Queen of rock Elizabeth Ramsey takes a bow

SHE ENDEARED herself to people with her spunk, irreverent humor and punch lines delivered in her heavy Visayan accent.

In her appearance in the TV talent tilt “Your Face Sounds Familiar” in May, Elizabeth Ramsey was still bristling with exuberance, strutting onstage barefoot—as she so often did during her heyday—while belting out her signature cover of “Proud Mary.”

As it turned out, that was the last time she would set the stage ablaze with her presence. Ramsey, the singer-actress dubbed the “Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll,” died in her sleep on Thursday, according to daughter, singer Jaya.

Ramsey was 83.

In a message posted on her official Facebook account, Jaya paid tribute to her mother, thanking her for giving “love and laughter,” not only to their family, “but the whole nation.”

“I rejoice because she passed in her sleep—in peace, in God’s loving arms,” Jaya said. “Bye, Mama. Until we meet again. I love you forever.”

The official cause of death has yet to be disclosed. But in a television interview, family friend Ogie Alcasid related that Ramsey had been “unconscious” for three days before her passing.

Ramsey’s granddaughter Ana Katrina, meanwhile, told the Inquirer that her lola was diabetic, which eventually led to her body’s deterioration. Last August, Ramsey was confined in the intensive care unit of the Philippine Heart Center, after suffering a seizure induced by hypoglycemia.

Ana Katrina, a young singer and a gold medalist in the 2014 Euro Pop Contest Gran Prix Berliner Perle, related that she will treasure all the moments she shared with her grandmother.

Inspiration

“Thank you for inspiring me to never give up on my dreams. I’ll fight for them like you’ve always told me,” said Ana Katrina. “It is no longer possible for me to share the stage with you, but I’m honored that I was given a chance to experience it before.”

After news of Ramsey’s death broke, social media teemed with tributes and messages of condolences from different celebs: Lea Salonga, Derek Ramsay, Kim Chiu and Melai Cantiveros.

“You’re a true inspiration to many, and thank you for bringing happiness to Filipinos. We will miss you,” Cantiveros, who impersonated Ramsey in “Your Face,” said in an Instagram post.

In separate TV interviews, friends Nora Aunor and German Moreno said Ramsey’s death is a big loss to the entertainment industry.

“She’s funny,” Aunor said. “When it comes to comedy, she’s No. 1 for me.”

“She’s very pious, a devotee of the Santo Niño,” Moreno said of Ramsey.

Ramsey was born to a Jamaican father and a Filipino-Spanish mother in San Carlos City in Negros Oriental. She has four children: Isaac, Ana and Susan Johnson, whom Ramsey had with a man of Jamaican heritage her father married her off to; and Jaya, whom she had with Filipino Rey Kagahastian.

She gravitated toward performing at a very young age, singing with a band in her home province to help her sick mother when she was 16. She eventually won in a singing contest in the noontime show “Student Canteen” in 1958.

In a radio interview last year, Ramsey related that, after the tilt, she landed a job at the Manila Grand Opera House with the help of comedian Chiquito’s brother. She then moved to Clover Theater, where she held court for seven years, and performed with the likes of Eddie Mesa, Aruray and Casmot and Balot.

Ramsey endeared herself to people with her spunk, irreverent humor and punch lines delivered in her heavy Visayan accent. The folk tune “Waray-Waray” has become one of her trademark songs.

Vivacious on- and offstage, Ramsey also ventured into acting during her five-decade career. She was nominated best supporting actress in the 1963 Famas Awards for her performance in the drama “Ang Bukas ay Akin.”

Ramsey’s other movies were “Prinsesa Naranja” (1960), which featured Fernando Poe Jr. and “Reyna ng Pitong Gatang” (1980), which was top-billed by Aunor.

Ramsey’s wake is at the St. Peter’s Chapel on Commonwealth, Quezon City.