Who would have thought that this half-Filipino, half-Puerto Rican singer would revolutionise the Philippine music industry with his voice and songwriting? Born Edgardo Jose “Gary” Santiago Valenciano, the now 57-year-old is very much active as a regular host in the long-running TV variety show, ASAP, and is likewise a UNICEF national ambassador.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, he has done online concerts that raised more than 10 million pesos for marginalised communities and victims of the pandemic. Spanning more than forty years in the industry, he has done almost everything in the entertainment industry—from acting, producing, directing and performing—having been once dubbed as the Michael Jackson of the Philippines. He is also popularly known as ‘Mr Pure Energy’, owing to his signature dance moves.

He is married to Angeli Valenciano and they have three children and a granddaughter. A devout Christian, he has had to fight Type 1 diabetes all his life and in 2018, had an open-heart surgery due to his illness. He has claimed his faith has brought him through every obstacle in his life. Today, Valenciano is one of the brightest stars the Philippine entertainment industry has produced and still there’s no stopping him.