Through faith, music, and shared experiences, the Tanaw Collective’s sisterhood shines in every way

MANILA, Philippines – By September 2025, it will have been three years since that iconic photo of Barbie Almalbis, Lougee Basabas, Hannah Romawac, Acel Bisa, and Aia de Leon having lunch alongside Adjeng Buenaventura went viral. 

These women had led prominent bands like Barbie’s Cradle, Mojofly, Session Road, Moonstar88, and Imago — so this reunion photo was something that had ignited a resounding wave of nostalgia in the OPM enthusiasts from the early ‘90s and 2000s. 

Much has happened since then. Only a few months later, in November 2022, Barbie, Lougee, Hannah, Acel, Aia, and fellow Filipino rock queen Kitchie Nadal would come together to stage their sold-out “Tanaw” concert. (READ: IN PHOTOS: Nostalgia and emotions run high as Filipina rock icons reunite in ‘Tanaw’)

But the six women’s collaboration had never really stopped. In fact, it only persisted in the years that followed thereafter. In 2023, all six of them wrote and released “TALINGHAGA,” a song that ties together their collective faith in God. And in 2024, Barbie and Aia even guested in Kitchie’s solo concert, making for another reunion to remember. 

“We just really enjoy the friendship. The music and the collaborations are just a small fraction,” Barbie told Rappler when asked what pushed them to keep working with each other. 

“It was just a natural progression. Parang, sige, we’re all musicians, ano pa ba ‘yung mga ibang things na puwede naming gawin together? Create, ‘di ba? ‘Yung creating part, it was just a natural thing, and since ang dami namin, we were just like, ‘Let’s just create a collective,’” Hannah added. 

(It was just a natural progression. Like, okay, we’re all musicians, what else can we do together? Create, right? The creating part, it was just a natural thing, and since we’re so many, we were just like, “Let’s just create a collective.) 

And so, the Tanaw Collective was born. 

Looking ahead 

Having come from individual songwriting backgrounds before officially coming together as a collective, writing songs in tandem with each other was an almost entirely new process for them. 

“Collaborating is something that we learned later on after maybe more than a decade of writing by ourselves. I’m grateful that we got to do it this way. We’re used to a certain way of writing but it takes a different kind of give and take, [like] having that safe space and support for each other to be able to write together,” Barbie shared.

Even the subtle ways they’d interact with each other on stage would be enough to show onlookers that these women’s bond isn’t just a professional one, it’s personal, too. They aren’t just musicians who happened to be working together — what they have is a bond built on music, faith, and community. 

For one, they’ve witnessed all the changes in the music industry together, finding themselves having to do things they’ve really never had to do before. With the rise of social media, they weren’t just musicians now — they were, by default, content creators, too. 

But they were also there to witness the changes in each other’s personal lives, from marriage to motherhood. It’s apparent, then, that all these shared experiences have tied these women together for the better, allowing themselves to find in each other not just creative partners, but sisters as well. 

And as a now officially formed collective, the six female rockstars are set to release their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” whose lyrics, Acel says, each of them could strongly relate to. Along with this, they’ll also be staging the long-awaited repeat concert of their first “Tanaw” show. 

All these wouldn’t be happening if their music didn’t make such a lasting impact on Filipinos. Even as they preserve a certain level of humility, they’ve clearly lived up to the title amid all the chaos that comes with juggling being rockstars and being individuals with their own families to care for. If anything, it’s a good indication of their duality. 

“Okay lang (It’s okay). You can be a rockstar one day, and a labandera (laundrywoman) tomorrow,” Hannah quipped, with the rest of the ladies jokingly agreeing that they should make merch out of that quote. 

With the decades of experience behind them signaling the exciting new start of this collective, the only way to go now is forward for Acel, Aia, Barbie, Hannah, Kitchie, and Lougee. – Rappler.com