Jona Viray

Early life

Jonalyn Roxas Viray was born on November 15, 1989. She is the only girl and the eldest of four children from Pio Duran, Albay.^[1] In a 2025 interview with Toni Gonzaga, Jona disclosed that she experienced sexual abuse by her father at the age of ten.^[7]

Jona started joining singing contests at an early age.^[8] She won first runner-up in Birit Bulilit of IBC as a child^[8] and one of the finalists in MTB Teen Pop Star of ABS-CBN's Magandang Tanghali Bayan where her winning piece was Mariah Carey's "Never Too Far".^[8] She also sang Regine Velasquez's version of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" on Batang Vidaylin of ABC in 2000.^[9]

Jona was 15 years old when she competed in the singing competition Pinoy Pop Superstar on GMA Network. She emerged as the weekly champion after singing the Whitney Houston hit song "Run to You". She also sang "Reflection", "I Have Nothing" and "Never Too Far" in the weeks that follow, and after four consecutive weeks of being weekly champion, she qualified for the grand finals. For winning the title of Pinoy Pop Superstar, Jona won ₱1 million in cash and became the owner of a Futura Classic house and lot developed by Filinvest and a brand-new Toyota Innova. She also won an exclusive one-year contract with GMA Records, the recording arm of GMA Network, and received ₱100,000 (equivalent to ₱176,729 in 2021) worth of Belo Medical services, plus gift certificates worth ₱150,000 (equivalent to ₱265,094 in 2021) from Gandang Ricky Reyes.^[10]

Transfer to ABS-CBN

In February 2016, Jona ended her decade of exclusivity with GMA and transferred to rival network ABS-CBN. Part of her reintroduction was the changing of her screen name to Jona. Her earliest project in the Kapamilya Network saw her competing in the 2016 edition of Himig Handog, a songwriting and music video competition and also singing "I Will Survive", the theme song of primetime drama series, We Will Survive.^[11]

From then on she has sung several theme songs for ABS-CBN films and drama series, became a mainstay of the longest noontime musical variety show ASAP, released her first album under Star Music which achieved Gold and Platinum certifications, held two major concerts, and competed and won second place in Himig Handog 2017. On the 31st Awit Award, Jona won 6 awards, Most Downloaded Artist, Most Streamed Artist, Most Downloaded Song for "You", Most Streamed Song for "Pusong Ligaw", People's Voice for Favorite Collaboration for "Till the End of Time" with BoybandPH and Best Selling Album of the Year for self-titled album "Jona". Her collaboration with Regine Velasquez, "Matibay", also won Best Musical Arrangement award for composer Marvin Querido.

ASAP Birit Queens

On May 15, 2016, ASAP launched a group called the ASAP Birit Queens. The group is composed of Jona, Morissette, Angeline Quinto and Klarisse de Guzman. The group held a concert on March 31, 2017, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The group temporarily disbanded in late 2017 but has since reunited occasionally.

On the launch of the Billboard Philippines, three of Jona's songs charted in Billboard Philippines Top 20: "Pusong Ligaw" and "Maghihintay Ako" charted at number 3 and number 4 respectively,^[12] and "You" charted at number 9.^[13] She performed at the 27th Asian Television Awards that included a cover of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" a rendition of "The Magic Flute "Queen of the Night aria" ("Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen").^[14] On the artist's night, she performed "Love Don't Cost A Thing", "Into the Unknown", "Fifth Element Aria" and her own song "Till the End of Time".^[15] She also headlined the YouTube Music Night for Southeast Asia in 2021.^[16][17][18]

Influences

Jona has said that from childhood she has been influenced by Regine Velasquez, Céline Dion, and Mariah Carey for her musical style, and sound.^[19][1][20] She also admires to Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Etta James, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Sam Smith.^[21]

Voice and timbre

Jona has been noted for her "melismatic singing style" or use of melodic variations.^[22] Her voice has been described "soulful" and "powerful".^[23] She is a classically trained artist from the UST Conservatory of Music with a major in classical voice.^[24] Critics often lists her among the Top Filipino singers in the world alongside music icons like Lea Salonga^[25] for "her powerful vocals and her ability to convey raw emotion through her performances"^[26] and has been referred to as the Philippines' "Soul Princess" for her vocal talent.^[27][28][29]

Musical Style

Love is the subject for the vast majority of Jona's music. She is also known for her power ballads which deals with themes of heartbreak, hope, and perseverance.^[26]