Born José Ariel Jiménez Rivera in 1966 in Manila, Rivera immigrated to Canada, where he worked as an architect until 1989, when he was was discovered as a singer during a visit back to the Philippines and signed his first recording contract. His self-titled debut album was a huge hit in Southeast Asia, eventually achieving triple-platinum status. He quickly followed up with two more wildly successful albums, 1992's Simple Lang and 1995's gold-certified Photograph, featuring the singles "Narito Ako" and "I Must Have Loved You." Also during this period, Rivera began acting, starring in a handful of films and even taking home the award for Best Supporting Actor at the 1992 Metro Manila Film Festival. He then rounded out the decade with several more well-received albums, including 1997's Getting to Know and 1999's Aawitin Ko Na Lang.... Although increasingly drawn to acting (especially on TV), Rivera has continued to record, releasing such albums as 2001's In My Life and 2008's Once Again. In 2016, Rivera began starring in the GMA network television drama Hahamakin ang Lahat. ~ Matt Collar