Lola Amour’s ‘Raining in Manila’ wins special award at Music Awards Japan

Lola Amour. Image: Handout photo

Lola Amour’s hit song “Raining in Manila” was recognized at the Music Awards Japan, bringing home the Special Award for Philippine Popular Music.

Amour’s recent milestone was announced by the Japan-based awards-giving body at a ceremony held at the ROHM Theater in Kyoto, Japan, on Thursday, May 22. The OPM band was the only Filipino act to win an award during the event.

||◤受賞速報📢◢||

【Philippine Popular Music特別賞】
Lola Amourの「Raining in Manila」( @lolaamourmusic )に決定🎉

▼受賞速報はこちらhttps://t.co/zAVRcIWRMW#MAJ2025 #MUSICAWARDSJAPAN pic.twitter.com/POwgJRKSZ1

— MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN公式 (@MAJ_CEIPA) May 22, 2025

While Lola Amour was absent from the awards ceremony, their manager, Mika Ordoñez, accepted the award on their behalf in Japan.

The band’s vocalist, Pio Dumayas, nonetheless said in a press statement that they are grateful for the chance to receive the international recognition.

“Never in our wildest dreams did we think that we would receive international recognition and what an honor it has been to receive it at the Music Awards Japan 2025,” he said. “‘Raining In Manila’ was inspired by the themes of 80s city pop, so it hits even closer to home. To all our friends around the world that inspired ‘Raining In Manila,’ this one’s for you!”

Aside from the Philippines, other countries that were given special awards were South Korea (Seventeen), Thailand (Jeff Satur), China (Zhou Shen), Indonesia (Salma Salsabil) and Vietnam (Tùng Dương).

“Raining in Manila” was released by Lola Amour in June 2023, about a year before it was included in their debut studio album. Since the song was released during the height of the rainy season, it topped the Spotify Philippines charts and became one of the country’s biggest hits at the time.

Some of the song’s notable recognitions include Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Recording and Best Parody Recording (for their Michael V. collaboration, “Waiting Here sa Pila”) at the 2024 Awit Awards.

The band recently dropped their single “Dance with my Mistakes,” and is set to release their new song “Misbehave” on May 30.

In an interview with INQUIRER.net, Dunayas said they’re in the process of releasing their album which they consider as an “overdue” project.

“We postponed it enough already to the point that nagbabago na taste namin (our tastes are changing), not our entire heart was making it for the music. It felt like there was also some level of, we owed ourselves to finish this, especially before,” he said.  /ra