Will Randy Santiago ever perform without his iconic shades?

MANILA, Philippines — Believe it or not, “Randy Santiago without shades” is among the most-searched topics related to the OPM icon on the “Gen Z search engine” TikTok.

“Randy Santiago eye reveal” is another popular search, yet you won’t find any video showing the singer without his now-iconic shades — not even close to it. Nevertheless, Randy is surprised by the continuous interest and curiosity his signature look generates even among the younger generation, many of whom weren’t even born when he scored his first big hits like Babaero and Di Nagbabago from his 1988 debut album.

“Wala kayong makikita,” the 63-year-old singer laughed when The STAR told him about the TikTok searches. “In real life, of course, ‘pag mga kasama ko sila Kuya Rey (Cantong, musical director) and the rest of the guys, tinatanggal ko talaga yung salamin ko. Lalo na ‘pag dun lang kami nagpupuntahan sa bahay. Sooner or later, makikita niyo rin ang mata ni Tito Randy, but in the meantime… hahaha!”

Though undoubtedly it has been seen as an asset, adding appeal, mystery and uniqueness to his image as an artist, The STAR asked Randy if there was ever a time he thought of performing sans shades.

“Hindi ko siguro gagawin yun. Let me just tell you how it started. It was in 1983 na, my band was Cicada, we thought, initially, I’ll just cover my left eye. Baka ‘di nila alam kirat po ako sa kaliwa.

“My left eye had a problem, I got operated on when I was in Grade 2. So when I was in Grade 2, I had to stop schooling. I had to repeat Grade 2. And then the cyst grew again and I was operated on again. So, I repeated Grade 2 three times.

“I’ve been asked, ‘Good thing, you didn’t get bullied?’ They couldn’t bully me because they were two years younger than me. So, I grew up being older than my classmates so no one bullied me all through the years na ratski ako (that I had the eye condition).”

Randy further shared that in high school and college, he began wearing light-colored shades. Until he met his band Cicada and he tried wearing an eye patch.

“But I had difficulty grabbing the microphone when it’s covered (by the eye patch) because my eyes are not blind, they’re both 20/10 vision. Yung dito (sa taas) 20,