Joey Albert

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Joey Albert, born Maria Josefina Albert on March 19, 1960 in the Philippines, is a singer, songwriter, and lyricist. She studied at St. Theresa’s College Manila and Assumption College San Lorenzo. She started singing professionally in 1981 and won the Dream Girl Filipina contest in 1982 on The Party. She joined The New Minstrels, a popular show band, and later worked with many well-known Filipino artists. She has performed in Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Albert has released more than 20 albums.

Her solo career began with OctoArts International in 1984. Her early singles, including “Over and Over,” gained wide radio play, and her version of “Tell Me” earned a Gold Record. She is noted as the first Filipino artist to record on CD. In 1990 her album with Dyna Records, Joey Albert, produced hits like “Only a Mem’ry,” which won her Best Female Vocalist at the Awit Awards.

Albert also worked as a television host and producer. She hosted Bahay Kalinga on ABS-CBN from 1991 to 1994. She moved to Canada in 1994 and hosted The Joey Albert Show in Vancouver, a talk show for Filipinos. She has been active in charity work with Gawad Kalinga and runs The Good Shepherd Daycare in Coquitlam.

She has staged many concerts, including a 2001 sell-out at the Music Museum, and released the album Songs of the Heart in 2010. She returned to the Philippines for reunion shows with The New Minstrels and the Circus Band in 2012–2014. In 2019 she won Best foreign-based Filipino performer at the Aliw Awards, and in 2021 she celebrated 40 years as a musician with a digital concert.

Personal life: Albert married Vicente Pacis III on August 14, 1988, and they have two daughters, Trixie and Marga. Her mother, Leticia Tordesillas Albert, founded the Marian Missionaries of the Holy Cross. Albert has faced serious health challenges, surviving cervical cancer in 1995 and colon cancer diagnosed in 2003, with surgery in 2003 and again in 2015 after a recurrence. Since 1994 she has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia.