Maria Louise Ramsey a.k.a. Jaya

Her mother coerced her to sing: she once caught her singing in the bathroom, and that’s it. Maria Louise Ramsey, popularly known as Jaya, the queen of soul this side of the globe. The mother, of course, is the inimitable singer/comedienne Elizabeth Ramsey. Both are Cebuanas.

When Jaya was 15, she and her mother relocated to the United States. For them, times were hard because they were just living in a garage. Both mother and daughter had to sing for a living, yes, in between odd jobs.

At 18, Jaya decided to run away, a legal adult by then. For her, Life in the States is not easy. That’s why Jaya thinks that she’s the person that she is now because of the tough life in States. Especially when she’s alone.

Jaya didn’t get in touch for four years: no phone calls, no letter, no nothing. One fateful day, her older brother heard Jaya’s song, the one that made it to the top forty on the radio. Her mother cried after listening the song.

For Mrs. Elizabeth Ramsey, Singing is a gift given not by your parents, but by God himself. Her father a Jamaican was very strict but Elizabeth never wanted to go to school and yet she stayed in grade six for two years.

At the tender age of 10, Ramsey took on the microphone, an instrument that will inevitably change her life. At 13, Ramsey became the undefeated champion in the ABS-CBN noon show, Student Canteen. And joined the Opera House. From Opera House to Clover, from Clover to whatever.

She was a hit even abroad; even in Thailand they loved her there. But of course, life is not a joke. Times were harder in the early sixties when you didn’t have the looks. That’s where talent spells the big difference. Ramsey was a total entertainer. She can sing, dance, and make people laugh. The real achievement lies when the audience can take Ramsey the minute she sings.

A typical-mother-daughter relationship: it’s loving, it’s cat-and-dog, they quarrel and yes, in Cebuano because the mother speaks it “24 hours a day.

But despite everything, there was never a point when Jaya found her mother embarrassment. Would she have made it had she not been her mother’s daughter? Jaya believes that the major factors are that: She was brought by Pilita Corales, She was Elizabeth Ramsey’s daughter, she was a recording artist in the States that people would like to hear - all these factors coming in.

No, Jaya says she’s not the best. But she has something different to offer. “As a singer, you have to spill your blood, your heart, your everything.” And it shows why the mother and the daughter are so successful.