Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also employed him several times. Timeless ran until 2002 after nine iterations, which earned Nievera another moniker as the "Timeless Balladeer". Nievera said that "the word 'timeless' just came up during our brainstorming and that was it. 'Timeless' is the word that best describes what I've been and what I'm still doing. 20032018: Business activities and death Nievera and his wife Hernandez, a businesswoman, owned the Philippine franchises of Hard Rock Cafe. and Bubba Gump Shrimp Company The couple had also opened the country's first branch of the international food chain Country Waffles in 2000. They went on to establish more Country Waffles restaurants around Metro Manila and in Baguio, the investors of which were mostly entrepreneurs and celebrity friends. In early 2004, some Country Waffles outlets began closing down as the Nieveras sparked "what's probably the decade's biggest food industry scandal" after fleeing to the US in late 2003, amid purported death threats from Country Waffles employees, angering the investors who did not receive returns. During this period, the National Bureau of Investigation sought to file charges against them after several investor complaints. In 2006, the Department of Justice charged them with fraud for allegedly failing to pay ₱14.5 million to an investor and for issuing unlicensed securities. Nievera settled into semi-retirement in Las Vegas with Hernandez. In 2009, his 1978 album Sumasainyo, Nievera was reissued by Vicor Music. After performing in Toms River, New Jersey, he told in 2013, when asked about voting in that year's Philippine general election, that "I'm no longer in touch with what's happening in the Philippines.... I watch the news but I never saw the candidates talk yet, or give speeches in their campaign so I cannot tell." Martin mentioned in a 2017 interview that his father suffered a brain seizure. Martin had still occasionally performed with him in concerts in the US, the last of which was a Christmas 2017 show at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino. At 3:37a.m. on March27, 2018, Nievera died at the Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center, at the age of 81. The cause of death was multiple organ failure due to sepsis. Celebrities in the Philippines paid tribute to him on social media, while Martin, with the Society of Seven, dedicated to him his Las Vegas concert that April. Artistry Nievera was a baritone. His voice has been described by some