Rachelle Ann Go

Rachelle Ann Villalobos Go (born August 31, 1986) is a Filipino singer, songwriter and actress. Known primarily for her work in theater, she has starred in musicals on Broadway and in the West End. She began her career as a pop artist in her native country and has received many accolades, including an Aliw Award, an MTV Pilipinas Music Award, two Awit Awards, and five Myx Music Awards. Tatler magazine named her one of the most influential people in Asia in 2021.

Go started performing in singing competitions as a child, and first gained recognition after winning the television talent show Search for a Star (2003). She signed with Viva Records in 2004 and released her self-titled debut studio album, supported by the cover single "Don't Cry Out Loud". Go then competed at the 2004 Shanghai Music Festival and the 2005 Astana Song Festival, winning the Silver Prize and Best Song in each competition. Under the same record label, she released four more studio albums—I Care (2006), Obsession (2007), Falling in Love (2009), and Unbreakable (2011)—and performed rock-influenced covers on the live album Rachelle Ann Rocks Live! (2008). Apart from music, she also took on roles in the television series Diva (2010), Nita Negrita (2011), Biritera (2012), and Indio (2013).

On stage, Go made her theater debut playing the lead role of Ariel in the local production of The Little Mermaid in 2011, followed by the Meralco Theater's 2013 staging of Tarzan, in which she starred as Jane Porter. Go had her international breakthrough as Gigi Van Tranh in the West End revival of Miss Saigon in 2014, reprising the part on Broadway in 2017. She gained further recognition for her portrayal of Eliza Schuyler in the original 2017 West End production of Hamilton. Go has also played Fantine in various stagings and tours of Les Misérables, including the show's 30th anniversary at the Sondheim Theatre.

Rachelle Ann Villalobos Go was born on August 31, 1986, in Pasig, Metro Manila. She is the eldest of four children of Oscar Go and Russell Villalobos. Her mother was a member of an all-girl group that performed as a touring band in Japan. Her younger brother, Oz Go, is a fashion designer who has since established an eponymous brand of bridal wear. Go's father raised her to pursue musical interests and encouraged her to perform in front of a crowd. He was passionate about different types of musical instruments and wanted his children to learn how to play one. According to her mother, Go's singing was discovered when she began humming a song at six months old. She learned to sing at age three and would perform Manilyn Reynes's "Sayang na Sayang" all on her own. When Go was nine, she began taking voice lessons. Her interest in music and performing eventually led her to join several amateur singing contests. At eleven, she participated in Eat Bulaga!'s singing competition Birit Baby and finished as a runner-up, singing Celine Dion's "All by Myself".

In 2003, Go began attending San Beda University to pursue a bachelor's degree in business management. Around this time, her parents nudged her to audition for the reality talent show Search for a Star, where she would advance as one of the ten grand finalists. As she prepared to compete for the finale, Go dropped out of San Beda during her freshman year in order to focus on her music career. On March 13, 2004, she won the competition, at the PhilSports Arena, performing a cover of Mariah Carey's "Through the Rain". The Philippine Star critic Matthew Estabillo praised her vocals and stage presence, highlighting Go's win as one that did not rely on the sob stories frequent in reality shows.

After winning Search for a Star, Go was signed to Viva Records and began working on her self-titled debut album. She collaborated with producer Eugene Villaluz and a bevy of songwriters such as Jimmy Antiporda, Jay Durias, and Vehnee Saturno. Rachelle Ann Go was released on July 27, 2004, and contained the cover single "Don't Cry Out Loud". Saturno wrote two of the album's original songs, while Durias produced and provided vocals for a cover of "Love of My Life", a song originally recorded by his band South Border. Reviewers from The Philippine Star lauded Go's vocal range and were impressed with the overall production; Baby Gil complimented her "natural R&B groove", and a writer deemed it a well-crafted album. It received double platinum certification from the Philippine Association of the Record Industry. Two more singles were released from the album: "You and Me (We Wanted It All)" and "From The Start". The first was a duet with Christian Bautista, and the latter was performed by Go at the Shanghai Music Festival, where it won Best Song and earned her the Silver Prize. She was also featured on Salbakuta's single "Yo Gloria". In July 2004, Go was a co-headliner, along with Sarah Geronimo and Erik Santos, for Night of the Champions at the Araneta Coliseum; the production won Best Major Concert Collaboration at the 2005 Aliw Awards. She also won several accolades for Rachelle Ann Go, including the MTV Pilipinas Music Award for Favorite Female Video for "Love of My Life", and the Box Office Entertainment Award for Most Promising Female Singer. At the 2005 Awit Awards, "Don't Cry Out Loud" was nominated for Best Performance by a New Female Recording Artist.

The Ultimate Champion, Go's first headlining concert, was performed at the Aliw Theater in April 2005, with guest acts such as Ogie Alcasid, Mark Bautista, and Christian Bautista; it garnered her an Aliw Award nomination for Best Major Concert Female. In Kazakhstan, she competed at the 2005 Astana Song Festival, where she also won the Silver Prize and Best Song for her rendition of Regine Velasquez's "Isang Lahi". I Care, Go's second studio album, was released in February 2006. On the album, she worked with Saturno and new international producers, songwriters, and record engineers including Christian De Walden, Todd Cerney, Skip Adams, Carlo Nasi, and Luca Vittori, resulting in a record that merged Original Pilipino Music (OPM) with other musical styles. Gil from The Philippine Star felt that the album illustrated a "unique mixture of Filipino sensibility and cosmopolitan flair", and noted how Go continued to improve and refine her music. For the lead single "If You Walk Away", Go received an Awit Award nomination for Best Performance by a Female Recording Artist, while she won the Myx Music Award for Favorite Female Artist at the 2006 ceremonies.

Go adopted a more mature and provocative style for her subsequent release Obsession. The album was described as a "hodgepodge" of wide-ranging global influences, and Go again employed the help of De Walden, who oversaw the collation of its content, as well as Jimmy Borja, Tony Ramirez, and other songwriters based in Europe and the United States during production. She recorded the songs in different studios in Manila, Los Angeles, and Milan. The track list initially contained songs Go had written, but she decided against including them. Obsession was released on January 23, 2007, supported by the lead single "Don't Say Goodbye". Music critics including Nestor Torre Jr. and Gil heralded the album as a coming-of-age effort. A second single, "Alam Ng Ating Mga Puso", was released in May 2007; and with Christian Bautista, she recorded the duet "Pag-ibig na Kaya", the theme of the Filipino-dubbed South Korean television series Princess Hours. At the 2008 Myx Music Awards, the former single's accompanying music video won Favorite Mellow Video, and the latter song was named Favorite Collaboration.