B.I dedicates song in Manila fanmeet to fan recently murdered

Fans were heartened to see K-pop idol B.I dedicate a song to the late Lovely Ann Villagomez, a fan who was supposed to attend his Manila fanmeet on Aug 27.

During the fanmeet, he mentioned that he was informed about someone "who should have been here tonight".

"Out of respect for the privacy of the family, I won't say much more. The next song is called Rebirth, I dedicate this song to her," said B.I.

Rebirth is a song written for his fans (also known ID) and ends with a touching verse: "I will find you in my next life. We will meet again by chance."

Lovely died less than a week before the fanmeet on Aug 22 after being murdered in her home. 

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A fanmade video was played on the big screen after his performance and ended off with a frame that read "With love, and Lovely Anne who is now watching us from Heaven."

Lovely was also a fan of K-pop group SF9, and Fantasys (the name of their fans) came together to collect donations for her family and leave flowers in her supposed seat at the B.I fanmeet.

Speaking to AsiaOne, 24-year-old Zia, a fan who attended the fanmeet, said the song was "like a letter" to Lovely, as if saying that "wherever she is right now, there will be no pain and she doesn't have to be afraid anymore and is in [everyone's] hearts."

"The crowd was all focused, feeling and listening. At the same time, we were singing along with Hanbin while waving the lightsticks. I really was teary-eyed during that time," said Zia, referring to the soloist by his real name.

B.I debuted in 2015 as the leader of boyband iKon but departed the group in 2019 following allegations of drug use.

syarifahsn@asiaone.com