Karen Jade Cal (born February 11, 1989), professionally known as Kaye Cal, is a Filipino singer-songwriter who rose to popularity after becoming a grand finalist of the first season of the talent competition ''

Pilipinas Got Talent ''Pilipinas Got Talent'' (known and abbreviated as PGT) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine television reality competition show broadcast by ABS-CBN, Kapamilya Channel and TV5 (Philippine TV network), TV5. The show is based on the B ...

'', in which she competed in as the lead singer of Ezra Band. She has since been performing as a solo artist and has released several singles.

Early life

Cal was born on February 11, 1989, in

Pasay City Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 440,656 people. Due to its location just south of Manila, Pasay qui ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, to

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

parents.

Career

Cal met her future Ezra Band bandmates in her hometown, Davao del Sur. The group eventually competed in the first season of ''

'', where they became grand finalists. The covers the group performed on the show were released in the ''Pinoy You Got It'' album, which is a compilation of songs from the contestants on the show. Their covers of

The Corrs The Corrs are an Irish family band consisting of siblings Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Caroline (drums, percussion, piano, bodhrán, vocals) and Jim (guitar, piano, keyboards, v ...

' "

Runaway Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

" and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

's "

Wonderful Tonight "Wonderful Tonight" is a ballad written by Eric Clapton. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album ''Slowhand''. Clapton wrote the song on his 1974 Martin D-28 guitar about Pattie Boyd. "the hard-rock pioneer and guitar god also become a soft-roc ...

" were included on the album, along with their original song "Walang Iba" (lit. "No one else"). She garnered attention for her deep, soulful masculine voice, which led to confusion regarding her gender. In an interview with '' Pep PH'' in 2010, she revealed that she received surprised reactions from people upon learning that she is a woman since she also "dressed like a man". The band has since gone on hiatus, starting Cal's career as a solo artist. She started uploading her covers on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

regularly, which gained popularity such as her cover of

Up dharma Down UDD, shortened for Up Dharma Down, is a Filipino band formed in Manila in 2004. They have released four albums '' Fragmented'', '' Bipolar'', '' Capacities'' and ''U D D'' released under independent record label Terno Recordings. In 2005, th ...

's song "Tadhana". She released her first single "Isang Araw" in 2015 along with an accompanying music video. The song was part of ''OPM Fresh'', an album that featured up-and-coming OPM artists. Kaye Cal signed with

Star Music Star Music (also known as Star Records and corporately as Star Recording, Inc.) is a Philippine record label owned and operated by ABS-CBN Corporation. It was formerly a separate company operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corpora ...

when the head of the label, Roxy Liquigan, told his team to look for her because he strongly believed in her talent and was attracted to her voice. In March 2017, Kaye released her self-titled debut album which featured nine tracks, including two original songs ("Rosas" and "Mahal Ba Ako ng Mahal Ko"), three covers, and her past singles ("Walang Iba", "Nyebe" , "Isang Araw" and "Give Me A Chance"). In August 2017, Kaye won the OPM Revival of the Year at the 2017 MOR Pinoy Music Awards for the single "Give Me A Chance". She won the Star Music's Listener's Choice Award at the 2017 Himig Handog Awards for "The Labo Song". Cal was a member of

ASAP ASAP usually stands for " as soon as possible". ASAP may also refer to: Arts and media Music Performers * ASAP (band), a hard rock band fronted by Adrian Smith * ASAP Mob, a recording group from Harlem, New York ** ASAP Ferg (born 1988), Americ ...

Jambayan from the segment's launch on October 15, 2017, until February 2018.

Personal life

Kaye Cal has stated that she is "a proud

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

" and member of the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

community, although her sexuality is not accepted by her religious parents, which she admitted is a struggle during an interview with

Boy Abunda Eugenio "Boy" Romerica Abunda Jr. (; born October 29, 1961) is a Filipino television presenter, publicist, and talent manager. Known as the "King of Talk", Abunda has presented several talk shows centered on the Philippine entertainment indus ...

on his

talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...

in 2017. In 2010, Kaye initially admitted she was a

tomboy A tomboy is a girl or young woman who generally expresses masculine traits. Such traits may include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and engaging in activities and behaviors traditionally associated with boys or men. Origins The w ...

and dressed masculine but denied being a lesbian, citing her religion and involvement with the church as a reason, and believed same-sex relationships were wrong but stated she meant no offense to lesbians. She has since been open about her sexuality. Kaye's masculine voice and appearance has garnered attention since competing on ''Pilipinas Got Talent'' and was a subject of discussion among the public. She addressed rumors surrounding her voice in an interview with ABS-CBN in August 2017 and denied taking

testosterone Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...

medications along with the rumors that she is

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

while affirming that she is a lesbian.

Discography

*''Kaye Cal'' (2017)

''Kaye Cal'' track list

# ''Ikaw Lang'' # ''Mahal Ba Ako ng Mahal Ko'' # ''Why Can't It Be'' # ''Rosas'' # ''Kung Ako na lang Sana'' # ''Walang Iba'' # ''Isang Araw'' # ''Nyebe'' # ''Give Me A Chance''

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Concerts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cal, Kaye 1989 births Living people Star Magic Filipino women pop singers Filipino women singer-songwriters People from Davao del Sur Singers from Laguna (province) Singers from Davao del Sur Tagalog people Filipino lesbian musicians Filipino LGBTQ singers Filipino LGBTQ songwriters Participants in Philippine reality television series Filipino YouTubers ABS-CBN people Star Music artists 21st-century Filipino women singers LGBTQ YouTubers Lesbian singers Lesbian songwriters 20th-century Filipino LGBTQ people 21st-century Filipino LGBTQ people