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. His parents met in New York, married, and settled in Manila. His father,Vicente Valenciano, is from Bicol, Philippines. His mother Grimilda 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 on a brief stint with the musical group Kundirana, that he devoted himself to music.
Valenciano started performing in 1982 and launched his career in singing and show business on May 13,1983. 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. That would be followed by 21 albums, three of them released internationally, including a Christian inspired album called Out of the Dark.
He is married to Maria Anna Elizabeth "Angeli" Evangelista Pangilinan, with whom he has three children: Juan Paolo Martin (a vocalist of the band Salamin), Jose Angelo Gabriel (a dancer,actor, percussionist, choreographer ), and Kristiana Maria Mikaela (a singer).
To date, Gary has released 26 albums and has the most illustrious track record on the Philippine recording scene. He has won as “Best Male Performer” in the annual Awit Awards, the local counterpart of the U.S. Grammy awards the most number of times, a total of 11 out of 21. In 1998 he became the first UNICEF National Ambassador of Goodwill for the Philippines, a position he still holds today.
Through the TFC (The Filipino Channel) cable network, millions of overseas Filipinos savor the sounds of home through the Sunday television program, ASAP, led by no less than the country’s premier music artist. Thanks too, to the acceptance and growing use of the worldwide web, Gary’s image and music is today available to everyone everywhere. His official website www.garyv.com gets hits from all over. Other sites to visit are www.garyvalenciano.multiply.com and his digital diary, www.share.ovi.com/garyv. It’s been 25 years and he’s come a long way indeed.
