Regina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez (born April 22, 1970), better known as Asia's Songbird, Regine Velasquez, is a Filipino singer, actress, record producer and host. She won the 1989 Asia Pacific Singing Contest in Hong Kong,and is widely known for possessing a wide and powerful vocal range.
Velasquez is the first Asian artist to stage a solo concert at the Carnegie Hall in New York, as part of Carnegie Hall's centennial-year concert series.
In 1994, Polygram Records produced her first Asia-released album, "Listen Without Prejudice". It is considered as Velasquez' most successful album to date, selling more than 1.2 million copies in Asia. It sold over 700,000 units in China, making it the best-selling album in the country by a foreign artist until 1999. The album has sold over 100,000 units in the Philippines and over 320,000 units in other Asian countries.
She has collaborated with artists such as Paul Anka, David Hasselhoff, 98 Degrees, Brian McKnight, Mandy Moore, Ronan Keating, Stephen Bishop, Jim Brickman, Peabo Bryson, Jeffrey Osborne, Dave Koz, Grasshopper, Coco Lee, Michel Legrand, David Pomeranz, Eduardo Capetillo, Fernando Carrillo, and Billy Crawford. "In Love With You", a duet with Jacky Cheung, landed the top spot in MTV Asia's Top 20 Asian Videos in 2000.
In 2000, She performed the country's millennial theme Written In The Sand together with 2,000 children in the top-roof of The Peninsula Manila, televised in 67 broadcast networks throughout the world to coincide with midnight in Manila for the BBC's millennium special 2000 Today.
She has also embarked on several television and film projects, receiving a Best Actress award for her portrayal of a mentally challenged woman in a Maalaala Mo Kaya episode entitled "Lobo". Velasquez formed IndiMusic (iMusic), a record label partnered with Bella Tan's Universal Records. She is currently managed by Aria Productions.
Today, Velasquez is the Best Selling Artist Of All Time in the Philippines. She has sold more than 7,000,000 albums in the Philippines and also in Asia with more than 2,000,000 sales.
