MANILA, Philippines?Surprising news from MTV Philippines: the young American band Lifehouse, currently on a US tour, will swing by Manila for a one-night show on July 26 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Filipino fans who regularly check the band?s website couldn?t believe it at first, but are now ecstatic.

The good thing about the forthcoming concert is that Lifehouse leads a fresh batch of artists coming over for the first time. (Panic at the Disco, another young band, plays Aug. 14 also at the Big Dome.)

For those not tuned in to the current music scene, Lifehouse could be a stranger. But for those who happen to watch the hit TV series ?Smallville,? Lifehouse is hot.

It started gaining a following eight years ago, when its debut album ?No Name Face? (MCA) went platinum, propelled by three singles, first of which was ?Hanging by a Moment.? Lifehouse founder Jason Wade (guitar/vocals) was said to have written the song in about 10 minutes.

Sounding like a post-grunge love tune, ?Hanging by a Moment? went to No. 1 in the Australian Recording Industry Association Singles Chart, the Billboard Modern Rock, Adult Top 40 and Top 40 Tracks. Its highest spot in the Hot 100 was No. 2, but it was ultimately voted as the Song of the Year for 2001. It has become a favorite track at high school proms and weddings among the 20-something generation in the US. (The band?s other members then, including bassist Sergio Andrade and drummer Jon ?Diff? Palmer, were of that age.)

7 on ?Smallville?

Another single, ?Everything,? was used in both the pilot and first-season finale episodes of ?Smallville,? where the song was included in the first soundtrack, ?Smallville: The Talon Mix.? This endeared the band to the show?s creators; Lifehouse went on to have seven songs played during the series? first four seasons, ending with a live performance in the fourth-season prom episode, and landing yet another song, ?You And Me (Wedding Version)? on ?Smallville: The Metropolis Mix.?

In 2002 Lifehouse recorded its second album, ?Stanley Climbfall.? It was reportedly not as successful as the first one. This was also the time when Andrade left the band to pursue individual projects.

In 2004 the band recorded its self-titled album, with Bryce Soderberg joining as full-time bassist. This was the year that ?You and Me,? already familiar to fans for having graced the ?Smallville? soundtrack, was heard on other American TV shows such as ?Boston Legal,? ?Gavin & Stacey,? ?Everwood? and ?Medium.?

Latest recording

?Who We Are,? the band?s latest recording (still with MCA), was released last year and features its current trio lineup of Wade, Soderberg and drummer Rick Woolstenhulme. The members describe the album?s sound: ?It rocks a little harder.?

More than anything else, the inspiring aspect of a band like Lifehouse lies in how Wade overcame the odds that came with being a child of divorced parents.

He was 12 at the time, and was sort of a recluse who spent his days in his room where he began to scribble verses. In the Lifehouse entry on the Wikipedia website, Wade was quoted: ?I was experiencing all the pain anyone feels when their parents get divorced. It opened up all this stuff. But it also opened up this creative outlet for me. It?s funny, because I was never a musical kid?never took lessons, never really listened to the radio. But I suddenly started writing lyrics and coming up with melodies. We lived in the woods; I?d take these long walks and the songs would just start happening.?

But even more inspiring is how Wade first played the acoustic guitar because it was just lying around the house. His mother owned it, and when he picked it up and learned his first few chords, he must have heard how good it would be to become a musician.