Maria Amapola Cabase, better known by her stage name Amapola, is a

Filipina Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino, English, or other Philippine languages. Despite formerly being subject to ...

singer, actress, musician, television and radio host. She is widely known in the Philippines as the original artist for the song "Kapantay ay Langit", which was later popularized by

Pilita Corrales Pilar Garrido Corrales (August 22, 1937 – April 12, 2025), better known as Pilita Corrales, was a Filipino singer, actress and comedian. She was known for her distinctive backbend when singing and was popularly referred to as the "Greatest s ...

. Philippine First Lady

Imelda Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power after her husband Ferdinand ...

dubbed Cabase as a "Music Ambassador" for the country in 1973 in celebration of Amapola's first concert in New York, November 3, 1973, at New York's

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. In 1984, she released her international debut album produced in collaboration with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist Bobby Enriquez, who led the

Cal Tjader Callen Radcliffe Tjader Jr. ( ; July 16, 1925 – May 5, 1982) was an American Latin Jazz musician, often described as the most successful non-Latino Latin music (genre), Latin musician. He explored other jazz idioms, especially small group mod ...

Trio for Amapola's debut jazz album, ''Sophisticated Lady''.

Music career

Amapola's music career began when she sang the love theme "Guihigugma Ko Ikaw" for the Azucena Pictures film ''Utlanan''. The song "Kapantay Ay Langit" sung by Amapola and composed by

George Canseco George Masangkay Canseco (April 23, 1934 – November 19, 2004) was a Filipino composer and former politician. He composed numerous popular Filipino songs. Early years Canseco studied and graduated with a Liberal Arts degree at University o ...

, won the Manila Film Festival "Gabi Ng Parangal" (

Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Award The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards, or simply the FAMAS Awards, are the annual honors given by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), an organization composed of writers and movie columnists, for achieveme ...

) song of the year award. It was later popularized by singer

, which eventually became her

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

. Amapola was awarded the key to

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

by then-Governor Manuel Cuenco to celebrate her work as Toy Orchestra Conductor, making her the youngest person ever to receive the honor. The event was held at Cebu City's

DYRC DYRC (648 AM) Aksyon Radyo is a radio station owned by MBC Media Group and operated by RJR Media Solutions Inc. It serves as the flagship radio station of MBC's regional AM network Aksyon Radyo. The station's studio is located at the Eggling ...

-Radio, attended by Cebu Normal School (now

Cebu Normal University Cebu Normal University (), also referred to by its acronym CNU, is a state research university in Cebu City, Philippines established in 1902. CNU is designated by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as Center of Excellence (COE) in both N ...

) Military Toy Orchestra, conductor Amapola and director Coronada Pingol, the CNS Toy Orchestra creator. Since the 1970s, Amapola has performed jazz and popular music. She has headlined in venues such as the

Sahara Hotel Sahara Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned and operated by the Meruelo Group. The hotel has 1,616 rooms, and the casino contains . The Sahara anchors the northern end of the Las Veg ...

and the Union Plaza Hotel in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Stern Grove Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove, locally called Stern Grove, is a recreational site located on the West Side of the city in the Parkside District. It is administered by the city's Recreation and Parks Department and is the concert setting for ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, The Town Hall in New York, the Grand Hotel in

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, and the

Shrine Auditorium The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 139) in 1975, an ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In 1979, Amapola's band, Amy and the Sounds, featuring her father, Mahnee Cabase on the keyboards, were commissioned as the house band at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. In the 1980s, Amapola won a number of awards for her music, such as the

Awit Award The Awit Awards are music awards in the Philippines given annually by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) to recognize the outstanding achievements in the music industry. The word "Awit" means "song" literally in Filipino ...

for Best Female Singer and Best Vocal Performance. In 1984, she was inducted into the Tinig Awards Hall of Fame for her contributions to the Filipino entertainment industry in the Philippines and abroad, appearing in numerous local presentations in California for the Filipino community.

''Songs and Amapola''

Amapola's first compilation album, ''Songs and Amapola'', was released under the Pioneer label of

Vicor Music Corporation Vicor Music Corporation is a Filipino record label. The name is a combination of the founders' first names. It is currently owned by Viva Music Group, a subsidiary of Viva Communications. History Vicor was found by cousins Vic del Rosario and ...

and included all of Amapola's 1971–72 hit songs. All tracks were written and performed by D'Amarillo and His Orchestra. The vocal coach was Philip Maninang. The album's back cover featured

's poem "Ode to Amapola".

Discography

On November 13, 1971, ''Billboard'' released news that Amapola had started her recording contract with

. Formerly with D'Swan Records and winning her first Awit Awards as Best Female Singer in the Vernacular, Amapola signed on with Vicor to record her first two hit songs, "Secret Love" and "Never". The aforementioned songs anchored the gold hit ''Songs and Amapola'' under the Pioneer record label. Amapola held the title of Philippine Jukebox Queen in the early 1970s.

Albums and compilations

* 1972: ''Songs and Amapola'' * 1982: ''Live, at the Manila Hotel'' * 1984: ''Mahnee Cabase Compositions'' * 1988: ''Sophisticated Lady'' * 2004: ''Broadway, My Way'' * 2005: ''Coming Home'' (piano solos) * 2008: ''By Choice'' * 2008: ''You Don't Know Me'' * 2010: ''Merry Christmas, Darling''

Hit songs

* 1970: "Kapantay Ay Langit" * 1971: "Secret Love" * 1971: "Never" * 1971: "Sinner or Saint" * 1971: "Little Things Mean a Lot" * 1971: "I'll Walk Alone" * 1971: "One Love" * 1971: "Hideaway" * 1971: "Loss of Love" * 1971: "Songs" (by George Canseco) * 1971: "Face to Face" * 1972: "Story of a Starry Night" * 1972: "Ah-Choo" * 1972: "Forbidden Games" * 1973: "Speak Softly Love"

Television, film, and writing

Amapola hosted the ''Amapola Presents Show'', a weekly TV variety show on

KEMO-TV KEMO-TV (channel 50) is a television station licensed to Fremont, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area with programming from Fubo Sports Network. The station is owned by Innovate Corp. KEMO-TV's transmitter is locate ...

(now KOFY) in San Francisco, which she hosted from 1978 to 1981. She regularly performed on Manila television shows such as ''Stop, Look, Listen'' (as one of the weekly hosts), ''

Eat Bulaga! ''Eat !'' (; stylized as ''Eat... Bulaga!'') is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine television variety show broadcast by Radio Philippines Network, ABS-CBN, GMA Network and TV5 (Philippine TV network), TV5. Originally hosted by Tito S ...

'', ''Superstar'', ''Seeing Stars'', ''Etchos Lang'' and ''Live with Pops and Martin'' throughout the 1980s. Amapola was discovered by

Espiridion Laxa Espiridion Dising Laxa (December 18, 1929 – September 15, 2009) was a Filipino lawyer and film producer. He founded Tagalog Ilang-Ilang Productions & EDL Productions and served as an official for several film festivals and associations. Car ...

who signed her up with Tagalog Ilang-Ilang Productions for three films. She co-starred with Victor Wood in ''Mr. Lonely'' in 1972 and ''You Are My Destiny'' in 1973. Both films were directed by Leonardo L. Garcia and written by Rico Bello Omagap. Casting for the third film ''I Went to Your Wedding'' was changed when Amapola began her United States tour in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2003, Amapola published ''Coming Home'', her first novel. ''Coming Home'' won the Florida Writers Association's Royal Palm Literary Award for 'Romantic Fiction' and was a finalist for 'Best Fiction' of 2004 in ''Foreword Magazine''. In 2005, she published ''Promising Skies'', which received critical acclaim from ''New York Times'' best-selling author Ellen Tanner Marsh.

Cruise ship headlining

From 1986 to 1990, Amapola headlined onboard all ships of the

Royal Viking Line The Royal Viking Line was a luxury cruise line that operated from 1972 until 1998. The company was the brainchild of Warren Titus and had its headquarters at One Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, California. History The First Ships Each ...

Royal Viking Sky MV ''Boudicca'' (also known as ''Royal Viking Sky'', ''Sunward'', ''Birka Queen'', ''Golden Princess'', ''SuperStar Capricorn'', ''Hyundai Keumgang'', and ''Grand Latino'') was a ''Royal Viking Star''-class cruise ship that last served as accomm ...

Royal Viking Star MS ''Black Watch'' was a ''Royal Viking Star''-class cruise ship. She was built by Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Finland for Royal Viking Line as ''Royal Viking Star'', entering service in 1972 as the lines first ship. She has also sailed for ...

, Royal Viking Sea and Royal Viking Sun, and sang with the

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band that was formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most pop ...

, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra,

Bob Crosby and the Bobcats George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...

and the Mitch Kerper Orchestra. In 1990, Amapola played the role of

Bloody Mary #REDIRECT Bloody Mary {{redirect category shell, {{R ambig{{R from other capitalisation{{R unprintworthy ...

in the RVL Sun's Theater production of

South Pacific (musical) ''South Pacific'' is a musical theatre, musical composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and Book (musical theatre), book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The work premiered in 1949 on Broadway theatre, Broadway and was ...

. From 1990 to 1994, Amapola sang on board the Song of Flower of the Seven Seas Cruises and Hapag Lloyd's

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

explorer ship that cruised South America and alternated with the Arctic and the Antarctic. On board the Hanseatic, Amapola was offered to sing on board the MS Gripsholm. In 2006, Amapola was invited to headline on board

Regent Seven Seas Cruises Regent Seven Seas Cruises (RSSC), formerly known as Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, is a luxury cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States. Since September 2014, Regent Seven Seas Cruises has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegi ...

Voyager World Cruise. Cruise Travel Magazine voted Amapola as their favorite performer onboard Radisson's Seven Seas Cruise ship Song of Flower.

Personal life

Amapola raised two children with her second husband, Nicolas T. Aiello. She later married Stephen Woodward, who was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

in 1989. The two became active in the search for a Parkinson's disease cure, until Woodward's death in 2016.

Honors and legacy

Awit Awards The Awit Awards are music awards in the Philippines given annually by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) to recognize the outstanding achievements in the music industry. The word "Awit" means "song" literally in Filipino ...

, Best Female Singer in the Philippines (won) *NPC Lifetime Achievement Award, National Press Club, Philippines (merit) *San Francisco Cultural Society, San Francisco Cultural Award (won) *Bay Area "Eye" Awards, Entertainer of the Year (won) Amapola has been inducted into the Awit Awards Hall of Fame and the Tinig Awards Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Official website

Amapola Cabase
IMDB - Internet Movie Database

- Promising Skies by Author: Amapola {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabase, Maria Amapola Living people 21st-century novelists Filipino jazz singers Filipino women pop singers Filipino film actresses Filipino novelists Filipino multi-instrumentalists Filipino women singer-songwriters Filipino singer-songwriters Filipino child singers English-language singers from the Philippines Spanish-language singers of the Philippines People from Cebu City Singers from Cebu Actresses from Cebu University of San Carlos alumni Filipino television personalities 20th-century Filipino actresses 1948 births 20th-century Filipino women singers 21st-century Filipino women singers 21st-century pianists Vicor Music artists 20th-century women pianists 21st-century women pianists