Wilbert Ross was ready when his moment came
It took Wilbert Ross only 15 minutes to sell out his first major concert—and another hour to sell out its second night. The journey that brought him to that point, however, was a decade in the making.
“It wasn’t a sudden rise—talagang unti-unti and you feel every step you take,” the singer-actor tells Lifestyle Inquirer.
Mounting pressure and doubt
In 2016, Ross left his hometown in Davao del Sur to pursue a showbiz career in Manila. He joined talent searches like “Tawag ng Tanghalan” and “Pinoy Boyband Superstar,” and then became part of the dance group Hashtags. He released his own music and played supporting roles on TV and film. He doubled down on content creation online.
But despite the incremental breaks, rejections outweighed success and he still wasn’t anywhere near where he hoped to be. Alone, away from his loved ones, and dealing with mounting self-doubt and the pressure to build a name for himself, Ross fell into clinical depression in 2019. It was the lowest point of his life.
“I felt like life was unfair,” he says. “I thought kapag lumabas ka na sa TV at ‘di ka kinagat ng mga tao, then you have lost your chance—kahit ilang shows pa ‘yan.”
While professional help aided his recovery, art and music steered him in the right direction—hence the compass tattoo on his right wrist, its north pointing toward a musical note. At the end of the day, Ross simply couldn’t imagine growing old without writing songs, performing, and making people happy.
“Whenever I feel lost, alam ko kung saan pupunta—I always turn to music,” he says.
The right timing
A shift in perspective also proved crucial. In his early years, Ross saw lulls and the absence of projects as failures. Now, he sees them as windows of opportunity to prepare himself for blessings yet to come. That was precisely what he did after his struggles with mental health—he worked on his acting, physical fitness, and continued writing songs.
So, by the time the romantic series “Golden Scenery of Tomorrow” came along in 2025, the 29-year-old talent was ready not only to do justice to the project but also to help propel it—together with his leading lady, Bea Binene—into one of Viva One’s most successful Wattpad adaptations.
“It was a combination of the right timing, people, project—everything. I have been paired with other actresses, but I didn’t expect the chemistry Bea and I had, and how it would be received by people,” he says. “Also, it so happened that I already had a couple of songs ready, so those became part of the show’s soundtrack.”
“Golden Scenery” was the career turning point he had been waiting and working toward for years. “Nagsunod-sunod after that,” he says, adding that the momentum helped fuel his other pursuits
His debut album, “Aking Musika,” has amassed over 80 million streams on Spotify. An avid writer and world-builder, Ross expanded his career into publishing, releasing the suspense thriller novella “Pagbilang Kong Tatlo” and the superhero graphic novel “Atleta.” An adaptation of the Thai hit comedy “Pee Mak”—the movie debut of the “WillBea” love team—is also on the horizon.
Exhausting but fulfilling
His schedule is a far cry from what it was in his early years. The pace is exhausting but fulfilling. And really, he asks, how many people can say they’re making a living from their passion? “I’m now harvesting the fruits of all my hard work and sacrifice,” says Ross, who recently launched his own body spray called Strato. “I feel like I’m floating.”
Of course, there’s also his two-night concert, “WRten by Wilbert Ross,” happening at the New Frontier Theater on July 25 and 26. “Dati ini-imagine ko lang na kumakanta ako sa harap ng malaking crowd, tapos titigil ako, at hahayaan kong ang mga tao ang kumanta ng mga isinulat kong kanta. It’s becoming a reality,” he says.
Indeed, in his early years, Ross would have been happy if one or two people recognized him in public and asked for a photo. His first fan meetings, he recalls, were virtually just meetups with a few supporters at fast-food restaurants. Now, fans flock to his mall shows and gigs—a healthy sign that his success isn’t limited to online views and clicks.
“I’m happy na mas marami na akong napapasaya ngayon,” he says. “Hindi porke may million likes ka sa social media, ibig sabihin eh dadayuhin ka na. Hindi biro para sa fans maglabas ng pera para sa tickets o pamasahe. That’s why I’m thankful for their love and support, but I hope they don’t pressure themselves that they always have to be there.”
No going back
But despite all these recent milestones, Ross has never let the notion of fame get to his head. He knows that what took him years to achieve can be lost just as quickly. For grounding, he returns home to his family—people in his life who see him not as a rising star, but simply as Wilbert. He also reconnects with fans who have been there since day one, reminiscing about their chance MRT rides as a reminder of how far he has come.
And he has a long way to go, still. The dream, he says, is to reach a point where money no longer dictates his career choices and he can freely pursue projects simply because they’re fulfilling. But until then, he will continue finding new ways to express his art and seeking out challenging projects that he believes will bring out his potential.
On his left wrist are tattoos of music player controls: play, pause, and a rewind button crossed out.
“No matter how hard things get, there’s no going back to that dark place,” he says. “Pause and rest when needed, but keep creating and keep moving forward.”
