Martin Ramon Razon Nievera (/njɛˈvɛərə/; born February 5, 1962)
is a Filipino-American singer and television host. In his career
spanning more than three decades, Nievera has garnered eighteen
platinum, five double platinum, three triple platinum, and one
quadruple platinum albums. He is often referred to in the Philippines
as the "Concert King".Martin Ramon Razon Nievera was born on February
5, 1962 in Manila to singer Bert Nievera and Conchita Razon. He has a
twin sister, Victoria (nicknamed "Vicki"); a younger sister, Rachel;
and many siblings from his parents' other unions. His father was a
member of the Hawaii-based singing troupe Society of Seven. His mother
separated with her first husband and fled with the twins to Hawaii
when they were three years old to live there with Bert. At this age,
Nievera underwent to a surgery to have his inguinal hernia repaired.
Attending elementary and high school in Hawaii, he said that he was
regularly bullied by his classmates because of his appearance and "I
wore a belt and shoes, so they thought belt and shoes meant mayaman ka
[you are rich]. I would get beaten up for my lunch money, so my twin
sister Vicki would defend me in school. The following day mas nabugbog
ako [I was beaten more] because na-defend ako ng babae [I was defended
by a girl]."Nievera developed an interest in music, particularly in
singing, at an early age. In their first year in Hawaii, the family
resided on the fifteenth floor of the Outrigger Hotel, and the young
Nievera "would watch him [his father] perform downstairs with the
Society of Seven, and every night I would dream and imagine myself as
one of the members of that group, singing for audiences both big and
small." While working as a burger flipper at a restaurant that his
family owned in Hawaii or at another family-owned restaurant, called
Roadrunner Burgers, in Concord, California (where they would
eventually move to), Nievera received singing lessons from his father,
learning "how and when to belt and how to end the song in a big way."
By the age of fourteen, he was performing with him in Society of Seven
shows. Nievera said in 2018, "It all happened in the main showroom in
that Outrigger Hotel [...] That room is now known as the Blue Note
Hawaii, and I still perform there to this day. It has become a very
sacred room for me probably because that's where dad gave me my first
set of wings."In the 1970s, the family relocated to the San Francisco
Bay Area in California. Nievera enrolled at Clayton Valley High School
in Concord, where he was a member of the basketball team. He was
encouraged by the school's wrestling coach to enter the choir,
impressed by a rendition of Morris Albert's "Feelings" that Nievera
sang while showering in the locker room. Bert posited that his son
began to realize "he could sing professionally" when he was sixteen,
the same age when he did. Aside from his father, who always supported
his singing, Nievera also credits for his talent his Cebuana maternal
grandmother, Lourdes Corrales, a famous mezzo-soprano opera singer and
radio personality in 1940s Philippines. Unlike his father Bert, his
mother Conchita was against his dream, instead wanting him to become a
doctor or a lawyer. "She knew what she [his grandmother] and my father
went through [...] the [show] business takes a lot out of you,"
Nievera related and said his mother told him.
is a Filipino-American singer and television host. In his career
spanning more than three decades, Nievera has garnered eighteen
platinum, five double platinum, three triple platinum, and one
quadruple platinum albums. He is often referred to in the Philippines
as the "Concert King".Martin Ramon Razon Nievera was born on February
5, 1962 in Manila to singer Bert Nievera and Conchita Razon. He has a
twin sister, Victoria (nicknamed "Vicki"); a younger sister, Rachel;
and many siblings from his parents' other unions. His father was a
member of the Hawaii-based singing troupe Society of Seven. His mother
separated with her first husband and fled with the twins to Hawaii
when they were three years old to live there with Bert. At this age,
Nievera underwent to a surgery to have his inguinal hernia repaired.
Attending elementary and high school in Hawaii, he said that he was
regularly bullied by his classmates because of his appearance and "I
wore a belt and shoes, so they thought belt and shoes meant mayaman ka
[you are rich]. I would get beaten up for my lunch money, so my twin
sister Vicki would defend me in school. The following day mas nabugbog
ako [I was beaten more] because na-defend ako ng babae [I was defended
by a girl]."Nievera developed an interest in music, particularly in
singing, at an early age. In their first year in Hawaii, the family
resided on the fifteenth floor of the Outrigger Hotel, and the young
Nievera "would watch him [his father] perform downstairs with the
Society of Seven, and every night I would dream and imagine myself as
one of the members of that group, singing for audiences both big and
small." While working as a burger flipper at a restaurant that his
family owned in Hawaii or at another family-owned restaurant, called
Roadrunner Burgers, in Concord, California (where they would
eventually move to), Nievera received singing lessons from his father,
learning "how and when to belt and how to end the song in a big way."
By the age of fourteen, he was performing with him in Society of Seven
shows. Nievera said in 2018, "It all happened in the main showroom in
that Outrigger Hotel [...] That room is now known as the Blue Note
Hawaii, and I still perform there to this day. It has become a very
sacred room for me probably because that's where dad gave me my first
set of wings."In the 1970s, the family relocated to the San Francisco
Bay Area in California. Nievera enrolled at Clayton Valley High School
in Concord, where he was a member of the basketball team. He was
encouraged by the school's wrestling coach to enter the choir,
impressed by a rendition of Morris Albert's "Feelings" that Nievera
sang while showering in the locker room. Bert posited that his son
began to realize "he could sing professionally" when he was sixteen,
the same age when he did. Aside from his father, who always supported
his singing, Nievera also credits for his talent his Cebuana maternal
grandmother, Lourdes Corrales, a famous mezzo-soprano opera singer and
radio personality in 1940s Philippines. Unlike his father Bert, his
mother Conchita was against his dream, instead wanting him to become a
doctor or a lawyer. "She knew what she [his grandmother] and my father
went through [...] the [show] business takes a lot out of you,"
Nievera related and said his mother told him.
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