25 Years of Jaya: 7 Highlights from the Queen of Soul’s Celebration of Memories

25 Years of Jaya: 7 Highlights from the Queen of Soul’s Celebration of Memories

 

March 21, 1969 marked the day when Maria Luisa Ramsey, popularly known here as Jaya, was born. At the age of 12 years, Jaya performed alongside with her bubbly mom, Ms. Elizabeth Ramsey. In a previous interview, Ms. Elizabeth shared that she did not even teach Jaya to sing; the only thing she told the little Maria Luisa was something along the lines “kailangan mong kumanta para mabuhay tayo”.

From that point onward, Jaya kept on going, dug her way to the local music industry, and now, she’s celebrating 25 years in the industry. To celebrate this silver milestone, the Queen of Soul held a one-night concert, entitled “Memories.. 25 Years”, at the Solaire Grand Ballroom last November 10. It was directed by Mr. Robby Tarroza with musical direction by Mr. Marc Lopez.

 

Look at the jam-packed crowd!

 

This might sound ‘O.A’, but to finally see Ms. Jaya perform live was kind of a dream come true for me! There was a long period in my childhood where I would wake up to the tune of our stereo playing OPM songs, and this would always include some of Jaya’s songs like “Wala Na Bang Pag-Ibig“, “Dahil Ba Sa Kanya”, and “Laging Naro’n Ka“. We would also regularly watch SOP on Sundays, so I got to see her there, too. I guess these were the reasons why watching the concert felt like a ‘dream come true’ hahaha 

Now, let me share with you 7 highlights from the Queen of Soul’s celebration of her memories!

 

25 Years of Jaya: 7 Highlights from the Queen of Soul’s Celebration of Memories

 

7. The Queen of Soul showcased her singing prowess and her dance moves.

 

Not only does Ms. Jaya know how to hit those high notes with her ravaging soul; she can shake and groove it, too! Though she only showcased her dancing skills in the opening act, it sure was a highlight to see the Ms. Jaya dance.

 

 

6. She had special guests: Faith Cuneta, Jonalyn Viray, and Kyla.

 

After Ms. Jaya’s thrilling and lively opening act and a couple of songs by Anita Baker and Chaka Khan, two of her major career influences, the next generation OPM artists Mses. Faith Cuneta, Jonalyn Viray, and the “R&B Princess” Kyla rendered some local hits, as well, such as “Sana’y Maulit Muli” and “Till They Take My Heart Away”.

 

(left) Faith Cuneta who was famous for her rendition of Pangarap na Bituin for the Koreanovela Jewel In the Palace

(right) Jonalyn Viray, the first ever Grand Champion of Ms. Regine Velasquez’s Pinoy Pop Superstar 

(They only needed three yellow stars and a sun to make it a full blown Philippine flag hahhaha) 

Mrs. Melanie Alvarez,or better known as Kyla

 

5. Sandara Park appeared outta nowhere.

 

As mentioned, Ms. Jaya often greeted some of her guests individually after every song, and when she mentioned that Sandara Park was present at the venue, we were all like “Weh? Diba nasa Korea yun?”. But, no. To our surprise, she was really there! She said she was in the country to celebrate her birthday, and attending the Queen of Soul’s concert was one of her ways to do it 🙂

  

Ms. Jaya asked Sandara to come up on stage so everybody could sing ‘Happy Birthday!” to her. Awwwww