Richard Reynoso

Reynoso grew up singing in the church. He was not good at singing in Tagalog then, as he grew up speaking and listening to English songs.^[1] His parents also had singing talents while his older brother Gary played the guitar.^[2]

Reynoso started competing in singing competitions in 1983, when he won first place in the Tagaytay-Menendez competition. He then joined Bagong Kampeon the following year and won third place.^[1]

In 1986, Reynoso auditioned to co-host on PTV-4's Chico-Chica. He passed the audition, besting more than 250 other applicants.^[2] On the show, he improved his singing skills in Tagalog and learned how to be comfortable on camera. He stayed on the show for a year, then hosted Date-A-Star from 1988 to 1989.^[1]

Reynoso grew in popularity. He got offers to sing theme songs on film soundtracks.^[2] Despite not having an album, in 1989, he opened for Tiffany and The Jets in two different concerts in Manila. In 1990, he finally released his first album, Puwede Ba?, which contained the single "Hindi Ko Kaya", which went on to achieve platinum status.^[1] He also held his first concert in Santiago, Isabela, where "Hindi Ko Kaya" first became popular.^[3] It was also during that year that he co-hosted the game show Family Kuwarta O Kahon with Pepe Pimentel. A year later, he left with Pimentel's blessing to co-host GMA Supershow.^[1] Soon after his first album's release, he released another album, Bawat Sandali, which contained the single "Paminsan-minsan".

By 1995, Reynoso was less active in performing, as his father had died. He took a corporate job and also worked as a marketing consultant since he had a marketing management degree from Philippine Christian University.^[1][4] He also worked at Praise, a recording company, which led him to composing three gospel songs and a pop album, Ako'y Narito.^[5][6] He still appeared occasionally on television and also held several concerts, including one held in Lebanon.^[1]

In 2012, he, Rannie Raymundo, Chad Borja, and Renz Verano formed the singing group The OPM Hitmen, which did several concerts together.^[7] In 2017, Reynoso participated in the Songs for Heroes benefit concert for the families of soldiers and policemen who fought in the siege of Marawi.^[8] He then released the compilation album Walang Kapantay: The OPM Classics in 2018 in celebration of 30 years in the entertainment industry.^[9] He was also a host of the ASOP Music Festival along with Toni Rose Gayda, and appeared in concerts throughout the 2020s.^[10]

Reynoso was also active as one of the 30 board members of the MTRCB, the government's media regulatory board, in the 2020s.^[11][12][13] In late 2023, Reynoso and two other MTRCB members gave an R-13 rating for Five Nights at Freddy's, a horror film based on a video game of the same name that has children as its target demographic.^[14]

Reynoso is married to Maria Reina Amor, a flight attendant. They have two daughters.^[1][15] His older brother, Gary, works as Richard's personal manager and sound adviser as well as the OPM Hitmen's production assistant, stage manager, audio man, and production manager.^[2][7]

Reynoso has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had to undergo thyroidectomy.^[16] In 2021, he and his family contracted COVID-19 despite getting fully vaccinated. He stayed in the ICU for eight days.^[17][3]