We've heard some touching words from the musicians of Singapore, so now here's what the best of the Filipino rock scene has to say about Bowie!

RAYMUND MARASIGAN (Sandwich, Pedicab, Assembly Generals, Basement Lung, Squid 9)

All my bands owe so much to David Bowie. From the 'Heads to Gaijin to Basement Lung. He made it okay to be different while keeping your identity intact.

Check out Raymund’s tribute to David Bowie:

JASON CABALLA (Cheats, Pedicab) 

Nothing was too weird for David Bowie. It didn't matter to him that he looked different or sounded different from the rest. Heck, he changed his look and sound every so often, without giving a damn what others thought. He made it possible for misfits and outsiders to make it in music. He influenced everyone from Iggy to Kanye, from Ian Curtis to Kurt Cobain. You may not be a fan, but 99% of the music that exists now wouldn't even be heard if people weren't fascinated first by that skinny bloke who assumed a different character on almost every album cover. It's like we lost a deity, really.

OWEL ALVERO (Ang Bandang Shirley)

I got started with Earthling, worked my way backwards to the Berlin Trilogy and forward, all the while realising that his magic was much bigger than his music. Zoolander, Nikola Tesla, Seu Jorge in Life Aquatic, the Wayne Coyne-ness of Wayne Coyne, and all the riffs James Murphy cribbed for LCD Soundsystem… It's one thing to be a great musician, but to be consistently exerting his immense gravity on multiple spheres of pop culture at the scale he was able to – that is something we may never live to see again. Thank you for everything! 

MARIAH REODICA (The Buildings, Perfect Sound Forever)

David Bowie is one of my biggest musical heroes. He didn't let himself be restrained by genres, the anxiety of being original over substance, and least of all what people thought. Sometimes I feel that what I'm doing or writing isn't really going to resonate with a lot of people, that it's too niche, but I remember how he gave the world a little glimpse into his universe—and it was take it or leave it. Whichever people chose, he kept moving forward.

BP Valenzeula

David Bowie was an alien, a genius, a misfit whose music and persona inspired all other misfits like me to be themselves, generations later, still. I'm still very sad about his passing as a musician and especially as a huge, huge fan.