Today Tabloid

Weeks after his successful angioplasty operations, Eleandre "Ely" Buendia, front man of the country’s most influential rock band of the 90’s, finally broke his silence.

"I’m still resting pero OK naman. Kailangan lang bantayan yun tulog and yung kain ko," Buendia said in an interview with GMA-7's Showbiz Central Sunday.

Last month, during the Eraserheads’ much-awaited concert reunion last August 30 at The Fort, Ely collapsed and was rushed to the Makati Medical Center.

He was later transferred to the Philippine Heart Center, where he underwent operations.

Buendia has already been suffering from "severe emotional and physical stress" weeks before the concert, his wife Diane had earlier said.

But Buendia said he decided to push through with the concert so as not to disappoint their "number one fan" – his mother Lizette Buendia, who passed away two days before the event.

"Well, unang-una tungkol sa mom ko we did have the option not to continue. Well, that show was for my mom dahil she was one of the reasons why I agreed to do it," Buendia said.

"My mom is the number one fan of Eraserheads. She’s part of the band from start to finish. Ayokong paghintayin pa yung number one na fan na si Mama, baka magalit pa yun eh," he added.

During the interview, Buendia recounted what befell him backstage.

"Right after the last song of the first ... naramdaman ko yung parang hindi na ako makahinga. So I … the ambulance there and my medical crew, sila agad ang tinawag ko," Buendia said.

"And I asked for oxygen and when I got to my dressing room I felt pain in my chest tapos yun na nag-collapse na ako," Buendia said.

Asked whether the Eraserheads will stage a make-up concert, "that's the number one thing on my mind," Buendia said.

However, Buendia clarified that due to his health, their make-up concert is in a "wait-and-see" stage.

He added that he would not sign on anything unless he's sure he is capable of fulfilling it.

"Siyempre I'm not going to sign on anything yet until I'm pretty sure na kaya ko yung gawin ulit. So it's a ‘wait and see’ stage muna at this point," Buendia said.

On August 30, the band’s much awaited concert reunion was cut short following Buendia’s heart attack.

On September 1, Ely was transferred to the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) where he went under the knife.

The following day, Ely was declared stable by his manager Day Cabuhat, adding that the singer-composer was “100-percernt fully restored."

However, Buendia’s doctors advised him to stay in hospital for two more weeks for a cardiac rehabilitation.

In 2007, Ely also suffered a heart attack while his new band Pupil was performing in Laguna. He underwent two angioplasty procedures at the PHC. - Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV