Susan Lim, a Manila-based concert promoter known throughout the Filipino entertainment community as “Boss Su,” has died at 57.
Lim was remembered as a pioneering producer who helped bring Filipino artists and Original Pilipino Music to audiences across the United States and Canada.
Her death was announced Sept. 17 by colleagues in the entertainment community. Funeral and memorial arrangements were not immediately available.
Based in Manila, Lim worked with artists, venues, producers and Filipino American communities to mount concert tours throughout North America. Her work helped give Filipino performers a platform abroad and offered diaspora audiences a connection to the music and artists they loved.
Friends and colleagues remembered Lim as a determined producer, generous mentor and trusted friend.
Concert promoter Lerma dela Cruz called Lim “the OG in this business,” using a term of respect for a pathbreaker.
“Thank you, LOVE Production,” dela Cruz wrote in a social media tribute. “Rest in peace, my dear friend, Sansu. You will forever be in our hearts.”
Martin Nievera, known as the Concert King, remembered Lim’s influence on both his professional and personal life.
“I will never forget you and all you have done for me and my career as a concert producer and my life as a friend,” Nievera wrote. “Rest in peace knowing we love you and will miss you.”
Singer Jaya remembered Lim’s warmth toward her family.
“She was always so nice to me and Mama Beth,” Jaya wrote. “May you rest in God’s peace, Ate Susan.”
Singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid wrote, “I am still in shock. Dear Susan, thank you for everything.”
Musical director and composer Louie Ocampo also offered condolences, writing, “We will miss you, Susan. Rest in peace.”
Lim’s career spanned an era when mounting Filipino concerts in the United States required producers to navigate travel, venues, marketing, sponsorship, technical production and the expectations of a growing diaspora audience. Her work helped create stages for Filipino artists and gave communities abroad opportunities to gather around the music they loved.
Public records identify Lim as the concert producer for Big Slim Entertainment, which was involved in the 2003 F4 concert at PhilSports Arena in Pasig. The company’s role in a major international pop production reflected the scale of projects Lim was capable of handling.
Friends said Lim later became closely associated with concert tours featuring leading Filipino performers. Her name has been linked by colleagues to touring productions involving artists such as Martin Nievera, Pops Fernandez, Sharon Cuneta, Regine Velasquez and The CompanY.
Fernandez, who knew Lim from early in her career, remembered her as a producer willing to take on projects that seemed impossible. In a Facebook tribute, she recalled standing in the mud at the reclaimed area where the Mall of Asia now stands to watch Michael Jackson perform — a concert she credited Lim with making happen.
But it was Lim’s friendship that stayed with Fernandez. “She could disappear for months, then suddenly check on you as if no time had passed,” she wrote. “She had her own way of making people feel that they mattered.” Fernandez affectionately called her “Chinese Boss.”
For TOFA’s Elton Lugay, Lim was also a friend and collaborator. The last time they spoke was only a month ago, when she was introducing friends in Florida and encouraging them to support an upcoming TOFA event in the state.
They had also worked together on the 2022 concert in New Jersey featuring Sharon Cuneta and Regine Velasquez, with Lim and her best friend and business partner, Nancy Yang. Lugay served as line producer for that event.
Lim is remembered as a gentle, appreciative and kind person whose generosity extended beyond the concert stage. Her legacy lives in the artists she supported, the producers she encouraged and the audiences she brought together through music.
Her colleagues’ tributes point to the role she played in helping establish a lasting North American platform for Filipino entertainment. For many in the industry, “Boss Su” was more than a producer. She was one of the people who helped make the work possible.
