Victor Nobleza Wood (February 1, 1946 – April 23, 2021) was a Filipino singer, actor and politician. His voice earned him various titles, including "Jukebox King" and "Plaka King". Before becoming a singer, Wood starred in some productions of Sampaguita Pictures. He was a member of Iglesia ni Cristo. He previously hosted the show Beautiful Sunday every Sunday on the Iglesia ni Cristo-owned Net25. Wood died on April 23, 2021, due to COVID-19 complications.

Early life

Victor Nobleza Wood was born on February 1, 1946, in Buhi, Camarines Sur, Philippines to Sgt. Kocky Wood and Rosario "Tiyang Saring" Nobleza. His mother was well known in Buhi and neighboring towns for selling herbal medications and perfumes. He studied and finished secondary school at Jose Abad Santos High.

Musical career

Wood's voice earned him various titles, including Jukebox King and Plaka King in the 1970s when his career bloomed. In 1972, Wood released his third album In Despair. He became a very popular singer of that era and recorded many albums for Vicor Records. In Despair is an album of cover versions of popular English songs from the 1950s and 1960s. Three songs on the album, namely "Jenny Jenny", "Rip It Up" and "Good Golly Miss Molly", were originally hits for Little Richard in the 1950s. The album has a combination of slow and fast songs, and the slow ballads include "In Despair", "Vaya Con Dios", "Have a Good Time", "Hurt" and "Return to Me". The album's ballads are highly favorable to karaoke singing, and a number of them are still heard in karaoke nightspots. Among the album's upbeat songs are versions of Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman", Gene Vincent's "Be-Bop-a-Lula" and Del Shannon's "Runaway". In 1974, Wood released his eleventh album, Ihilak. Eleven of the album's 12 songs are Philippine folk love songs sung in the Visayan language. The remaining song, "Gugma Ko", uses the melody of Neil Diamond's "Song Sung Blue" and replaces the original English lyrics with Visayan-language ones. In 1979, Wood covered the Indonesian version of "Anak" from the fellow Filipino original artist Freddie Aguilar. Wood and his family migrated to the United States in the late 1970s.

Acting career

Aside from singing, Wood was also an actor who starred in various films until 1979.

Later life and death

Wood ran for the Senate of the Philippines during the 2007 Philippine general election under the KBL banner, but lost. According to his third wife, Nerissa, Wood died of complications from COVID-19 on April 23, 2021.

Personal life

Wood had two children with his second wife, Ofelia Mercado Ponce, whom he met during his stay in the United States. The couple had a son, Simon, and a daughter, Sydney Victoria.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Live albums

Collaboration albums

Songs