Charice Pempengco

Charice Pempengco's father, Ricky Pempengco, a construction worker, died in October 2011 after being stabbed at a grocery store. Despite being separated from her father since she was a child, she grieved his death stating "He's still my Dad after all."

She came out as a lesbian during an interview with Boy Abunda at 'The Buzz' in the Philippines on June 2, 2013. She subsequently donned a "boyish" look with short hair and tattoos, and revealed in an interview with Oprah that her "soul is male". However, she is not interested in gender transition surgery.

She has been in a live-in relationship with girlfriend Alyssa Quijano for a long time. The couple reportedly broke up amiably in May 2017, almost four years after they announced their relationship in June 2013

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'.

Charice Pempengco's self-titled debut album 'Charice' is her most successful album so far. The album, which was certified Charice Pempengco in Japan and the Philippines, established her as an international star.