| Maria Lourdes Aragon | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Born | November 19, 2001 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Associated acts | Lady Gaga |
Maria Lourdes Aragon (born November 19, 2001)[1] is a singer from Manitoba, Canada, of Filipino descent. Aragon gained fame after a YouTube video of her performing Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" went viral.[2]
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On February 16, 2011, a video of Aragon performing a cover of "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga was posted to her sister's YouTube channel to showcase her talent to friends and family. The video caught Lady Gaga's attention when entertainment blogger Perez Hilton sent Gaga her Born This Way Cover, and she was so impressed by Maria's performance that she retweeted a link to the video.[3] In a week, her video reached over 11 million views. As of November 20, 2011, the video had over 44 million hits.
During an interview on HOT 103 in Winnipeg, Lady Gaga called into the show to tell Maria how moved she had been by her performance. Lady Gaga then invited an already surprised Aragon to perform "Born This Way" with her at The Monster Ball Tour concert in Toronto. In Toronto, Canada, 99.9 Virgin Radio called Maria and offered to fly her to Toronto for free. On March 3, 2011, Aragon joined Lady Gaga on stage at the Air Canada Centre, where they performed an acoustic duet of "Born this Way" with Maria sitting on Gaga's lap, playing piano and Lady Gaga working the pedals. Aragon later rejoined Lady Gaga and her team of back up dancers for an uptempo finale version of "Born this Way".[4]
American talk show host Ellen DeGeneres took notice of her from emails and petitions requesting for Aragon's appearance on the show and eventually invited Aragon to appear on her show on February 21, 2011, where Aragon again performed "Born This Way" on the piano earning a standing ovation from the audience. On March 29, 2011, Aragon performed "Born This Way" at her home for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She and Harper also performed a duet of John Lennon's song "Imagine".
In 2011, she appeared in commercials for HTC singing the K'naan song, Wavin' Flag[5] and Gap Kids, singing "I Want Candy". She performed at the 2011 Canada Day concert on Parliament Hill, which included Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge respectively, in attendance, as part of their 2011 royal tour of Canada.[6]
On July 20, 2011, Aragon arrived in the Philippines where she signed a contract with Star Records, the same recording company who also signed Charice.[1] Her first self-titled album consist of seven tracks[7] including "You're My Home", composed by Odette Quesada and originally sang by Lea Salonga for the Star Cinema film, Way Back Home.[8] Among the songs in Aragon's album is her rendition of Lady Gaga's “Born This Way," which catapulted her to international recognition.[9] To promote the album, she appeared on several ABS CBN shows including the musical variety show, ASAP Rocks and series of mall shows.[10] Manny Pacquiao chose Maria to sing the Philippine national anthem on his upcoming fight with Manuel Marquez on Nov 12,2011. She sang the Opening Theme of Junior MasterChef Pinoy Edition, Entitled "Bilib na Bilib".
Together with the University of the Philippines' Concert Chorus, Aragon also starred in the 2011 ABS-CBN Christmas Station ID, titled "Da Best ang Pasko ng Pilipino." She also sang the 2011 Christmas Jingle of SM Supermalls entitled SM ChriSMs.
On November 12, 2011, she had sung the Philippine National Anthem at MGM Studios for the Pacquiao and Marquez fight. Maria Aragon also has a second YouTube Channel with her cousin Madison Gutierrez. (Rhys Gutierrez)The channel's name is called '2Legitt'. The group hadn't made any upcoming videos so far. Although Maria is travelling, the two still keep in touch with each other.
| Artist | Album | Tracks | Year | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maria Aragon | Maria Aragon | 1. Born This Way 2. You're My Home 3. I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing 4. Follow Your Dream 5. Can't Smile Without You 6. Kung Bubuksan Mo Lang Ang Puso 7. One Hope One Dream |
2011 | Star Records |