Pilita Corrales as teener

Lovely and curvaceous, a teenage Pilita Corrales appeared on the cover of Kislap-Graphic (April 25, 1956). ‘A welcome sight for sore eyes,’ Rita M. Gerona wrote.

Pilita was fresh from Spain, where she studied with her sister Maria Luisa in Madrid’s Colegio Mayor de Padre Poveda. The young Señorita Corrales hosted daily Spanish radio program (DZPI), La Taverna, where she sang and played the guitar.

She was born (Aug. 22, 1939) in Manila to Jose Corrales and Pilar Garrido, but grew up in Cebu where her father was the manager of San Miguel brewery. Pilita studied grade school in Colegio de la Immaculada Concepcion in Cebu and high school at Santa Teresa in Baguio.

From radio, Pilita went to commercial modeling, recording, acting (movies and TV), and concertizing, becoming very popular here and in the US, Australia and Asia. She is billed Asia’s Queen of Song.

Already a grandmother, Pilita still acts on TV and sings, wowing audiences with her backbending stance when she hits those high notes.

But more than physical beauty, Pilita Corrales is admired for her kindness, generosity and professionalism.

— RKC