Remember Pat Boone, The Rival Of Elvis Presley In The 50s? Now 82, He's Coming To Manila To Do A Christmas Concert

PAT BOONE is coming to town to do a Christmas concert at the Big Dome in December. Da who si Pat Boone? He was the rival of Elvis Presley in the 50s. But unlike Elvis who gyrated and rocked until he became the King of Rock and Roll, Boone cultivated a more clean and safe image because he is a conservative Christian and is already married. He was being paired with Marilyn Monroe but he didn’t accept it because of his religious beliefs. He was considered Number 2 to Elvis.

He also opted to do wholesome films like “April Love” (whose theme song became such a big, big hit) and he had to ask his wife’s permission first if he could have a kissing scene with his leading lady, Shirley Jones. His other popular films include “Bernardine”, “Mardi Gras”, “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, “State Fair” and “The Main Attraction”. His other hit songs are “Blueberry Hill”, “Speedy Gonzales”, the theme from “Friendly Persuasion” and “Love Letters in the Sand”. By the 60s, his career has waned and he turned to singing gospel music.

We just saw Pat Boone in the recent faith based Christian film, “God’s Not Dead 2” released early this year. We didn’t know it was him until we saw his name in the credits and realized that yes, he’s the former teen idol. He is now 82 years old and he played the grandfather of lead actress Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina Teenage Witch”), who played the role of an uncompromising Christian teacher and he backed her up all the way after she was sued by some annoying guys for standing up for her beliefs.

Boone is now old and wrinkled but I don’t know if he were able to maintain his good voice at 82. Since his Manila concert is Christmas-themed, he will be singing a lot of very popular Christmas carols. Here’s hoping his avid fans in the 50s and 60s are still around and eager to watch him performing live and in person while on concert at the Araneta Coliseum.