Jaya is the stage name of Filipino vocalist Maria Luisa Ramsey, born in Manila, Philippines in 1969. She is known in the Philippines as the Queen of Soul, or Soul Diva, and is associated with ballad, OPM, pop and pop soul.

Early life and family

Jaya begins performing at the age of 10 as a back-up dancer for her mother, singer and comedienne Elizabeth Ramsey, who is of Afro-Jamaican descent. She has three siblings, Ike, Anna and Susan. At 13, she becomes the undefeated champion on the GMA-7 noon show Student Canteen and joins the Opera House. She starts solo performances in 1982 under the name Louise Ramsey.

Her parents separate after a seven-year relationship, and she has limited contact with her father, who is Jamaican. She does not finish high school in the Philippines because of her performance schedule, although she is described as a strong student and class president. In 1985, her mother moves to the United States and takes her with her. Jaya continues performing with other Filipino artists in the US, including Tillie Moreno, Eddie Mercado, Lerma dela Cruz and Reycards. She later attends Marshall High School in Los Angeles and finishes school there.

Career in the United States

After running away from home in 1988, Jaya goes to New York with a friend and works as a backing vocalist for Stevie B. She later moves to Florida and, in February 1989, signs with LMR Records in New York. That year she releases her self-titled debut album in the US. An American producer gives her the name Jaya when she signs her US record deal.

The single If You Leave Me Now, produced and co-written by Stevie B, becomes a dance-club hit and reaches the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaks at number 44 in February 1990. It also spends 26 weeks in the pop singles chart. Her second single, One Kiss Per Minute, reaches number 36 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1990. During this period she works with artists including Stevie B, MC Hammer, Milli Vanilli, James Ingram and The Jets.

In 1992, while touring Japan as a backing singer and keyboardist for Stevie B, she is asked by Toshiba/EMI to record an album for the Japanese market. The resulting A Love Album is released in Japan in conjunction with LMR Records. A later Philippine release of the album appears through PolyMax Records.

Philippine recording career

Jaya returns to the Philippines in 1995 and signs with Viva Records. Her first local album, Jaya, becomes a major success, selling nine times platinum and making her one of the country’s best-known soul singers. It includes the song Sometimes You Just Know, which wins the 1996 Metropop Song Festival. Her first album under Viva Records is also described as a record-setting multi-platinum release.

In 1997 she releases In the Raw, which expands her style to include a wider range of material while keeping the ballad-led sound associated with her earlier work. The album sells quintuple-platinum. That year she also wins Best Interpreter at the Asia Song Festival in Hong Kong for her performance of You Lift Me Up, a song composed by Danny Tan with lyrics by Dodjie Simon; the song also receives the festival’s grand prize and Best Song award.

She later releases the Christmas album Kung Kailan Pasko, with traditional songs, original Christmas material and a jazz version of The Christmas Song. In 1999, PolyMax Records releases A Love Album in the Philippines, and she issues Honesty, led by a version of Billy Joel’s Honesty. The album also includes contemporary rhythm and blues-influenced tracks such as We Thang, Tear to Fall and In My Dreams.

Also in 1999, she releases her first greatest hits album, Five, which includes a duet version of Habang May Buhay with Regine Velasquez and Kung Wala Ka from the Abandonada soundtrack. She also appears in the musical Rama at Sita, playing the villainess in a production led by Lani Misalucha.

Albums and later work

In 2001, Jaya releases Unleashed, followed by her live album Jaya Live at the Araneta. The live recording includes versions of American songs such as Aretha Franklin’s Respect, LaBelle’s Lady Marmalade, Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and Roy Orbison’s Love Hurts, as well as her Philippine hit Dahil Tanging Ikaw. Guest performers include Regine Velasquez, Jeremiah, Wency Cornejo, KC Montero and Rico Blanco.

After a break from the recording scene, she returns with Fall in Love Again, featuring Di Na Ba Kita Mapipigilan, composed by Vehnee Saturno. In 2007 she releases Cool Change on GMA Records, an album of reworked versions of international songs including Donna Summer’s On the Radio and Chaka Khan’s Through the Fire. Its first single, Is It Over?, originally by Ronnie Milsap, receives a platinum award in 2009. She later follows this with Real.Love.Stories, a 14-song album of revived love songs including Breathe Again, Old Friend and Save the Best for Last.

She also appears on the benefit single Kaya Natin Ito, supported by Gawad Kalinga for disaster relief efforts. In 2010 she takes part in television work, including a supporting role in Diva, hosting duties on Party Pilipinas, and a role in the sitcom Kaya ng Powers as a nosy landlady named Helen de Herenes. That year she also receives the Best Performance by a Female Recording Artist award for Hiding Inside Myself at the 23rd Awit Awards.

Recognition and performance style

Jaya is closely associated with soulful vocals and easy-listening love songs, and she also records dance-oriented and rhythm and blues material, including freestyle-influenced work from her US period. Her repertoire ranges from original Filipino songs to covers of international pop, soul and rock material, and she performs both studio albums and live interpretations with a strong emphasis on vocal performance.