The concert is more than just a dedication to those 40 years in the entertainment industry, he admits.

“I don’t really want to celebrate me during this concert,” he adds. “I want it to be about the people who have been listening to me for the last forty years. It’s also a commemoration of the movie Bagets — it made quite an impact forty years ago.”

Just Got Lucky: A Playlist of the Soul

While most singers hold concerts to promote their latest albums, Raymond Lauchengco sees the concert as a way to share his feelings with his audience. The phrase “just got lucky” had become more than a concert title; it had become his mantra especially with his career having several “stops.” Professional photography, directing, sculpting — these detours were just seen as a minor hiatus to the audience who grew up with him. Even for him, “singing would always be his first love.”

“Every time I returned to sing after not for a long time, the audiences would just embrace me,” he gushes. “I feel like, I just got lucky.”

Perhaps, his audience would say the same. As his “creative restlessness” settles down, Raymond aims to focus on his singing. Realizing that he still has his voice (something that he’s grateful to God for), he sings to acknowledge all the people who have “stuck it out with him” for the last forty years. These people, once kids themselves, are now parents just like him, and knowing that feels amazing, he adds.

“I hear stories like, “Raymond, we used to give up our lunch money so we could buy your record! Or, even the notebook cover that would feature your face,” he recounts. “Many of them now are teachers, doctors and that’s exactly what makes it so great: they’ve grown up with me! It’s so beautiful to realize; they were there in the beginning and they’re still there for me now. What can I say? I guess I just got lucky, right?”

His biggest fans: his kids!

As a dad who sings, the house and maybe even the car must be quite filled with happy songs. While Raymond Lauchengco has his songs, he’s covered a few for fun. “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and “Nothing’s Going To Change My Love For You” were two of the some he’s covered but his voice seems to suit the two songs to the point his kids, Natalie and David, actually thought those were also his songs!

“They would tell me, “Dad, someone’s singing your song!” and I had to tell them, “No, no, that’s the original,” he laughs. “That’s their song; I just covered it!”

While he sings covers, his songs are still family-favorite at home and on social media. No matter how sped up or cut up the song was, the kids still “get a kick out of it” according to Raymond. His songs have even made it into his kids’ school life, with teachers singing them in the hallway and him often singing “Farewell” at their graduation.

Amidst the accolades he earned through singing, it’s the memories he’s spent with his kids on tour that make looking back at those four decades a lot sweeter. It was a deal, he recalls. “If they wanted to come along with me for the concert, they’d have to work a little bit. So, they would sing with me on stage.”

But the “award” he cherishes the most from his singing career is one he keeps in his office, framed and in mint condition. “It was a drawing that my daughter drew for me years ago when I performed. She was 7 years old; I was on tour in the States and she watched me perform — full concert — for the first time. She then went to the room, the place we were staying, drew a picture and gave it to me. It was a drawing of me singing with the audience cheering and she captioned, ‘Dada. You are a great singer. Great, great singer. I love you so much.”

Inspired by the spirit of gratitude

His upcoming concert proves that he’s no longer just a singer but quite an icon in families. Hearing stories of how parents bring their kids to his concerts to watch him sing, Raymond Lauchengco lauds his audience as “wonderful people” for their support. Some stories of the stories he heard include that the tickets to the Just Got Lucky concert are now kids’ perfect idea of a gift for their parents.

“I really need to say thank you to them,” he admits.

It’s in this same spirit that the concert will be quite a treat for the fans. His hit songs such as “I Need You Back”, “So It’s You”, “Farewell”, “Saan Darating Ang Umaga” — the theme song of the movie he had with Maricel Soriano, and “Shadow of Time” from the movie Hotshots will be part of the setlist. But apart from those, he’ll also have a few beloved hits from the 80s. But the songs hit differently for him now as a dad.

“You now have all these experiences you can pour into the song. It’s one of the nicer things about maturing. The perspective changes,” he reveals.

With his concert now only slightly over a month away, Raymond reveals that everything is truly for the audience. For their unwavering support for the last 40 years, he believes the best way to say thank you to them is to give them a little trip down memory lane.

“It’s an 80s concert!” He grins. “I figured that the best way to say ‘thank you’ was to take everyone back to where it all started.”

Raymond Lauchengco’s Just Got Lucky Concert will be on November 23, 2024, in The Theatre at Solaire. Tickets are now available on TicketWorld.com.