Famous Filipino's Around the World
tribute to our fellow Filipino's who made it in global entertainment scene....
David Michael Bautista, Jr.aka BATISTA, THE ANIMAL
Ring name(s) Batista
Dave Batista
Deacon Bautista
Leviathan
Kahn
Billed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Billed weight 290 lb (130 kg/21 st)
Born January 18, 1969 (1969-01-18) (age 39)
Arlington, Virginia
Resides Tampa, Florida
Billed from Washington, D.C.
Trained by Afa Anoa'
Debut 1997
The only Filipino World Heavyweight Pro Wrestling Champion
David Michael Bautista, Jr. (born January 18, 1969), better known as Dave Batista or by the ring name Batista (THE ANIMAL), is an American professional wrestler. Batista is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), wrestling on its Raw brand.
Batista is a three-time World Heavyweight Champion and the winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble match.
Bautista was born January 18, 1969 in Arlington, Virginia. His year of birth was disputed for several years. His website originally listed him as being born in 1969, while several contradictory news reports claimed that he was actually born in 1966. In March 2006, Batista stated in an interview that he was born in 1969. He confirms the same in his autobiography Batista Unleashed. He is of Filipino and Greek heritage. Bautista's father, David Michael Bautista, is Filipino and his mother, Donna Raye Bautista, a lesbian, is Greek. His grandparents were also from the Philippines as his grandfather served in the military, worked as a taxi driver, barber, and other odd jobs to feed the family. Batista says he is not ashamed to admit he came from a poor family.
He has publicly admitted to having a hard life where, as before he was age nine, three murders occurred at his front lawn. As young as age 13, he was stealing automobiles. By age 17, Batista was considered estranged from his parents and on his own, despite admitting later that "I am proud of my parents. They are good, honest, hard-working folks. They taught me the values of working hard." Batista became a regular bouncer for clubs until he was arrested after a fight that left two badly injured patrons, one of which could be found lying in the street. After a trial, Batista was sentenced to a years' probation. Batista was also a lifeguard before he had dreams of becoming a bodybuilder. He credits bodybuilding as possibly saving his life.
Allan Pineda Lindo aka APL
Birth name Allan Pineda Lindo
Born November 28, 1974 (1974-11-28) (age 33)
Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines
Origin Los Angeles, California, USA
Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines
Genre(s) Hip hop
Years active 1995–present
Associated acts Black Eyed Peas
(b. 28 November 1974) better known as apl.de.ap, is a hip hop musician, record producer, and member of the Black Eyed Peas. He was born in the Barangay (Barrio) of Sapang Bato, Angeles City, Pampanga, in the Philippines, to a Filipino mother and African American father.
apl.de.ap, together with will.i.am, is one of the original members of the hip hop group Black Eyed Peas. His father, a U.S. airman stationed at nearby Clark Air Base, abandoned the family shortly after his birth. The eldest of 7, his mother, Cristina Pineda, raised him and his four brothers and two sisters in their small barrio. He would ride the jeepneys to school an hour away from his family home. In order to make money, apl farmed sweet potatoes, corn, sugarcane and rice until he moved to the United States at the age of 14.
Apl was sponsored by the Pearl S. Buck Foundation, an organization that finds healthier living environments for young abandoned or orphaned Amerasian children, most of whom have been abandoned by their American fathers. He was sponsored by Joe Ben Hudgens through a dollar-a-day program, and initially brought to the United States at the age of 11 to treat nystagmus, an involuntary movement of the eyes. During a trip to Disneyland, apl expressed his interest in staying in the United States. It would take another three years for Hudgens to officially adopt him.
After adoption, Apl moved to the US to live with Hudgens, where he met will.i.am, the nephew of Hudgen's roommate. He attended John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, California but also attended Curie High School located in Chicago, Illinois which he lived for 2 years after. He stated in an interview that "there is where he started to love music and get involve" and he said "he goes and visits at times."
Music had always been part of Apl's life, his early influences having been Stevie Wonder, The Eagles, The Beatles, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Leaders of the New School and the popular Filipino rock/folk group, Asin. Hip-hop was part of Apl's life from his youth, through break dancing, "I would take the jeepney all the way to Angeles City, and that's how I got introduced to break dancing," he said. "I would see kids at the corner break-dancing and I'm like, 'I wanna do that.'"
Nicole Elikolani Prescovia Scherzinger aka Nicole of pussycat dolls
Birth name Nicole Elikolani Prescovia Scherzinger
Also known as Nicole Kea
Born June 29, 1978 (1978-06-29) (age 30)
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Genre(s) Pop, R&B
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, dancer, actress
Years active 2001–present
Label(s) Polydor, A&M, Interscope
Associated acts Days of the New, Eden's Crush, Pussycat Dolls, Timbaland
Scherzinger was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Filipino father and a Hawaiian/Russian mother.[2] Her mother Rosemary was 18 at the time of Nicole's birth and lived in an inner city neighborhood and separated from her father when Nicole was a baby. The family moved to Louisville, Kentucky with her sister Ke'ala and German American stepfather Gary Scherzinger. She stated she had a "conservative Catholic" upbringing. Scherzinger began her life as a performer in Louisville, attending the Youth Performing Arts School at duPont Manual High School and performing with Actors Theatre of Louisville. Scherzinger majored in theater arts at Wright State University but put her studies on hold in 1999 to sing backing vocals for the rock band and married to kuldip Days of the New. which she says is the hottest man alive.
Scherzinger appeared on the second album by Days of the New, released in 1999. She also recorded two songs with Barry Drake's F.O.B, which were released in 2001.
In 2001, Scherzinger competed in the premiere season of The WB's television show Popstars, on which she earned a spot in the all-girl pop group Eden's Crush. She became one of the main vocalists for the group. The group's 2001 single "Get Over Yourself (Goodbye)" peaked at number one in sales and hit the top ten on Billboard Hot 100. "Love This Way" was the second single chosen from the Popstars album; however, their record company, London-Sire Records, folded and the group eventually disbanded. Songwriter Kara DioGuardi contributed one track to the album, and later went on to co-write with Scherzinger for PCD and Her Name Is Nicole.
After the disbanding of Eden's Crush, Scherzinger made a few promotional solo appearances under the stage name of Nicole Kea, including covering "Breakfast in Bed" for the soundtrack to 50 First Dates in 2003.
Scherzinger worked with Yoshiki of Japanese rock band X Japan on in his Violet UK project. She sang the English version of "I'll Be Your Love" live with the Tokyo Symphonic Orchestra. The track also appeared on the 2003 Various Artists album Exposition of Global Harmony.
as a Pussycat Dolls
In May 2003, Scherzinger joined the Pussycat Dolls burlesque troupe, who were being re-cast as recording artists. She had first seen them performing on The Late Show with David Letterman in November 2002, where Carmen Electra sang "Big Spender" from the Bob Fosse musical Sweet Charity. In 2006, Scherzinger said "It caught my eye because I’d played Velma Kelly in [Fosse's] Chicago in college." The Pussycat Dolls now have world-wide status as a popular singing group, with "Don't Cha", "Buttons" and "Stickwitu" as top five hits in the U.S.. The album PCD went double-platinum in 2006. Scherzinger sang nearly all lead vocals on the album, with Carmit Bachar and Melody Thornton also contributing.
Scherzinger is the only group member with songwriting credits on PCD; she co-wrote "I Don't Need a Man" with Kara DioGuardi and producer Rich Harrison, and co-wrote "Buttons" with producer Sean Garrett. Another collaboration with DioGuardi, "Flirt", became a B-side to "Stickwitu" and a bonus track on PCD.
In 2006, Scherzinger toured with the Pussycat Dolls for their album promotion. It was revealed in 2006 that the Dolls are salaried employees of Interscope Records, giving the label a high level of control over the group's finances and business decisions.
She was ranked at number twenty-two on Maxim's Hot 100 in 2006 and twenty-one in 2007
Scherzinger appeared on the March 2008 cover of Men's Fitness magazine. Her latest single with the Pussycat Dolls is called "When I Grow Up".
Following the popularity of "Don't Cha" and the continuing rise of the Pussycat Dolls, Scherzinger recorded a series of duets or "guest appearances", predominantly with male vocalists. In 2005, she appeared on recordings by Shaggy, Vittorio Grigolo, and Will Smith. The following year she sang on Avant's single "Lie About Us" and P. Diddy's hit "Come to Me" (which she also co-wrote). She has recently also been on a track by will.i.am along with many other musicians called "Yes We Can". Other appearances are listed in her discography.
SOLO CAREER
Scherzinger worked on her debut album from 2006-2008 with record producers including will.i.am, Timbaland, Kara DioGuardi, and Bryan-Michael Cox. Scherzinger announced in a March 17, 2007 interview in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that the album would be called Her Name is Nicole; It was originally slated for a 2007 release but is currently without an official release date.
The first single, "Whatever U Like", featuring rapper T.I., was released in July 2007. The song was unsuccessful commercially and with critics, and it was soon announced that "Baby Love" (released September 2007) would replace "Whatever U Like" as the "lead single" from the album. Media reports commented on the fact that both Interscope's and Scherzinger's official websites started in September 2007 to refer to "Baby Love" as her first single. After both these singles were unsuccessful in North America ("Baby Love" charted well in Europe and Brazil however), a poll was placed on Scherzinger's website, asking fans to vote for the third single. Choices include: "Supervillian", "Happily Never After", "Who's Gonna Love You" and "Power's Out". However on November 28, the poll was updated and the songs "Power's Out" and "Supervillian" were removed and replaced with "Puakenikeni" and "Physical". It was announced via the website on December 10 that "Puakenikeni" was to be the next official single to be taken from the album, however it has yet to be fully released internationally.
"Supervillian" and "Puakenikeni" were both released as iTunes downloads only. As with Scherzinger's earlier solo singles, they failed to make any impact on the U.S. charts. Following this, Interscope announced that Scherzinger's album would be put on hold for the time being.
Arnel Pineda
Birth name Arnel Pineda
Born September 5, 1967 (1967-09-05) (age 40)
Sampaloc, Manila, Philippines
Genre(s) Rock, Hard rock, Soft rock, Pop
Occupation(s) Singer-Songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, Guitar
Years active 1982-Present
Label(s) Warner Bros. / MCA Universal
Associated acts Ijos Band, Amo, New Age, Most W@nted, The Zoo, Journey
Arnel Pineda (born September 5, 1967) is a Filipino singer-songwriter and is currently the lead singer of the American rock band Journey. Pineda has enjoyed a successful musical career in Asia for the last 25 years. His singing style was influenced by Steve Perry (Journey), John Farnham (Little River Band), Freddie Mercury (Queen), Sting (The Police), Survivor, Heart, The Beatles, Van Halen, Aerosmith, U2, Warrant, Deep Purple, and other bands along these genres.
Early life
Pineda, born in Sampaloc, Manila, in the Philippines, began singing at age 5. His parents, both tailors, encouraged him to enter amateur singing contests. In elementary school, Pineda represented his school singing Celeste Legaspi's "Gaano Kita Kamahal" (How Much I Love You) and was featured on national television. When Pineda was 12, his mother died after a long illness at age 35, leaving his family in serious debt. Pineda's father took his three younger brothers Russmon, Roderick and Joselito to live with relatives. Pineda, as the eldest, had to quit school and collect scrap metal, bottles and newspapers at the pier in Manila to earn money. Pineda was living in the streets, sleeping at Luneta Park or, when possible, on a wooden bench at a relative's house. In a TV interview with Jessica Soho ("Kapuso Mo"), Pineda described waiting and watching while his relatives ate breakfast in the mornings, hoping some food would be left over for him to eat. Pineda dreamed of becoming an engineer. Reflecting on his childhood, Pineda said he felt no self-pity. He always kept a positive outlook, thinking, "Gaganda rin 'to." (Things will get better)
Singing career
In 1982, when Pineda was 15 years old, he became the lead singer of the Filipino musical group called Ijos Band (later renamed "Yjoz"). In 1986, some members of Yjoz formed a group called Amo. Amo entered and won the Rock Wars contest in the Philippines.
In 1988, Amo entered and won the Philippines leg of the Yamaha World Band Explosion. They went on to the finals in Hong Kong but due to a technicality, they did not win. (The rules stated the winning song had to be an original composition. However, they also stated that the song entry in the finals had to be the same song with which the band won their country's leg of the competition. Amo's winning song in the Philippines was Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", obviously not an original.) After the contest, the band continued as Amo, performing live. They opened for Robert Palmer in Manila in 1989.
Amo played in clubs in Quezon City, Olongapo City and Makati City, which are located in Luzon, the biggest island in the Philippines. Amo was very popular in the renowned Chinese-owned California Jams club in Olongapo City, which was frequented by United States military personnel.
In 1990, Pineda and other members of Amo formed another band called Intensity Five and once again entered the Yamaha World Band Explosion. Pineda won the Best Vocalist award and the band came in as first runner up.
Later in 1990, five of Amo's original members split from the band leader, Ulysis Ablang (Uly) and formed another band behind Pineda, "New Age". This occurred prior to the release of Amo's one-and-only album released in 1990 titled Ang Tunay na Amo ("The Real Master") on BMG records which spawned one popular radio hit called "Running Away". (The song was popularized again in 2006 by another Filipino artist Erik Santos, who won an American Idol type Filipino TV show, Star In A Million.) The remaining members of Amo went on to become "The Boss Band", while Pineda's band, New Age, played regularly at Fire and Rain in Makati City.
In 1991, during one of those performances, a talent agent spotted Pineda and New Age and asked them to move to Hong Kong to perform at a very popular entertainment restaurant called Grammy's. With New Age, Pineda performed six nights a week, Tuesday through Sunday, for several years thereafter.
After a long-term serious relationship failed in 1994, Pineda suffered health problems, which almost destroyed his voice. He returned to the Philippines. After six months of recuperation, he was able to sing again. He returned to Hong Kong and resumed singing with his band.
In 1998, the owner of Igor's, the premiere theme restaurant/nightclub in Hong Kong, asked New Age to perform there. Dressed in skeleton outfits, they called themselves "The Rolling Bones".
In 1999, Pineda caught the attention of Warner Bros. record label and flew back to the Philippines on his days off to record a solo album, the self-titled Arnel Pineda. Most of the album’s ten original songs were slow ballads, with only two upbeat numbers, one of which carries a Latin style. One of the songs, “Iiyak Ka Rin” (You Will Cry Too) became a karaoke favorite in Asia, while another song "Sayang" (Too Bad) became a radio favorite. Pineda wrote and arranged several songs. Pineda continued to perform with New Age while making his album and for several years thereafter.
In 2001, Pineda sang one song with Filipino band, South Border’s album The Way We Do. The song is called “Looking Glass”.
In 2002, Pineda's band changed their name to 9 mm and played at “The Edge” in Lai Kwai Fong, Hong Kong.
In 2004, three members of the New Age band reformed with a female singer sharing lead vocals with Pineda and called themselves “Most W@nted”. This band played 3-4 hour sets Monday through Saturday at The Cavern Club in Hong Kong. On their only day off, Sundays, the band often performed at Filipino community events.
In 2005, Arnel recorded the theme song of the short-lived Filipino radio show "Dayo". A band named The Visitors was briefly formed for promotion purposes of the "Dayo" soundtrack consisting of three members from Ijos/Yjoz, Amo, New Age and Most W@nted.
The Zoo
In 2006, encouraged by well-respected Filipino talent manager and TV director, Bert de Leon, Pineda moved back to the Philippines with Monet Cajipe, the guitarist who had been in all of Pineda’s previous bands. They formed The Zoo with Emil Bondoc on bass, Edgar Mendoza on keyboards, and Makoy Alcantara on drums. They signed on with de Leon's company, Sundance Entertainment Corporation. The Zoo performed several nights a week at clubs in Manila and Olongapo during 2006 and 2007. Shows regularly spanned 3-5 hours. The Zoo’s first album Zoology was released by MCA Universal in September 2007 featuring 12 original tracks and one cover song ("Pain in My Heart," originally recorded a decade earlier by Second Wind), five of which were penned by Pineda, and another was co-written by Pineda and Mark Valliente.
Journey
Videos of The Zoo performing cover songs by Journey, Survivor, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Air Supply, The Eagles, Kenny Loggins and other popular acts from the 70s, 80s and 90s, began appearing on YouTube.com in February 2007. On June 28, 2007, Neal Schon of Journey contacted Noel Gomez, a longtime fan and friend of Pineda who uploaded many of these videos, to ask for Pineda's contact information. Schon sent an e-mail to Pineda inviting the latter to audition for Journey. Pineda initially dismissed the e-mail as a hoax, but after being persuaded by Gomez, he finally replied to Schon's e-mail. Ten minutes later, Pineda received a phone call from Schon. On August 12, Pineda, along with his manager Bert de Leon, flew to Marin County, just north of San Francisco, for a two-day audition. The star-struck Pineda was welcomed warmly but he described the audition as "nerve-wracking, tense".
On December 5, 2007, Pineda was announced as the lead singer of Journey. CNN Headline News ran the story as part of their "News to Me" segment.
Pineda debuted as the lead singer of Journey on February 21, 2008 at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival held at the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater in Viña del Mar, Chile. Videos of the Vina del Mar performance are available at the Festival's home page and on YouTube.
Chilean media acclaimed Pineda's performance (translated to English): "The new vocalist fit very well with the band, his vocal aptitudes shining through, which are very similar to the legendary musician of the band, Steve Perry." Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain described Pineda's performance in a radio interview: "We went to Chile just recently, where we had never played and they went crazy, they absolutely went nuts...Arnel's first show - talk about a stressful thing - we had a televised concert for 25 million people...Is the guy a winner? Yeah, he's a winner. He's a clutch player."
Journey returned to the US for a private Remax Convention event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on March 6, 2008, then performed at Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood on March 8, 2008 (this concert was recorded and used, in part, for the Revelation DVD).
"Revelations" Album and Tour
Journey's first album with Pineda, "Revelation" debuted at No. 5 in the Billboard Top 200 album charts in the week following its release (released June 3, 2008), and has remained in the Top 20 for 6 weeks. It is expected to be certified gold by RIAA soon with more than 336,000 units sold (as a double album)[22]. The US version of the album (distributed exclusively through Wal-Mart) consists of 11 new songs, and 11 re-recorded classics, plus a live in-concert DVD filmed during the March 8, 2008 concert in Las Vegas. The European version contains 11 new songs, 11 re-recorded classics, plus one new bonus track, but does not include the DVD. It is distributed through Frontiers Records.
All of the music on "Revelation" was produced by Kevin Shirley (who previously worked with Journey on their Platinum-certified "Trial by Fire" album).
Jonathan Cain described the album in an interview: "We recorded our greatest hits with our brand new singer from the Philippines, Arnel Pineda, and it's unbelievable when you listen to it. We paid a lot of attention to the details because everybody loves those hits and we weren't about to step all over it. We've got that and a brand new CD as well, and then there's a bonus DVD of what the band looks like now, about an hour of songs... It's a 3-disc package... We're excited because we think Arnel is the future for our franchise... We knew that if we were ever gonna move on, we had to get somebody that was really gonna be our future and sound like Journey is supposed to sound...I think Journey fans are in for a real treat."
In an interview soon after Pineda joined the band, Neal Schon said, "We feel reborn. I think there’s a lot of chemistry between the five of us. At first we were going to go into the studio and just write 4 songs, but now it’s escalated to a lot of great new and diverse material. The stuff sounds tremendous. Everyone’s so stoked about it. We feel very fortunate to have found Arnel."
In his online diary, Shirley described the recording sessions as "wonderful, successful, stupidly creative" and said that "Sometimes you just know when there's history in the making." In a statement on December 5, 2007, Shirley said "I was stunned at Arnel, who is a monster vocalist. He is the real deal. Just phenomenal." When speaking about the upcoming album in a later entry in his diary, he said: "Just got back from Vegas last night, after mixing seven new Journey songs. They are outstanding... For the record, I think Arnel is 'the business!' - the guy can really sing! He handles the ballads with SO much heart, and belts the rockers as hard, and melodically, as anyone I have heard. The songs are sensational - wonderfully crafted and deep, and so focused, you may wonder where they all came from. And I'm being serious...."
Shirley saw videos of Pineda's debut performance at Viña del Mar and remarked that he was "so proud of him. He's a real genuine guy."
Journey's 2008 tour accompanying the release of "Revelation" began on June 8, 2008, in Spain, followed by four dates in Germany, and one date in the Netherlands. Journey toured the United Kingdom from June 17 through June 28, 2008. The US tour (with Heart and Cheap Trick) began on July 9, 2008, in Denver, CO, and continues through October 4, 2008, in Albuquerque, NM. Many dates are already sold out, well in advance.
Pineda performed as part of the Journey concert at Mandalay Bay and Casino in Las Vegas on July 18,and on July 22 at Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, and Zoo Amphitheatre.
In the closing months of 2008, Journey plans to tour Japan, Australia, and the Philippines. Information about concert dates are available at the Journey.
Coming up to this page is our very own CHARISSE PEMPENCO AND A LOT MORE
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