When Jazz Legend Nat King Cole Sang 'Dahil Sa Iyo' in 1961

There's something immortal about Mike Velarde's "Dahil Sa Iyo." The song is one of the more identifiable tunes we have. It had originally been written for the 1938 film Bituing Marikit and has since gone on to become one of our most celebrated and translated songs. "Dahil Sa Iyo" remains one of our most popular Tagalog songs to date (the local karaoke scene will confirm this), and has become a symbol for diasporic communities, as well. Hell, it may well replace the national anthem if we really wanted it to.

When former United States of America President Barrack Obama visited the country, this was the song that played during the coverage for some weird reason. It's canon is one way to put it and it's universally acclaimed by a lot of musicians. One of them, apparently, includes Jazz legend Nat King Cole, who sang the song in Tagalog back in the '60s.

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With a career that saw him sell 50 million records, the jazz singer is one of the great performers of that generation. It was in May 1961 that Nat King Cole came to the Araneta Coliseum (now SMART Araneta Coliseum) in Quezon City to sing for four nights. This was when he decided to pull this rabbit out of his hat: he would sing "Dahil Sa Iyo" in Tagalog. At the time, Cole told the crowd: "I didn't have time to learn the words completely, so I hope you don't mind if I sorta read the words off the music."

He didn't seem to do too bad, we think.

Just four years later, the American jazz icon passed away after battling lung cancer toward the end of his life. He'd never perform in Manila again after those nights. Nonetheless, the man gave us quite the memory to last.