JUAN DELA CRUZ BAND

The Juan de la Cruz Band is a Filipino rock group formed in 1968 that pioneered what became known as Pinoy rock. Founding guitarist Wally Gonzales credits his fellow founding member, drummer Edmund Fortuno (a.k.a. "Bosyo"), as having introduced the band's name. In December 1970, the band was lauded for headlining the first open field rock festival in the Philippines. In 1971, they released their first album as a quintet, and thereafter gained momentum when it performed in a rock opera with the Manila Symphony Orchestra, the first production of its kind in the country. Juan de la Cruz reinvented itself in 1973 as a power trio and rose to stardom as the premier rock band in the Philippines.