The 25-year-old Filipino singer, who is openly lesbian, told Oprah Winfrey in 2014, 'My soul is like male.'
- Jun 22, 2017
AceShowbiz - It's Charice Pempengco no more! The 25-year-old Filipino singer, who rose to popularity in 2007 through YouTube, now goes by the name Jake Zyrus. He announced the name change on social media on Monday, June 19.
After deleting all previous posts on his accounts, Jake tweeted, "My first tweet as Jake. Overwhelmed. Saw all your love comments and I'm so happy. Finally. I love you, everyone and see you soon." He added, "I won't let anyone ruin this moment. I won't let anyone ruin my happiness. Thank you to all the beautiful write ups about me."
My first tweet as Jake. Overwhelmed. Saw all your love comments and I'm so happy. Finally. I love you, everyone and see you soon.
— Jake Zyrus (@jakezyrus) June 20, 2017
I won't let anyone ruin this moment. I won't let anyone ruin my happiness. Thank you to all the beautiful write ups about me.
— Jake Zyrus (@jakezyrus) June 20, 2017
He also wrote on Instagram, "From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the love and respect. I love you back and I'm sending peace to everyone."
Jake came out as lesbian in 2013. He later addressed his image change, "I know some people are more used to the old Charice, a ballad singer with the pigtails. For me, in my heart, I've always wanted to be more edgy, rock, more [on the] dark side. I know some people think that this is very rebellious but it's not. It's just me evolving. It's me transforming into another person that is totally me."
A year later, during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, he was asked about a possible transition. "Not exactly transitioning to a male, but basically my soul is like male," he said. "But I'm not going to go through that stage where I'm going to change everything-not change my body. I would change, like, this look: Cut my hair and wear boy clothes and everything, but that's all."