Rachel Alejandro

Early life

Alejandro's mother and father separated when she was four. Her mother (Myrna Jingco) remarried (now Myrna J. Demauro) and moved to the US. Together with father Hajji and his new partner, the late Rio Diaz, Alejandro and her sister Barni spent time in Manila and the US.

Her theater experience began with The Sound of Music at eight years of age, then Peter Pan at 15, Noli Me Tangere at 18, then Alikabok at 21, followed by Sino Ka Ba Jose Rizal, Larawan, Fire Water Woman, and more recently Rent, Avenue Q in Manila (2007) and Singapore (2012), and Xanadu (2010) for Atlantis Productions. She appeared in an Atlantis Production of Aida as Amneris in June 2011. She accepted the role of Justice in Rock of Ages in the rerun in July 2013.

Career

Rachel Alejandro first entered the world of showbiz at the age of 12, when she was a host on the popular TV show That's Entertainment. At 15, following her successful TV stint, Alejandro recorded her first album, Just a Minute, for Alpha Records. The album spawned several hit songs including the #1 single "Mr. Kupido", as well as "K.S.P. (Kulang Sa Pansin)" and "Kay Tagal". The album went gold and Alejandro's recording career then took off. Her second album, Watch Me Now, featured a revival of "Nakapagtataka", the signature song of her father, pop icon Hajji Alejandro.

Her powerful rendition of the song earned her the Awit Award for Best Performance by a Female Recording Artist and the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Foundation Award for Best Female Singer/Entertainer. May Minamahal, which contained the award-winning single "Babalik-balikan", became Alejandro's first platinum album in 1992. That same year, her career got another boost when she competed at the Golden Stag International Song Festival in Brasov, Romania, winning the award for Best Interpretation of a Romanian Song. Her 1994 album, Sentimental, featured the multi-awarded song "Paalam Na" which Alejandro co-wrote with then-boyfriend Dingdong Avanzado.

In 1996, Alejandro celebrated her 10 years in showbiz by releasing an anniversary album and appearing in her first major concert, with guests Janno Gibbs, Ogie Alcasid and the Street Boys. As Alejandro said in an interview with Maryo B Labad, "In the past years, siguro halos lahat nasubukan ko na as far as the entertainment scene is concerned. And my efforts have paid off." Her album Tanging Pangarap, her first for Viva Records, was released in 2001. The carrier single was written by her longtime former boyfriend Lee Robin Salazar. It also contains the 2000 Metropop Song Festival winner "Forever and a Day" composed by Angelo Villegas. Recently, Alejandro released a self-produced album under a distribution agreement with Sony Music Philippines entitled Believe with original songs and cover songs from some of her stage musical projects.

Alejandro has also enjoyed success as an actress, appearing in films and theater productions. Her last major movie was Mumbaki with Raymart Santiago, directed by Butch Perez for VIVA Films.

Rachel's latest movie Ang Larawan The Movie is a musical movie in 2017 marks Alejandro's comeback movie for the 1st time in 21 years since her last movie was Mumbaki in 1996.

In July 1, 2018, ASAP (variety show) paid tribute to her and awarded her an ASAPinoy Plaque of recognition for her contributions to OPM. On that day she together with other performers such as Lyca Gairanod, Jona Soquite, and legendary singers Zsa Zsa Padilla, Martin Nievera, and her father Hajji Alejandro performed all her hit songs. Another milestone for her.^[2]

Personal life

She is currently married to Carlos SantaMaria (married April 9, 2011).^[3][4] She is currently residing in Makati.^[5]