BIGSONG:
Darren Lyndon Espanto (born May 24, 2001) is a Filipino-Canadian singer, actor and director. He first joined a competition at the age of ten, where he won the Masters Finals of the Pinoy Singing Sensation competition in Edmonton. He made his first television appearance at the same age when he joined YTV’s reality television The Next Star in 2012; he became the youngest finalist in the history of the show to be included in the Top 6. However, he rose to prominence after joining the first season of The Voice Kids Philippines. On June 1, 2014, Espanto became a part of ABS-CBN’s Star Magic.Espanto released his first full-length self-titled studio album, Darren in December 2014, under MCA Music Inc. (Philippines), a Universal Music Group company. It debuted at number 1 on the Philippine charts of Apple’s iTunes store and Astro Chart; it is now a certified Double Platinum. In May 2015, Espanto staged a major solo concert at MOA Arena, he set a record for being the youngest artist to perform at the said venue at the age of 14. In May 2016, he released his sophomore album titled Be with Me, also under MCA Music Inc. (Philippines), featuring his carrier single “7 Minutes”, that was then followed by “Starlight” and “Parachute”, which also became number 1 on the Philippine charts of Apple’s iTunes store after just being released. The said album is now a certified Platinum. In August 2018, he later ventured into acting where he played Yohan (younger brother of George, portrayed by Bernardo) in The Hows Of Us starring Kathryn Bernardo with Daniel Padilla directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina which happens to be one of the highest-grossing Philippine movies of all time to date.In April 2019, Espanto was the only Filipino artist invited as a guest performer in the grand finals of Singer 2019 in China. Espanto, along with Asia’s Phoenix Morissette, was also handpicked by Disney to perform the rendition of “A Whole New World” as part of the Philippine promotion of the movie Aladdin in May 2019. In November 2019, the theme song for the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit titled “Side by Side” was launched, where he participated as one of the 11 ASEAN singers representing each member country. The same month, he released his original composition, “Sasagipin Kita”, also under MCA Music Inc. (Philippines). The song debuted at number 1 on the Philippine charts of Apple’s iTunes store on the first day of its release. In April 2020, Espanto was appointed by the United Nations Development Programme (under its Philippine office) as its first-ever celebrity Youth Advocate to promote its Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, focusing on climate action, biodiversity conservation and youth empowerment. In November 2020, Espanto released “Believe in Christmas” under MCA Music Inc. (Philippines) which debuted at number 1 of Apple’s iTunes store Philippines two hours upon its release. In May 2021, Espanto released his latest single, “Tama Na”, under MCA Music Inc. (Philippines) which climbed to number 3 of Apple’s iTunes store Philippines in the first two hours of its release. In November 2021, Espanto represented the Philippines in the world renowned Expo 2020 Dubai along with December Avenue. In April 2022, Espanto released “Pabalik Sa’yo”, under UMG Philippines which also climbed to number 3 of Apple’s iTunes store Philippines an hour after its release. In June 2022, Espanto is one of the Southeast Asian artists with whom Calum Scott collaborated for the version of Scott’s track, “Heaven”. The song climbed to No. 2 of iTunes store Philippines immediately after its release. In July 2022, it was announced that Espanto is one of the artists included in the newly launched Republic Records Philippines under UMUSIC Philippines.
