Claire de la Fuente

Last updated
Claire dela Fuente
Birth nameClarita Crisostomo Dela Fuente
Born (1958-12-28) December 28, 1958 (age 62)
OriginManila, Philippines
Genres OPM
Years active1977–present
Website http://www.clairedelafuente.com

Clarita Crisostomo Dela Fuente-De Guzman (born December 28, 1958), better known as Claire de la Fuente, is a Filipino singer who achieved celebrity status in the late 1970s with the jukebox hit "Sayang". She was given the title "Asia's Sweetest Voice" because of her sweet voice. She was dubbed "the Karen Carpenter of the Philippines" as her voice has a striking resemblance to that of the late singer. Her first album in 1977 was then the Philippines' biggest ever seller. She went on to record seven more albums. Besides "Sayang", she is also known for hits like "Minsan-Minsan" and "Nakaw Na Pag-ibig".

Contents

She was given the title "Queen of Tagalog Songs" alongside Rico J. Puno as her counterpart. She was also named "Jukebox Queen" together with her contemporaries Imelda Papin, Eva Eugenio and the late Didith Reyes, and was also dubbed as "Asia's Sweetest Voice".

She is also a successful businesswoman. She is the president of the Integrated Metropolitan Bus Operators Association (IMBOA), though her bus franchise was cancelled in 2011 for joining a nationwide transport strike.[ citation needed ]

Biography

De la Fuente was 15 when she won the grand prize in the first singing contest she joined, singing The Carpenters' "Love Me for What I Am". By that time, the Accounting freshman at the University of the East knew she loved singing and was aware that she sounded like Karen Carpenter after a high school classmate had pointed it out.

Composer George Canseco, a fellow UE Alumni, and the head judge in the contest, gave the singer her first break by having her sing the jingle in a Hope cigarette commercial that became popular for its "imported" sound.

De la Fuente left show business in her mid-20s after reaping its financial rewards. She was married by that time, having tied the knot at 19 to a man 10 years her senior. In 1993, she set up the King of Kings Transport, which had to fold up a few years later. It wasn't the lucrative business she had hoped it would be.

Six years later, de la Fuente was elected president of the Integrated Metro Bus Operators Association (IMBOA), whose members make up 70 percent of all bus operators in Metro Manila. In 2003, de la Fuente made headlines when she spearheaded a boycott of the color-coding scheme that the MMDA had imposed for a week on all public utility vehicles as part of a traffic experiment. The move put her at odds with the equally headstrong MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando. [1]

In 2003, de la Fuente went back to school to study transportation management at PUP then went ahead and finished a Masters in Business Administration at the University of Western Australia in 2005.

Besides being the spokesperson of the entire Public Transportation industry, she has become a very successful businesswoman. She dabbled into the cosmetics industry, opening up The Skin Shop. Alongside this, she showcased her flair for culinary arts and opened Gracielo's and Claire de la Fuente Seafood and Grill.

In December 2006, her husband and best friend for more than 28 years, Moises (Boy) de Guzman, died after a five-month struggle with cancer. He left behind de la Fuente together with their two sons, Gregorio (Gigo; born 1986) and Gracielo (Mickey; born 1996).

In 2008, she teamed up with Richard Carpenter for her international album Something In Your Eyes.

In 2010, she recorded a duet with Michael Bolton, "The Christmas Song". The duet was included on her The Christmas Album under Viva Records.

Awards

Double Platinum Record awards:

Gold Record awards:

Singles

Related Research Articles

Pilar Garrido Corrales is a Filipina pop singer-songwriter, actress, comedian and television presenter. She is dubbed as "Asia's Queen of Songs" and is widely known for her rendition of "Kapantay Ay Langit" which eventually became her signature song.

Mennen Torres Polintan, known by his stage name Gardo Versoza, is a popular Filipino actor who has appeared in over forty movies and dozens of television shows.

George Masangkay Canseco was a Filipino composer of numerous popular Filipino songs.

Victor "Vic" Wood is a Filipino singer, actor and politician. His voice earned him various titles, including "Jukebox King" and "Plaka King".

Ricky Lee

Ricardo Lee is a Filipino screenwriter, journalist, novelist, and playwright.

The FAMAS Award for Best Picture is one of the FAMAS Awards, awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Award, which are voted on by Palanca Award-winning writers and movie columnists, writers and people in the film industry. The Best Picture FAMAS has always been considered the most important and top prize, and has been awarded by Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences ever since the very first ceremony in 1953.

Imelda Arcilla Papin is a Filipino singer and one of the bigger names in the Philippine music industry. Dubbed the "Sentimental Songstress", Imelda Papin is responsible for songs such as "Bakit " and "Isang Linggong Pag-ibig".

Ronald James Gibbs, popularly known by his on-screen name Ronaldo Valdez, is a veteran Filipino film and television actor whose career spanned for almost five decades.

Fred Panopio was a Filipino singer and actor who rose to fame in the 1970s.

Basil Salvador Valdez is a Filipino singer. He has received several Tinig Awards and the 1991 Tanglaw ng Lahi Award from Ateneo de Manila University.

Candy Pangilinan is a Filipina film and television actress and comedian. She won best actress for CineFilipino 2016 and Los Angeles International Film Festival for the movie Star na si Van Damme.

Martha Cecilia was a Filipino writer of Tagalog romance pocketbook novels. She was the author of best selling novel series Kristine and Sweetheart. Many of her novels were serialized by ABS-CBN under Precious Hearts Romances Presents.

Sylvia La Torre, known as "The Queen of Kundiman", is a Filipina singer, actress, and radio star. La Torre is the daughter of Filipino artist Leonora Reyes and director Olive La Torre. Her granddaughter is Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, for whom she was an early singing coach.

Amalia Fuentes was a Filipino actress who reigned as a "Movie Queen" in the 1960s and 1970s. She was once dubbed as the "Elizabeth Taylor of the Philippines". She was the aunt of actors Aga Muhlach and Niño Muhlach and the mother of actress Liezl Martinez. She was the first Filipino Lux Soap model.

Jennifer Sevilla-Go is an actress in movies and television shows in the Philippines. She was a former member of That's Entertainment.

Jeffrey Camangyan, known as Wowie de Guzman, is a Filipino dancer and a stage, film and TV actor. He was one of the top matinee idols from the 1990s. His break came as a member of dance group Universal Motion Dancers (UMD). He was nominated as Best Actor for FAMAS Award 1998 in Paano Ang Puso Ko?.

Ricardo Sumilang, also known by his stage name Romeo Vasquez, was a Filipino actor and former matinee idol of Philippine cinema.

This is the discography of Sharon Cuneta, a Filipino actress, singer and TV host. Her first exposure in Philippine music was in 1978 when at 12 years old, recorded the song "Mr. DJ". The song became a success and garnered her as 'DJ's Pet', which was the name also of her first album. Other hit albums followed and more movie soundtracks were sung by her.

Roel Cortez was a Filipino singer and songwriter who rose to fame in the 1980s due to his Tagalog hit songs such as "Napakasakit, Kuya Eddie", "Dalagang Probinsyana", "Pinay sa Japan" and "Bakit Ako'y Sinaktan".

Eva Eugenio was a popular singer in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is most famous for the hit song "Tukso". Along with Imelda Papin and Claire de la Fuente, she is dubbed as one of the "Jukebox Queens" of the Philippines.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.