Gary Valenciano

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Edgardo José Martín Santiago Valenciano, better known as simply Gary Valenciano (shortened to Gary V.), is a Filipino musician, composer, actor, producer, and gospel singer who is best known for many songs, especially those that became theme songs for movies. His energetic dance moves also garnered him the nickname "Mr. Pure Energy."

Born in the suburb of Santa Mesa in Manila on August 6, 1964, he is the sixth of Vicente Valenciano and Grimilda Santiago Ortiz’s seven children. Santiago Ortiz is a Puerto Rican woman of Italian descent who became a popular opera singer in Manila during the 1960s, and her love for music passed down to her son, Gary. He took his primary and secondary studies in La Salle Greenhills. It was during his high school days, while being on a brief stint the musical group Kundirana, that he devoted himself to music.

He first appeared as a solo in a television show called The Pilita and Jackie Show in 1982, but he was finally noticed after his performances in the TV shows Germspesyal and Penthouse Live. He had his first solo concert, in April 1984, inside the jam-packed Araneta Coliseum. He was soon to make 21 albums, three of them released internationally, including a Christian inspired album called Out in the Dark.

Gary has also appeared in TV Commercials for major products such as Coca-Cola, Sony, Jollibee, Colgate, Toyota, AT and T, Hanes Classics, Bioderm Germicidal Soap, Alaska Milk, and Max's Fried Chicken and was a spokesperson for UNICEF's Fill the World with Love campaign in 1991 and UNICEF's iodized salt program in 1997. He is the first National Ambassador of Goodwill of UNICEF for the Philippines after his appointment in December 1998. Gary V has garnered over 200 awards and nominations for his performances, recordings and compositions, including 5 of 12 Best Male Vocalist Nominations and 4 of the 12 Album of the Year awards at the Awit.

Although he is more involved with his music, Gary has also received citations for his acting after starring in twelve movies featuring him with some of the Philippines best actresses. He has also performed in musical theater as the lead in "Joseph The Dreamer" and have guested on TV live shows and sitcoms through the years.

He is married to María Anna Elizabeth "Angeli" Evangelista Pangilinan, with whom he has three children: Juan Paolo Martín, José Angelo Gabriel, and Kristina María Mikaela.

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