Jake Zyrus
Jake Zyrus, formerly known professionally as Charice Pempengco and under the mononym Charice, is a Filipino singer and television personality.
In 2007, after competing in many singing competitions and several appearances on Filipino television, Zyrus performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in the United States. The following year, in 2008, he made several international televised appearances, including a special on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which documented his musical ambitions, home life and family, and featured Zyrus singing for Oprah's studio audience. On that appearance, Zyrus was surprised by one of his singing inspirations, Céline Dion, who invited him to sing with her at New York City's Madison Square Garden, during her 2008 world tour. At the concert, the two sang "Because You Loved Me", dedicating the moment to Zyrus' mother. The performance was eventually replayed on another special episode of Oprah's talk show.
Zyrus then began performing in concerts with David Foster and Andrea Bocelli, among others, and released an album My Inspiration. Zyrus released the studio album Charice in 2010, which entered the Billboard 200 at number eight, making it the first album of an Asian solo singer ever to land in the top 10. The single "Pyramid" from that album, featuring singer Iyaz, is Zyrus' most successful single to date, charting within the top 40 in a number of countries after its debut live performance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Crossing over to acting and television, Zyrus joined the cast of the musical-comedy-drama TV series Glee, later in 2010, as Sunshine Corazon. In 2011, "Before It Explodes", written by Bruno Mars, was released as the lead single from Zyrus' second international studio album, Infinity. Zyrus would release two further albums, Chapter 10 and Catharsis. Zyrus also made his own concert tours in Asia. Zyrus was one of the four judges of the Philippine version of The X Factor, on ABS-CBN, in 2012.
Zyrus identified as a gay woman from 2013 to 2017. When he came out as a transgender male after having male chest reconstruction and beginning testosterone treatment, he adopted the name Jake Zyrus and discontinued the use of the name Charice.
Early life
Zyrus was born as Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco in Cabuyao, Laguna province, the Philippines, and was raised by single mother Racquel. To help support the family, Zyrus began to enter singing contests at the age of seven, from town fiestas in various provinces to singing competitions on TV, eventually competing in almost a hundred such contests.In 2005, Zyrus joined Little Big Star, a talent show in the Philippines loosely patterned after American Idol. Eliminated after the first performance, Zyrus was called back as a wildcard contender and eventually became one of the finalists. Although a consistent top scorer in the final rounds, Zyrus finished the show in third place. After Little Big Star, Zyrus made several appearances on local television shows and commercials, but did not receive wider notice until 2007 when an avid supporter, FalseVoice, started posting a series of Zyrus' performances on YouTube. These videos received over 15 million views, making Zyrus an internet sensation.
Career
2007–2008: Discovery and early work
In June 2007, producers at Ten Songs/Productions, a music publishing company in Sweden, invited Zyrus to record demos after seeing the online videos. Zyrus recorded seven songs, six covers and an original song called "Amazing", and was next invited to the South Korean talent show Star King on 13 October 2007, singing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" and a duet of "A Whole New World" with Kyuhyun from Super Junior.Having also seen the online videos, Ellen DeGeneres invited Zyrus to appear on her show, his first appearance in the United States, where he performed two songs on the 19 December 2007 episode: "I Will Always Love You" and "And I Am Telling You". Zyrus then made a second appearance on Star King in Korea on 28 December as the "Most Requested Foreign Act", performing Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and singing a duet with Lena Park. In January 2008, Zyrus was invited to Malacañang Palace to perform for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Zyrus next guested on the 8 April 2008 episode of The Paul O'Grady Show in London, England. The Philippine debut EP Charice was released in May 2008; this mini album, consisting of six songs and six backing tracks, was awarded gold certification in the Philippines in October and reached platinum status in 2009. Zyrus appeared on the 12 May 2008 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, "World's Smartest Kids", performing Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing". After the show, Oprah Winfrey contacted David Foster to see what the music producer could do for Pempengco.
Zyrus performed with Foster for the first time as one of the entertainers on the 17 May 2008 opening of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut. This was followed by Foster's 23 May tribute concert, Hitman: David Foster and Friends, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, performing a medley of songs from The Bodyguard as well as "And I Am Telling You". A CD/DVD of this concert, including Zyrus' The Bodyguard medley, was released on 11 November 2008. The show was aired several times on PBS and other public television networks starting in December 2008 under the Great Performances banner. One of the singers at the concert was Pempengco's idol, Andrea Bocelli. Bocelli subsequently expressed interest in performing a duet with Zyrus with an invitation to be a guest on his birthday concert "The Cinema Tribute" held on 20 July at the Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy. Aside from a solo performance, Zyrus sang a duet of "The Prayer" with the tenor in front of more than 8,000 people.
In a guest appearance on the "Dreams Come True" episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show on 9 September 2008, Oprah referred to Zyrus as "The Most Talented Girl in the World". After singing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" with David Foster on piano, Zyrus was surprised by Celine Dion's appearance via satellite, inviting Pempengco to sing a duet with her at New York City's Madison Square Garden as part of Dion's Taking Chances Tour. The duet, on 15 September, of "Because You Loved Me", received rave reviews in news outlets including The New York Times, and was eventually featured on 19 September episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Zyrus sang at the Feyenoord's Centennial Anniversary in the Netherlands held on 26 September, singing the team's anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone" in front of a crowd of about 50,000 football fans Zyrus then performed at the Andre Agassi Grand Slam for Children Benefit Concert at the Wynn Las Vegas casino resort in October. In November, Zyrus and David Foster appeared on Good Morning America to promote Foster's tribute album, Hitman: David Foster and Friends, performing The Bodyguard medley and "I Will Survive".
2009–2010: First major performances
In January 2009, Zyrus performed at two pre-inauguration events in Washington, D.C., in the lead up to the first inauguration of Barack Obama: the "Realizing the Dream" gala at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the "Pearl Presidential Inaugural Gala" at the Mandarin Hotel. February performances at two post-Oscar award events followed: Oscar Night at Mr. Chow's and Oprah's Oscar After Party, held in the Kodak Theatre. Zyrus then debuted a new original song, "Fingerprint", composed by Robbie Nevil and produced by David Foster, and then appeared in April in the season premiere of Ti lascio una canzone, an Italian musical variety show televised from Teatro Ariston in the city of Sanremo. Zyrus performed "I Will Always Love You", "I Have Nothing", "The Prayer", and "Listen", and went on to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in front of 57,000 baseball fans during the Los Angeles Dodgers 52nd season home opener at Dodger Stadium.In April, Zyrus released a second Philippine album, My Inspiration. The album consists of 12 tracks, including "Always You" and a cover of Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World" performed as a duet with Pempengco's mother. The album was certified gold in the Philippines within two months after release, and then platinum in December 2009. Also in May, Zyrus would again perform at a David Foster and Friends concert held at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. On 18 May episode "Finale: Oprah's Search for the World's Most Talented Kids" of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Zyrus debuted a first internationally released single, "Note to God", written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster. The single was made available for digital download on the same day and debuted at #24 on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart, #44 on the Billboard Hot 100, #9 on the Hot Canadian Digital Singles chart and #35 on the Canadian Hot 100. Later that same month, Zyrus was again invited to sing at the Ti lascio una canzone show as a special guest.
The first major concert for Zyrus was called Charice: The Journey Begins, presented to a sold-out crowd on 27 June at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia in the Philippines. Guests included Christian Bautista, Kuh Ledesma and Little Big Star finalists. On 28 June 2009, in concert, Zyrus revealed a planned duet with legendary pop singer Michael Jackson, explaining that Jackson's lawyer said that Michael had chosen Zyrus to be his special guest on his tour, but Jackson died before the tour could begin. Zyrus contributed to two Christmas albums in 2009, first as David Archuleta's duet partner for the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" on his Christmas album, Christmas from the Heart, then contributing a rendition of "The Christmas Song" to the compilation album, A Very Special Christmas 7. Zyrus was one of the headlining acts on the David Foster and Friends 10-city North American Tour that ran during the fall of 2009, and made a cameo appearance in the feature film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, released in North America on 23 December. The official movie soundtrack includes Zyrus' rendition of "No One" by Alicia Keys, accompanied by The Chipettes. Later in the month, Zyrus appeared on the grand finale of Singapore Idol as a guest, performing two signature songs, The Bodyguard medley and "Note to God".