Biography
Originally performing under the name Charice Pempengco and widely recognized simply as Charice, the Filipina vocalist emerged in 2008 as a prodigious young talent from her homeland. Possessing a powerful soprano that evoked Celine Dion and Whitney Houston, she swiftly captured global media attention. Born Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco on May 10, 1992, in San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines, she first gained television exposure in 2006 as a finalist on the Philippine talent competition Little Big Star, modeled after Pop Idol formats. The next year brought an appearance on the comparable South Korean program Star King, where she again placed outside the top spot yet generated widespread interest through YouTube clips of her performances. These videos prompted repeated invitations to American variety programs, among them The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Good Morning America, while multiple guest spots on The Oprah Winfrey Show proved especially instrumental in elevating her worldwide visibility.
During this surge of publicity, Star Records issued her six-track mini-album Charice in 2008, featuring covers such as “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls and Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” from The Bodyguard. A follow-up project, the Mother’s Day–oriented My Inspiration, arrived in 2009 to coincide with the holiday. Contemporaneously, she issued the single “Note to God,” penned by Diane Warren and helmed by producer David Foster, who had taken on a mentoring role with the young artist. In 2010 she secured a deal with Reprise Records for a full-length self-titled album that reached number eight on the Billboard 200 while also entering the top ten in Japan, Korea, and Canada. That same year she joined the cast of Glee during its second season, portraying exchange student Sunshine Corazon. The subsequent international release Infinity appeared in 2011 and included Bruno Mars’s “Before It Explodes” alongside “One Day,” co-written by Nick Jonas. Chapter 10 followed in 2013, spotlighting renditions of Bryan Adams’s “Everything I Do, I Do It for You” and Sia’s “Titanium.” Around this period she publicly identified as a lesbian, adopting a shorter hairstyle and revised personal presentation. The introspective, rock-leaning album Catharsis emerged in 2016. The following summer, he disclosed his identity as a trans man and adopted the name Jake Zyrus.
During this surge of publicity, Star Records issued her six-track mini-album Charice in 2008, featuring covers such as “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls and Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” from The Bodyguard. A follow-up project, the Mother’s Day–oriented My Inspiration, arrived in 2009 to coincide with the holiday. Contemporaneously, she issued the single “Note to God,” penned by Diane Warren and helmed by producer David Foster, who had taken on a mentoring role with the young artist. In 2010 she secured a deal with Reprise Records for a full-length self-titled album that reached number eight on the Billboard 200 while also entering the top ten in Japan, Korea, and Canada. That same year she joined the cast of Glee during its second season, portraying exchange student Sunshine Corazon. The subsequent international release Infinity appeared in 2011 and included Bruno Mars’s “Before It Explodes” alongside “One Day,” co-written by Nick Jonas. Chapter 10 followed in 2013, spotlighting renditions of Bryan Adams’s “Everything I Do, I Do It for You” and Sia’s “Titanium.” Around this period she publicly identified as a lesbian, adopting a shorter hairstyle and revised personal presentation. The introspective, rock-leaning album Catharsis emerged in 2016. The following summer, he disclosed his identity as a trans man and adopted the name Jake Zyrus.
Albums
Singles
