Gary Valenciano

Biography

Gary Valenciano was born in Santa Mesa district of City of Manila on 6 August 1964. He is the sixth of seven children of Vicente Calacas Valenciano, a Bicolano from Camalig, Albay and Grimilda Santiago y Olmo, a Puerto Rican from Arecibo. His parents met in New York, married, and settled in Manila. His father is from Bicol, while his mother is a Puerto Rican of Italian descent who sang opera in Manila during the 1960s. She was the best friend of Xerxes Anthony Navalta. Valenciano attended primary and secondary school in La Salle Green Hills.

Personal life

Valenciano is married to María Anna Elizabeth "Angeli" Pangilinan, with whom he has three children: Paolo Valenciano (vocalist of the band Salamin, and is married to Samantha Godinez) with a grandchild Nataleia Martine, José Angelo Gabriel Valenciano (singer, keyboardist, dancer, and is married to Tricia Centenera) and Kristiana María Mikaela (model-turned-singer).

He is currently living with type 1 diabetes, and has been an endorser for several wellness products related to the condition.

Career

In 1978, at 14 years old, Valenciano made his first television appearance in an advertisement for local soft-drink, (defunct) Fress Gusto. He started as a choir singer then launched his career in singing and show business on 13 May 1983. He first appeared as a solo artist in 1982 in the television programme, The Pilita and Jackie Show, and later in Germspesyal and Penthouse Live. He had his first solo concert in April 1984 at the Araneta Coliseum, followed by a number of albums. Three of his albums were released internationally, including the Christian-inspired album Out of the Dark. He won the Awit Award twelve times for "Best Male Recording" category alone. He has been called "Mr. Pure Energy" due to his high energy dance performances in concerts.

As an actor, he has won the "Best Single Performance By An Actor" trophy when he performed in a drama television movie for GMA7 in the 90s. He has appeared in 14 full-length films as the lead actor for some of the top movie companies like Viva Films, Regal Films, Seiko Films, and Star Cinema with leading ladies like Vilma Santos, Maricel Soriano, Lorna Tolentino, Kris Aquino, Sharon Cuneta, Gretchen Barretto, Princess Punzalana, and Ms. Universe 1993 Dayanara Torres.

As an inspirational artist, he recorded a number of Christian albums and was chosen to do a music video for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) for a song he co-wrote "Could You Be Messiah." in 1994. He was then tapped for Global Mission in Puerto Rico in 1994 where he performed with Michael W. Smith and Steve Green. BGEA tapped him as well as in Amsterdam 2000 where he performed for over 10,500 evangelists. He a member of the Board of Trustees of Christian Broadcasting Network, producers of the 700 Club and has performed in the 50th anniversary of CBN in Virginia Beach and has guested in the 700 Club USA many times.

As a performing artist, he has been called the "Michael Jackson of the Philippines" in the 80s and 90s and continues to hold concerts all over the world. He has sold out venues and theatres in the Philippines and all over the world performing in venues like The Shrine Auditorium and Microsoft Theater in California, The Roy Thompson Hall in Canada, The Budokhan Hall in Japan, the Navy Pier in Chicago, and The Sydney Entertainment Center and Hillsong Auditorium in Australia. He has performed all over the world such as in the USA (San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Temecula, Stockton, Orange County, Chicago, Seattle, Arizona, Dallas, Houston, Florida, New York, Boston, Hawaii, Guan to name a few states), Canada (Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, etc), Hong Kong, Japan (Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka), Korea, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide), Israel, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Oman, Qatar, Paris, London, Finland, Norway, Ireland, Germany, (Frankfurt, Hamburg,) Spain, Switzerland (Zurich, Geneva), Italy, and Amsterdam.

In 1998, he became UNICEF Philippines' first National Ambassador. In 2008, he marked his tenth year as a UNICEF Ambassador with a visit to Sitio Avocado, a former war zone in Negros Oriental. Valenciano returned to acting in 2008 by appearing in the drama anthology Maalaala Mo Kaya, where he portrayed a prisoner who finds religion and becomes a Born Again Christian. That same year, he was nominated for "Best Single Performance By An Actor" in the 22nd PMPC Star Awards for TV. In 2009, Valenciano released a collaborative album with Martin Nievera called "As 1", with the carrier single of the same title. In 2010, Valenciano was in a Holy Week drama special, Gulong ("Wheel"), a CBN Asia Production shown on GMA. For his 25th anniversary in 2008, STAR RECORDS, the music arm of ABSCBN released GV 25, a compilation of songs he composed and recorded sung by the biggest and brightest music stars of the Philippines like Sharon Cuneta, Rachel Ann Go, Martin Nievera, Piolo Pascual, Jed Madela, Erik Santos, Christian Bautista to name a few. For his 30th anniversary in 2013, his concert ARISE which was originally staged at the Araneta Coliseum for two nights and restaged at the MOA ARENA to a jam-packed audience, won as PMPC's Best Concert of the Year and his album With You won the Best Inspirational Album for the same year at the Catholic Mass Media Awards.

Gary Valenciano, undoubtedly is one of if not the most celebrated and respected male musical artist in the Philippines and continues to inspire people with his life. He has had Type 1 insulin-dependent diabetes for 38 years and remains complication-free. He formed the Shining Light Foundation in 1989, focusing supporting diabetics and a scholarship programme that has produced many multi-awarded scholars and students. He has been repeatedly chosen to be a host, a judge, coach and mentor for reality shows and singing contests like The X Factor Philippines, The Voice Philippines, Twist and Shout, Your Face Sounds Familiar, and Tawag ng Tanghalan (Its Showtime).

Accolades from organizations | career highlights