Eraserheads’ Marcus Adoro has written an open letter and apology addressed to his daughter, Syd Hartha, and the band’s fans — finally addressing the elephant in the room after allegations of emotional, verbal, and physical abuse resurfaced on social media ahead of the Eraserheads’ much-awaited reunion concert in December.
ICYMI, Eraserheads, one of the Philippines’ most iconic rock bands, recently announced that they would be reuniting for a concert for the first time in several years, realizing many long-time fans’ wishes for the band to get back together in spite of their tumultuous musical and personal histories with one another.
Yet soon after the announcement of the high-profile reunion, allegations of violent physical and emotional abuse against Eraserheads guitarist Marcos Adoro made by his daughter Syd Hartha, also a musician, as well as former partner Barbara Ruaro, resurfaced.
That prompted some — including many of the band’s younger fans — to call for a boycott of Adoro’s participation in the concert.
Adoro finally broke his silence over the allegations on Instagram yesterday. In his post, he apologized to his estranged daughter, his bandmates and his fans, saying that he had not been in touch with his daughter for years. He said he has tried to get in touch with Syd through her manager but was unsure if his messages were getting through to her.
“Syd, wherever you are, I hope you’re doing well. As you already know, I’m far from perfect so it’s normal that you want nothing to do with me,” the guitarist wrote.
The musician also asked for a chance to redeem himself with his daughter. “I just hope I can get a second chance for redemption. I’m sorry for the ruckus that I may have caused my family, the public, the sponsors, and my bandmates. Pasensya na.”
Adoro also thanked long-time fans who continue to support the band’s music, and asked them to continue supporting the scheduled reunion concert. “This is dedicated to all of us,” he wrote in Filipino.
The band was founded by members Raymund Marasigan, Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, and Adoro when they were students at the University of the Philippines in 1989. Their widespread success is credited with having launched the alternative rock music scene in the country, and they are recognized as one of the most successful and influential bands in the country’s history.
The reunion concert marks 20 years after the band officially broke up in 2002, with frontman Ely Buendia saying that the band’s lack of friendship with one another was what led to their demise. The band got back together at a 2008 concert that was cut short when Buendia was rushed to the hospital halfway through the show due to heart problems.
The Eraserheads released two new songs under Esquire Philippines, 1995 and Sabado in 2014, the first time they released new material in over a decade, alongside a magazine cover that mimicked The Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover.
Yet efforts to reunite the band for good have been shut down over the years, with Ely writing in 2018, “Some people will never understand that people who don’t get along don’t work together.”
In 2021, reunion rumors sparked once more when the former frontman tweeted that the band would reunite “‘Pag tumakbo si Leni (When Leni runs),” ahead of then-Vice President Leni Robredo’s announcement that she would run in the May 2022 presidential election.
