Gary Valenciano | Image: INQUIRER.net/Jessica Ann Evangelista Having been in the music industry for 40 years, Gary Valenciano has found a way to connect with his new generation of fans by being genuinely open to talking about mental health, which he admittedly was something that the older generations were deprived of. In an intimate interview with select media on Nov.
14, Valenciano shared that he has been going to campuses not only to perform but to have heart-to-heart conversations with the students. “When I come up there, they don’t really know me,” the singer admitted. “But it’s amazing how that word icon becomes so real to them when I’m able not to speak through them but to speak with them.
I make sure that there’s a microphone that is reachable where they can ask me questions after I share my life and my music.” Valenciano emphasized that he can be the “dad that those students never had” or a “brother that they missed” every time they are in need to someone to talk to. He shared a letter that he got from one of the students he recently engaged with.
“After my talk, she gave me a letter, ‘I changed my mind about this Saturday because this Saturday is the day that I was going to end it all,’ I was able to talk to her and found out what was going on. And it’s the same problem that many of the kids are going through, mental health,” shared the singer “That’s the depth of the responsibility that an artist who has lasted for 40 years. If .