Martin Nievera

Aside from his father, who always supported his singing, Nievera also credits for his talent his Cebuana maternal grandmother, Lourdes Corrales, a famous mezzo-soprano opera singer and radio personality in 1940s Philippines.

Unlike his father Bert, his mother Conchita was against his dream, instead wanting him to become a doctor or a lawyer.

"She knew what she [his grandmother] and my father went through[...] the [show] business takes a lot out of you," Nievera related and said his mother told him.

Martin Ramon Razon Nievera (born February 5, 1962) is a Filipino singer and television personality.

Known for his contemporary love ballads and on-stage personality, he is celebrated as one of the most important figures in local Filipino music.

With a career spanning four decades, he has garnered 18 platinum, 5 double platinum, 3 triple platinum, and 1 quadruple platinum albums, listing him among the highest-selling Filipino recording artist of all time.

Martin Ramon Razon Nievera was born on February5, 1962 in Manila to singer Bert Nievera and Conchita Razon.

He has a twin sister, Victoria (nicknamed "Vicki" ); a younger sister, Rachel; and many siblings from his parents' other unions.

His father was a member of the Hawaii-based singing troupe Society of Seven.

His mother separated with her first husband and fled with the twins to Hawaii when they were three years old to live there with Bert.

Attending elementary and high school in Hawaii, he said that he was regularly bullied by his classmates because of his appearance and "I wore a belt and shoes, so they thought belt and shoes meant mayaman ka [you are rich]. I would get beaten up for my lunch money, so my twin sister Vicki would defend me in school. The following day mas nabugbog ako [I was beaten more] because na-defend ako ng babae [I was defended by a girl]."

Nievera developed an interest in music, particularly in singing, at an early age.

In their first year in Hawaii, the family resided on the fifteenth floor of the Outrigger Hotel, and the young Nievera "would watch him [his father] perform downstairs with the Society of Seven, and every night I would dream and imagine myself as one of the members of that group, singing for audiences both big and small."

While working as a burger flipper at a restaurant that his family owned in Hawaii or at another family-owned restaurant, called Roadrunner Burgers, in Concord, California (where they would eventually move to), Nievera received singing lessons from his father, learning "how and when to belt and how to end the song in a big way."

By the age of fourteen, he was performing with him in Society of Seven shows.

In the 1970s, the family relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

Nievera enrolled at Clayton Valley High School in Concord, where he was a member of the basketball team.

He was encouraged by the school's wrestling coach to enter the choir, impressed by a rendition of Morris Albert's "Feelings" that Nievera sang while showering in the locker room.

Bert posited that his son began to realize "he could sing professionally" when he was sixteen, the same age when he did.

After graduating from Clayton Valley in 1980, Nievera joined the 1981 California State Talent Competition in Santa Clara, in which he won.

As contestant number 1049, he competed against over four thousand other contestants for "[f]our days long[...] you had to win the first day to compete the second day to compete the third day. The third day was the championship, the fourth day is a championship of all the champions of the different categories. So I won the third day, then I won the overall grand champion."

Nievera said of his victory, "It was a big moment in my life. That was when I knew I was gonna be a singer."

His winning piece was "The Greatest Love of All", which his father taught him at the restaurant.

In 1980 – c.1982, Nievera was chosen to perform with American singer Barry Manilow at his three-day concert in Concord Pavilion, singing back-up in a choir to the latter's "One Voice".

After this experience, he said, "Okay, I'm gonna be a singer."

Around this time, when he was nineteen, Nievera's parents were having problems with their relationship.

Nievera began his career in 1982 with the release of his debut album Martin… Take One, achieving platinum status in five months.

In the succeding years, Nievera also ventured into hosting and acting.

He has appeared in eleven movies and seven television series and specials, most notable being Penthouse Live! (1984) with Pops Fernandez, Martin After Dark (1988) and ASAP (1995).

His music covers a variety of genres ranging from pop, soft rock, adult contemporary to gospel and dance music.

In 1984, he headlined a concert in front of 45,000 crowd at the PhilSports Football and Athletics Stadium.

In 1988, he was named 'Best Male Singer' and 'Star of the Year' by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in Hawaii.

He also won as 'Best Interpreter' at the 1990 Abu Golden Kite Awards in Malaysia.

Nievera has already performed alongside renowned artists such as David Foster, David Pomeranz, and Michael Buble.

Among his most successful releases includes the multi-platinum sellers Forever (1998), Forever, Forever (1999) and My Souvenirs (2001).

In 2002, Nievera was named 'Entertainer of the Year' at the 25th Awit Awards for the third time.

He became the first artist to win the award for three consecutive years, elevating him to the Hall of Fame alongside the likes of Pilita Corrales and Celeste Legaspi.

Dubbed as the "Philippines' Concert King" by the media, he was the first Filipino solo male artist and second overall (after Lea Salonga) to stage a full-length concert at the Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall.

He was also the first Filipino solo male artist to headline a concert at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre and the Hollywood Bowl.

Nievera said in 2018, "It all happened in the main showroom in that Outrigger Hotel[...] That room is now known as the Blue Note Hawaii, and I still perform there to this day. It has become a very sacred room for me probably because that's where dad gave me my first set of wings."