Celeste Legaspi

Celeste Legaspi is the daughter of painter Cesar Legaspi. She was born on March 18, 1950. She is a graduate of Mass Communication from Maryknoll College. But Celeste found out she was musically inclined even before she studied at Maryknoll. While studying at St. Paul, she essayed the lead roles in two college productions; “One Legendary Evening” and “Showboat” Legaspi also appeared in several plays of the Philippine Educational Theater association where she was lucky enough to work with the great directors Lino Brocka and National Artist Rolando Tinio. She sang the part of the first woman in the play “Tales of the Manuvu,” in 1977, where Hajji Alejandro was also a cast. In 1988, she made a special appearance in the hit musical “Katy!” for the CCP’s Tanghalang Pilipino. She portrayed the role of Babae in “North Diversion Road,” 1988, Caridad in the zarzuela “Paglipas ng Dilim,” 1991, and Candida in “Larawan,” 1992. She has made numerous singles and long-playing albums which have reached the gold or platinum mark. “Ako at si Celeste” garnered a gold record award and featured three gold singles “Saranggola ni Pepe,” “Tuliro” and “Gaano Kita Kamahal.” The “Celeste, Celeste,” album produced the gold single “Mamang Sorbetero,” while “Bagong Plaka, Lumang Kanta Vols. 1 and 2” reached the double platinum mark. Like other singers, she also appeared in several movies like Lino Brocka’s “Stardoom,” 1971 and “Sa Kabila ng Lahat,”1991 – one of Brocka’s last films; and in Mario O’Hara’s “Tatlong Ina, Isang Anak,”1987. Among the many awards she received are: Sinag Awards from the Pambansang Akademya ng Telebisyon sa Agham at Sining or PATAS in 1975 for her performance in the TV special “At Long Last Celeste,” and in 1976 for the TV weekly musical “Iba’t-ibang Celeste;” Outstanding performance award from the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo, Japan, where she rendered “Puso mong Nagmamaha,,l”1976, Tinig awards for live entertainment in 1977, 1979, and 1990; Aliw awards for Entertainer of the Year in 1978; and The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) Awards in 1989. Her biggest contribution in the Philippine music industry was when she spearheaded the foundation of Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit or OPM which aimed to promote and propagate original Filipino music.