She had her big break on Star for a Night, and she hasn’t stopped shining since. Sarah Geronimo—or The Popstar Princess, as she is called—won PHP1 million and a management contract from the local singing competition in 2002. Soon after, ABS-CBN followed with an offer that put her in primetime soap operas and landed her big screen roles. Ultimately, however, it was her down-to-earth personality and powerful voice that has kept the recording artist in the hearts of millions of Filipino fans over her 20-year-long career.

Over the decades, she has risen through pop music charts and appeared in mainstream blockbuster movies. In 2013, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts recognised her as a Goodwill Ambassador for Music and presented her with its signature Ani ng Dangal recognition, a state accolade for multi-disciplinary arts.

Besides performing at presidential inaugurations, she has performed on two occasions for the Pope. At 7, she was among the singers of Pope John Paul II’s visit to the Philippines; at 30, she performed in Abu Dhabi for Pope Francis’ first historic mass in the Arabian Peninsula.

Through the pandemic, The Voice Philippines coach has also been selling out online shows. Her first digital concert was titled Tala, which is also the name of her hit 2016 single that went viral through a TikTok dance craze in 2019.