Martin Nievera Filipino Singer Born 1962 in Manila

Martin Ramon Razon Nievera was born on 5 February in Manila. He is a Filipino singer, songwriter, television host and actor who has recorded for four decades, and the Philippine media have nicknamed him the "Concert King". He is best known for contemporary love ballads and for his stage presence.

Early life

Nievera is the son of the singer Bert Nievera and Conchita Razon, and he has a twin sister, Victoria, whom the family calls Vicki. When the twins were three, their mother took them to Hawaii to live with Bert, who performed with the Hawaii-based group Society of Seven. Martin attended elementary and high school there. In the first year the family lived in a hotel, the Outrigger, and he would watch his father perform in the showroom downstairs and imagine himself in the group.

The family later ran restaurants, and while working at one of them, in Concord, California, he received singing lessons from his father. By fourteen he was performing in Society of Seven shows. In the 1970s the family settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, and he attended Clayton Valley High School in Concord, where he played basketball. The school's wrestling coach urged him to join the choir after hearing him sing in the locker room. Besides his father, he credits his maternal grandmother, Lourdes Corrales, a mezzo-soprano and radio personality in the Philippines in the 1940s. His mother, who knew how demanding show business was, wanted him to become a doctor or a lawyer.

Career

After finishing high school in 1980, Nievera entered the 1981 California State Talent Competition in Santa Clara, which attracted more than four thousand contestants over four days. He won the grand championship with "The Greatest Love of All", a song his father had taught him. He also sang in the choir behind Barry Manilow at a three-night concert at Concord Pavilion, performing "One Voice".

Nievera returned to the Philippines in 1982 to start a singing career. His first album, Martin...Take One, was released in 1983 and reached platinum status in five months. He started co-hosting the television variety show The Penthouse Live! with Pops Fernandez, whom he later married, and the 1984 album The Best Gift followed. In 1984 he headlined a concert for about 45,000 people at the PhilSports stadium. In 1987 the programme was renamed Martin and Pops Twogether to mark the couple's marriage. He hosted Martin After Dark from 1988 and Martin Late at Nite from 1998 to 2003. Since 1995 he has co-hosted the weekly music show ASAP on ABS-CBN. In 1985 he also became a radio presenter at 101.1 Kiss FM.

His music spans pop, soft rock, adult contemporary, gospel and dance. His album Forever (1998) led to two sequels, Forever, Forever (1999) and Return to Forever, and My Souvenirs (2001) was another multi-platinum release. Over his career he has earned 18 platinum, 5 double-platinum, 3 triple-platinum and one quadruple-platinum album, making him one of the best-selling Filipino recording artists.

Nievera has acted in eleven films and seven television series and specials, including Always and Forever (1986), Magic to Love (1989), Adarna: The Mythical Bird (1997) and Wrinkles (2006). He performed with Society of Seven and Lani Misalucha at the Flamingo in Las Vegas in early 2008, and in 2009 he gave a concert with Fernandez titled "Missing You" at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. He released As Always in 2010 and Himig ng Damdamin, an album of cover songs, in 2011. In 2012 he was named one of four judges on The X Factor Philippines, and in 2023 he became a coach on the fifth season of The Voice Kids.

Concerts abroad

He was the first Filipino solo male artist, and the second Filipino overall after Lea Salonga, to give a full-length concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. He was also the first Filipino solo male performer to headline at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre and the Hollywood Bowl. He has performed with artists such as David Foster, David Pomeranz and Michael Bublé.

Recognition

At the 25th Awit Awards in 2002 he was named Entertainer of the Year for the third time, the first artist to win it three years in a row, which put him in the awards' Hall of Fame. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser named him Best Male Singer and Star of the Year in 1988, and in 1990 he won Best Interpreter at the Abu Golden Kite Awards in Malaysia. In 2018 he received the Myx Magna Award at the Myx Music Awards, and in 2021 he was listed among Asia's Most Influential Philippines.