The man who sang the song “But If You Leave Me” has left the building.
Spanish singer Junior — real name Antonio Morales Barretto — who recorded the hit English song has died, according to Television Español. He was 70.
Junior was born in Manila in September, 1943, and migrated to Spain when he was 15 years old. He eventually came back to make a couple of movies in the Philippines, like Good Morning Sunshine (1980) where he was paired with Lipa Mayor Vilma Santos. He wrote and produced its Tagalog theme song “Yakap, Ako Ay Nagbalik.”
“Naturally, the entire family knew that it was all a publicity stunt because he was already married, with kids, to Rocio Durcal,” writes a relative of Morales on Coconuts Manila. “She was known to family members as Marieta. Rocio is such a huge multi Latin Grammy award winner that she used to frequently grace the pages of Hola! with her stunning redhead beauty and sparkling eyes…During her last few years with us she was featured in Hola! with her husband Junior. Unfortunately, she eventually succumbed to cancer.”
It is reported that junior didn’t really get over the death of wife, who died in 2006.
“Her inheritance became the center of controversy which put him at odds with his own children,” reports Armando Tinoco on Latin Times. “Antonio fell into a deep depression as the family became involved in court battles over who would take what. It was [youngest daughter] Shaila that meddled to make peace amongst them and calm things down. Tension between the bloodline settled and Carmen’s wedding also helped to bring back the lost love.”
RIP Junior.
Listen to “Yakap”
Listen to “But If You Leave Me”
