Cover Lea Salonga earns place on Hollywood Walk of Fame (Photo: Instagram / Lea Salonga)
Lea Salonga earns place on Hollywood Walk of Fame (Photo: Instagram / Lea Salonga)
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Recognised for her contributions to live theatre and performance, singer and actress Lea Salonga joins a new class of honourees
In a city where the sidewalk doubles as a shrine, Lea Salonga is about to take her place among legends. The Tony and Olivier Award-winning Filipina singer and actress has been named one of 35 honourees in the 2025 class of the Hollywood Walk of Fame—an accolade reserved for those who have, in the language of the selection committee, “made history.”
Salonga joins an elite circle that includes the likes of Emily Blunt, Rachel McAdams, Miley Cyrus, Timothée Chalamet and Air Supply, spanning the fields of motion pictures, music, television and live theatre. She is the first Filipina and only the fourth Filipino overall to receive the honour, after Rob Schneider and Bruno Mars—while Apl.de.Ap is slated to receive his star alongside the Black Eyed Peas once a ceremony is scheduled.
The nomination was submitted by the Manila International Film Festival (MIFF), a gesture that added symbolic heft to what is already a rare feat. In a statement, MIFF called Salonga “the one and only,” as if echoing what many Filipinos and the wider musical theatre world have long believed: that her voice is singular.
“Just now woke up to this bit of amazing news!!!” Salonga wrote on Instagram, circling her name in a screenshot of the honouree list. “To the Manila International Filmfest, many thanks for nominating me to be part of the class of 2025-26!”
More from Tatler: Lea Salonga on having her wax figure at Madame Tussauds Singapore
Above Lea Salonga reacts to the recognition in an Instagram story (Photo: Instagram / Lea Salonga)
Lea Salonga reacts to the recognition in an Instagram story (Photo: Instagram / Lea Salonga)
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Salonga’s career is both global and enduring. She originated the role of Kim in Miss Saigon, becoming the first Asian woman to win a Tony Award for her performance. That breakout role, paired with her portrayal of Eponine and later Fantine in Les Misérables, established her as a vocal powerhouse on Broadway and the West End.
Her voice is etched into the childhoods of generations: she was the singing voice of two Disney princesses—Jasmine in Aladdin and Mulan in Mulan. Yet Salonga has always managed to go beyond nostalgia. Her performance on the West End stage for Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends was met with critical acclaim, among many others, and fans look forward to her upcoming project, Into the Woods.
In an industry that still struggles with representation, Salonga’s success has long been freighted with significance. She was a breakthrough before that word became a catchall. The accolades she has received speak of artistic excellence and a kind of diplomatic labour: an artist who carried her country’s name on international marquees before it became commonplace to do so.
In the coming months, the stretch of Hollywood Boulevard that will bear her name may become a kind of secular pilgrimage site—especially for Southeast Asians, for theatre lovers, for young girls who learned what a belt could sound like because of a VHS copy of Miss Saigon. But even amid those, the gesture affirms that discipline and craft still matter in an age increasingly defined by virality.
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Angela Nicole Regis Guiral is the assistant digital editor of Tatler Philippines. She studied journalism and has since written features that look closely at how culture, lifestyle and social impact converge, while occasionally wandering into the worlds of style and travel.
