Eddie Peregrina born 11 November 1945

 

Edgard Villavicencio Peregrina (November 11, 1944 – April 30, 1977), better known as Eddie Peregrina, was a Filipino singer and matinee idol of the 1970s. Dubbed as "The Original Jukebox King", he was most famous for hit songs such as "What Am I Living For", "Together Again", "Two Lovely Flowers" and "Mardy", among others. He died at the peak of his popularity at the age of 32, one month after a car accident on EDSA in Mandaluyong. 

He was born to Octavio Peregrina of Pililla, Rizal and Nena Villavicencio of Cebu. Eddie started singing in amateur contests as a young child. He won the singing contest of DZXL's "Tita Betty's Children Show" at the age of six. After he graduated at Villamor High School in 1963, he became a professional singer, working as a vocalist for some bands, most notably the Blinkers Band in Japan. 

His biggest break came when he won the singing contest of Tawag ng Tanghalan, a popular TV variety show of the 60s and 70s.Peregrina's unusually high-pitched voice distinguished him from the rest of popular singers who, at the time, were mostly influenced by the low-pitched, smooth voices of international singers like Matt Monro and Frank Sinatra. He had a habit of tipping his feet backwards to hit the highest note. 

                                  

Peregrina's popularity was high, particularly among masses. Jukebox, the coin-operated machine which plays selected music, was said to have attained much popularity as well because of continuous requests of Peregrina's songs. His fame surge even more among the Filipino masses when he became movie star, cast with the leading ladies of the 1970s, including Esperanza Fabon, Vilma Santos and Nora Aunor, with whom he had a TV show entitled The Eddie-Nora Show on Channel 9 in the 1960s. 

Among his movies included Mardy and Memories of Our Dreams with Esperanza Fabon. He co-starred with his wife Lyn Salazar in Batul of Mactan in 1974. He was also the leading man in Dito sa Aking Puso (1970) with Nora Aunor and with Vilma Santos in Mardy. Most of his films were produced by JBC Productions, which invariably paired him with Vilma Santos, Edgar Mortiz, Esperanza Fabon, and directed by Consuelo P. Osorio. When not busy attending show business commitments, he managed his own business, including Edviper Records and the Pervil Photo Studio. 

Peregrina was involved in a car accident in 1977 when his Ford Mustang collided with a trailer truck on the EDSA-Shaw underpass. He died a month and a week later (April 30, 1977) at the age of 32 at Polymedic Hospital due to internal hemorrhage caused by the accident. 

Peregrina was married to actress Lyn Salazar, with whom he had two daughters, Edlyn and Michelle. And had also a son named Raymund de Leon to his former manager. 

(Edited from Wikipedia)