Who is Charice Pempengco?

Charice Pempengco is a Filipina pop, R&B and rock singer who became an internet sensation after the
video of her performance in a talent show went viral on YouTube. Her rise to fame is truly a rags-to-
riches story; escaping from an abusive father, she and her family lived in poverty for years, with a young
Charice singing to support her mother financially. Eventually, a fan of her acted as the Good Samaritan
and uploaded videos of her energetic performances on YouTube, which earned her recognition from all
over the world. Soon, she received invitation to record an album, and appeared on American television
shows like 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' and 'The Oprah Winfrey Show'. She also found a mentor in David
Foster, who has been a producer for stars like Céline Dion, Andrea Bocelli, and Whitney Houston—all
her idols. She was hailed as the “Most Talented Girl in the World” by none other than Oprah herself. She
went on to release a number of albums and perform at concerts, but her career suffered after she
publicly revealed her sexual orientation.

Charice Pempengco was born on May 10, 1992, in Cabuyao City, Laguna province, Philippines.
When she was a child, her mother Raquel left her abusive father and took her and her younger
brother, Carl. to live with her grandmother.
Charice’s mother, a former singer who worked at a garment factory, discovered Charice’s
singing talents when she was only four years old. Charice, who already helped her mother with
household chores at the age of six, started participating in local singing competitions when she
was seven.
The financial struggle of her family continued for a few more years, during which they were
even homeless for a while. However, the prize money she won from singing contests eventually
helped them move into an apartment in which she had her own room.

In 2005, Charice Pempengco took part in the talent show 'Little Big Star' in Philippines, in which
she reached the finals and secured the third place. Two years later, a fan of her, Dave Duenas,
uploaded the video of her performance on the YouTube channel 'FalseVoice', which gained
worldwide attention and made her an international star within a short time.
One of the first calls she got was from a Swedish record company named Ten
Songs/Productions, which offered her a demo-recording in June 2007. She recorded seven songs
with the company, including an original song called 'Amazing'.
On October 13, 2007, she was invited to the South Korean talent show 'Star King' to perform as a
foreign act. The video of her rendition of 'And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going' from the
Broadway musical 'Dreamgirls' became viral on YouTube.
Impressed after watching one of her performances on YouTube, Ellen DeGeneres invited
Charice on her talk show, 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show'. Along with her mother, Charice flew to
America for the first time to appear on the show on December 19, 2007.
On December 28, 2007, she made a second appearance on 'Star King' as the 'Most Requested
Foreign Act' of the show. In April next year, she went to London, England, to appear as a guest
in an episode of 'The Paul O'Grady Show'.
She released her debut EP 'Charice' from Star Records in May 2008. The EP, containing six
cover songs and six backing tracks, became Platinum certified in the Philippines.
In May 2008, Oprah Winfrey invited her on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' to take part in the
episode 'World's Smartest Kids'. After she charmed the audience with her rendition of Whitney
Houston's 'I Have Nothing', Oprah asked Grammy-winning record producer and star-maker,
David Foster, to be Charice’s mentor.
On May 23, Charice Pempengco performed alongside Foster at the concert, 'Hitman: David
Foster and Friends' in Las Vegas. Andrea Bocelli, who was a singer at the concert, invited her to
Italy to perform a duet with him on July 20 on his birthday concert, 'The Cinema Tribute'.
She appeared on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' for the second time on September 9, 2008 on the
episode 'Dreams Come True' and performed her idol Celine Dion's song 'My Heart Will Go On'.
Following her performance, Oprah surprised her by arranging a satellite call with Dion, who
invited her to perform a duet with her during her 'Taking Chances Tour'.
On May 1, 2009, Charice Pempengco released a Philippines-exclusive full-length studio album
titled 'My Inspiration'. The album contained 12 tracks including one original song called 'Always
You', and featured a duet performance with her mother Raquel, covering the Helen Reddy song
'You and Me Against the World'.
Her first international studio album, 'Charice', was launched on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' on
May 11, 2010. Following the success of the album, she bagged the role of Sunshine Corazon in
the musical drama series 'Glee' on its second season.
Her second international studio album, 'Infinity', was released early in Japan on October 5, 2011,
but was not released in America due to differing standards. In 2012, she served as a judge on the
Philippine version of 'The X Factor'.
The album 'Chapter 10', which consisted of cover versions of modern songs, was released on
September 6, 2013.
After she came out as lesbian in 2013, she has totally changed her style and has released one
rock album titled 'Catharsis' in October 2016.