Jose Mari Chan is a renowned Chinese Filipino singer-songwriter and a highly successful businessman in the sugar industry. He was born in Iloilo City on March 11, 1945. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1967. Awarded the TOYM in 1974 as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines. Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Philippine Association of the Recording Industry and The Metro Pop Foundation. Recipient of the first ever ABS-CBN “ELITE Platinum Award” in 2005 Recipient of the 2006 Dr. Jose P Rizal Award For Excellence
He first appeared on the local scene as the Host & Singer of a Television show called “9 Teeners” of ABS-CBN in 1966. His first single Afterglow was released in 1967 and became popular in the Philippines even though foreign songs dominated the airlanes. His first long playing album “Deep in My Heart” was issued in 1969. In 1973 he represented the Philippines in the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo with his song “Can We Just Stop and Talk A While”. From 1970 to 1975, he composed more than 20 theme songs for movies, some of which earned for him several nominations at the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Award. He also wrote several well-loved commercial jingles among which is the Philippine Air Lines “Love at Thirty Thousand Feet” and the ALASKA Milk jingle. Between 1974 and 1975 he was the Star of a series of Television Network Specials spotlighting his words and music. In 1975 he moved to the United States for his sugar business and remained there for 11 years. Coming back in 1986, UNIVERSAL Records released a compilation of his hits along with a brand new composition “Tell Me Your Name” which re-introduced him to a younger audience. In 1989, his album “Constant Change” not only was named Album of the Year by the Awit Awards,the local equivalent of the American Grammy Awards, but it also achieved unprecedented status for having reached the Diamond Record in terms of sales, or 10 TIMES Platinum. It also sold in other Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Its carrier single “Beautiful Girl” was a regional hit and covered by Asian stars like Aaron Kwok. Other artists in the region that recorded his songs were Paula Tsui (Hong Kong) Sally Yee (Hong Kong) Tomomi Akimoto (Japan) Sandy Lam(Hong Kong) Kamahl (Australia) and Yasuo T. (Japan). In 1990 his Christmas album “Christmas In Our Hearts” was released. It reached triple platinum status that same year, eventually becoming the unprecedented holder of the Double Diamond Record Award equivalent to 20 TIMES Platinum. His 2003 album “A Heart’s Journey” won ALBUM OF THE YEAR in the AWIT AWARDS. In 2005 he was commissioned to write “We’re All Just One”, the theme song of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games. As a concert performer he has performed at the New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Bellagio in Las Vegas, The Show Boat Casino in Atlantic City, The Silver Legacy in Reno, Nevada, Washington D.C., Rhode Island, Cherry Hill New Jersey, Chicago, Virginia, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, Los Angeles, Guam, Vancouver, Toronto, London, Zurich, Vienna, Paris, Oslo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bandung, Hong Kong, and Jakarta.
He is currently Chairman and CEO of BISCOM Inc. and A.Chan Sugar Corp. and is one of the leaders in the Philippine sugar industry.
