Clarita Crisostomo Dela Fuente-De Guzman, better known as Claire de la Fuente, is a Filipino singer who achieved celebrity status in the late 1970s with the jukebox hit "Sayang". She was given the title "Asia's Sweetest Voice" because of her sweet voice. She was dubbed "the Karen Carpenter of the Philippines" as her voice has a striking resemblance to that of the late singer. Her first album in 1977 was then the Philippines' biggest ever seller. She went on to record seven more albums. Besides "Sayang", she is also known for hits like "Minsan-Minsan" and "Nakaw Na Pag-ibig". She was given the title "Queen of Tagalog Songs" alongside Rico J. Puno as her counterpart. She was also named "Jukebox Queen" together with her contemporaries Imelda Papin, Eva Eugenio and the late Didith Reyes, and was also dubbed as "Asia's Sweetest Voice". She is also a successful businesswoman. She is the president of the Integrated Metropolitan Bus Operators Association, though her bus franchise was cancelled in 2011 for joining a nationwide transport strike.
Biography
De la Fuente was 15 when she won the grand prize in the first singing contest she joined, singing The Carpenters' "Love Me for What I Am". By that time, the Accounting freshman at the University of the East knew she loved singing and was aware that she sounded like Karen Carpenter after a high school classmate had pointed it out. Composer George Canseco, a fellow UE Alumni, and the head judge in the contest, gave the singer her first break by having her sing the jingle in a Hope cigarette commercial that became popular for its "imported" sound. De la Fuente left show business in her mid-20s after reaping its financial rewards. She was married by that time, having tied the knot at 19 to a man 10 years her senior. In 1993, she set up the King of Kings Transport, which had to fold up a few years later. It wasn't the lucrative business she had hoped it would be. Six years later, de la Fuente was elected president of the Integrated Metro Bus Operators Association, whose members make up 70 percent of all bus operators in Metro Manila. In 2003, de la Fuente made headlines when she spearheaded a boycott of the color-coding scheme that the MMDA had imposed for a week on all public utility vehicles as part of a traffic experiment. The move put her at odds with the equally headstrong MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando. In 2003, de la Fuente went back to school to study transportation management at PUP then went ahead and finished a Masters in Business Administration at the University of Western Australia in 2005. Besides being the spokesperson of the entire Public Transportation industry, she has become a very successful businesswoman. She dabbled into the cosmetics industry, opening up The Skin Shop. Alongside this, she showcased her flair for culinary arts and opened Gracielo's and Claire de la Fuente Seafood and Grill. In December 2006, her husband and best friend for more than 28 years, Moises de Guzman, died after a five-month struggle with cancer. He left behind de la Fuente together with their two sons, Gregorio and Gracielo. In 2008, she teamed up with Richard Carpenter for her international album Something In Your Eyes. In 2010, she recorded a duet with Michael Bolton, "The Christmas Song". The duet was included on her The Christmas Album under Viva Records.
