Maria Luisa Ramsey on March 21, 1969 is a Filipino soul music, singer, rapper, dancer, record producer, TV host, and actress of mixed Filipino and African American descent. She is dubbed as the "Soul Diva" and "The Asia's Queen of Soul" and is currently a contract artist of GMA Artist Center.
Jaya is known in the Philippines as the Queen of Soul or Soul Diva. Born Maria Luisa Ramsey on March 21, 1969 in Manila, Philippines, the name Jaya came from an American producer when he signed her to a record deal in the U.S. in 1989. Her mother is comedienne-singer (Queen of Comedy and Queen of Rock&Roll) Elizabeth Ramsey, who is of Filipina descent. She has three siblings: Ike, Anna, and Susan.
She started in show business at the age of 10 as a back-up dancer to her mother. At 13, Ramsey became the undefeated champion in the GMA-7 noon show, Student Canteen, and joined the Opera House. Jaya started doing solo performances in 1982, using the name Louise Ramsey. (Louise was re-christened Jaya after she signed up a record deal in the US in 1989; the name came from her American producer).
Jaya barely knew her father. He and her mother separated after a seven-year relationship. Jaya also was not able to finish high school in the Philippines because of her busy lifestyle as a young performer. However, she got high grades in school and became a class president. 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.
Her mother decided to leave for the U.S. in June 1985 and brought Jaya with her. Young Jaya continued her solo singing stints there, performing with other Pinoy artists like Tillie Moreno, Eddie Mercado, Lerma dela Cruz, and the veteran duo Reycards.
Life in the U.S. was likewise difficult for both Jaya and her mother. They stayed in different cities in California. She went to Marshall High School in Los Angeles, a school with a large Filipino American student population. She ran away from home in 1988, after finishing high school. She went to New York with a friend and landed a job as a back-up vocalist to the group of musician Stevie B.
In 1998, Jaya married musician Andrew Buffington, whom she met in 1995. After three years of marriage, she filed for divorce. Jaya married her second husband Gary Gotidoc and at the age of 36 she gave birth to her daughter Sabriya. On July 27, 2009 at 5:28 pm, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center. The baby was named Dylan who weighed 8.2 pounds.
