U.S. debut After high school in the U.S., Ramsey became a back-up vocalist to Miami freestyle singer
Stevie B. In 1989, she was re-christened "Jaya" and signed a record deal with Stevie B's label
LeFrak-Moelis Records and her eponymous first album, produced by Stevie B, was released in the US. The album consisted largely of
freestyle dance tracks written or co-written by Stevie B, who also provided backup vocals. The album's first single, "If You Leave Me Now", was a hit in discos and debuted on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100 chart in October 1989. After 18 weeks on the Hot 100, the song was still gaining in both sales and airplay—it ended up peaking at number 44 in February 1990— and remained in the Hot 100 for a total of for 26 weeks, an unusually long chart run for a single peaking outside the top 40. The song did well in many markets but at different times, thus diluting its Hot 100 rank. She was a big hit when Pinoys first heard her belt out soul ditties in 1996. Her winning the 1996 Metropop Song Festival via
Danny Tan's "Sometimes You Just Know" made her the biggest star on the rise at the close of the last century. Her first album under Viva Records hit an all-time high of 9 times platinum. In 1997, she released her third album
In the Raw, (second in the Philippines) the follow-up to her massive-selling 1996 Philippine debut album,
Jaya, which sold nine times platinum, (360,000 units; platinum is 40,000 units sold). She also won as Best Interpreter at the Asia Song Festival held in
Hong Kong in February 1997 for her rendition of the song "You Lift Me Up", composed by
Danny Tan with lyrics by Dodjie Simon. This composition also received the grand prize, the Best Song award. She adorns
Magpakailan pa Man (Up to the End), with soulful,
Toni Braxton-styled flourishes, and renders the upbeat, "Together" with
panache and verve. Her assured handling of the delicately nuanced, "Sana'y Maulit Muli" (May it Recur Again), is a
tour de force. The album sold quintuple-platinum (200,000 units sold). She released a Christmas album, entitled
Kung Kailan Pasko which contained traditional
carols alongside original compositions, including a
jazz version of
The Christmas Song. In 1999, PolyMax Records, a label of then-PolyGram Records Philippines (now an affiliate of Universal Records) released Jaya's
A Love Album, first released in 1992 in Japan under the same title. The album consists of songs taken from an earlier Jaya album, also called
A Love Album, released in the United States in 1989, as well as songs recorded specifically for the 1992 Japanese release. In 1992, while touring Japan as a backup singer and keyboardist for American R&B artist Stevie B., Jaya was approached by the Japanese label
Toshiba/EMI to make an album for Japanese release.
A Love Album was released in Japan in conjunction with Jaya's American label, LMR Records, which still owns master rights, and from whom PolyMax obtained permission to release the album in the Philippines (according to Kazu Watanabe, managing director of PolyMax Records).
A Love Album is exquisitely produced, and Jaya acquits herself well on the album's upbeat R&B/dance-styled tunes and soulful ballads. In 1999, Jaya released, her fifth album released in her native country since 1996, entitled
Honesty originally done by
Billy Joel, was also her career single.
Honesty differs greatly from Jaya's two previous major albums released in the Philippines, 1996's
Jaya and 1997's
In the Raw. Though, as before,
Honesty contains mostly passionate, easy-listening love songs, this time out her approach is more intimate. She doesn't add many soulful flourishes as before, nor does she allow herself to soar passionately to the heavens, which she often did on her previous albums. Another major difference is the inclusion of three modern,
rhythm and blues styled songs, including, "We Thang," "Tear to Fall" and "In My Dreams." These songs are far more contemporary and have much more international appeal than the easy-listening love songs which dominate Jaya's music. After five years in the recording scene, she released her first greatest hits album, entitled
Five featuring a duet of
Habang May Buhay (While There's Life) with
Regine Velasquez and
Kung Wala Na (If It Is Gone) from the
Abandonada soundtrack. In 1999, Jaya faced a big challenge when she did her first musical, the
Ramayana-based
Rama at Sita that starred
Lani Misalucha. Her performance as the
demon king
Ravana's sister,
Soorphanaka, was memorable for her skillful treatment of risque songs and sultry dancing. Also in 1999, Jaya was given the offer to become a main host in a GMA Network variety show called
SOP.
2000: Unleashed and concert scene In 2001, Jaya released her sixth
Unleashed album where she sang the songs in a relaxed, confident manner, and performed middle-of-the-road songs that mostly have depth and quality. She forwent the soulful embellishments that were plentiful in her first two albums, although every so often she added a few unwritten notes in a passionate, soulful manner. She approached her last album, 1999's
Honesty, in the refined manner that she furthered on
Unleashed. Jaya covers
Roy Orbison's "Love Hurts" and
John Lennon's "Love" in an understated, yet enjoyable manner.
Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly" features an imaginative, bass-heavy arrangement. Also in that same year, she released her first live album, entitled,
Jaya Live at the Araneta. The album is dominated by performances of American hits. For example, the album starts with a performance of
Aretha Franklin's 1960s hit "
Respect", and also includes
Labelle's "
Lady Marmalade",
Nirvana's "
Smells Like Teen Spirit," and Roy Orbison's "
Love Hurts." She performs several of these ballads here, including her first hit in the Philippines, "Dahil Tanging Ikaw" (Because It's Only You). Several guest artists also have spots, including Regine Velasquez, who performs Abba's "Dancing Queen"; boy band Jeremiah, who accompanies Jaya on remakes of songs by American boy bands, including
Westlife's "Swear It Again"; and male singers Wency Cornejo, KC Montero, and Rivermaya's vocalist and songwriter, Rico Blanco. After four years of hiatus in the music scene, Jaya returned with her seventh studio album entitled,
Fall in Love Again. Friends, old and new helped Jaya put the album together. One of these is
Ogie Alcasid, who composed and produced "Ako'y Sa'yo" later revived by
Regine Velasquez, "Maging Akin Ka Lamang" and their duet of "Bakit Di Mo Sabihin". Another one is Vehnee Saturno, who wrote and produced most of Jaya's early hits. His contributions are "Pagkukunwari" and "Di Na Ba Kita Mapipigilan", which is the album's first single release.
2007: New label In 2007, she released her eighth album Cool Change under her new label,
GMA Records, featuring covers of international hit songs including
Donna Summer's "
On the Radio" and the
Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire". All of the songs were presented with new arrangements in various musical genres. The first single was "Is It Over?" originally sung by
Ronnie Milsap which received a Platinum award in 2009. After her Platinum Record solo album, "Cool Change, " Ramsey released her ninth studio album entitled,
Real.Love.Stories. It contains 14 love songs carefully picked and beautifully revived by the Philippine's Queen of Soul, such as "
Breathe Again" originally sung by
Toni Braxton; "Old Friend" by
Phyllis Hyman and "
Save the Best For Last" by
Vanessa Williams. The concept album was released initially on a limited edition micro secure digital format and after two weeks, it will be available on physical CDs and digital downloading. Jaya also took part in the all-star charity single
Kaya Natin Ito! along with some of her colleagues (with the exception of
Jennylyn Mercado and
Yasmien Kurdi). The project was supported by Gawad Kalinga to help the victims of Typhoons
Ondoy and
Pepeng.
2010: New beginnings On March 1, 2010, Jaya starred in her first
soap opera as a supporting character in
Diva, a new primetime offering of GMA Network for their 60th Anniversary, alongside
Regine Velasquez,
Mark Anthony Fernandez and
Glaiza de Castro. Her show
BandaOke aired from October 25, 2009, to March 21, 2010, and was replaced by the reality sitcom
Pepito Manaloto. She was also a main presenter of the GMA-7 variety show,
Party Pilipinas. Jaya was reluctant to act before but she enjoyed playing the role of Barang, Regine Velasquez' friend in
Diva. She played the nosy landlady Helen de Herenes in
Kaya ng Powers, a sitcom that starred
Joey Marquez and
Rufa Mae Quinto as a couple from outer space. Jaya won Best Female Vocal Performance for the song "Hiding Inside Myself" at 23rd Awit Awards on September 30, 2010, defeating some of the younger local singers of today.
2011–2016: All Souled Out and Sunday All Stars judge Jaya released an album under Universal Records entitled
All Souled Out, a CD album containing 12 tracks of all revival songs. It was her third cover album, containing classic R&B and jazz songs that she grew up listening to. The album received a critical response, after experimenting with a variety of sounds in her previous outings, "Jaya comes to terms with what she is really all about as a singer in "All Souled Out." She triumphs in making the material sound genuine, largely because it is perfect for her. And her voice is a thing of wonder. There is warmth, power, and vulnerability in her renditions, making listening to the entire album a breeze—perfect for long drives or for those lazy weekends." She was one of the "Big Four" judges of GMA Network's new musical variety show
Sunday All Stars which began airing on June 30, 2013. She also starred in
Mga Basang Sisiw as Sally
2016–present: Return to ABS-CBN Jaya became a
Kapamilya after being welcomed on
ABS-CBN's and after 16 years with
GMA Network, noontime-variety show ''
It's Showtime last July 16, 2016, and she is now a part of the jury on Tawag ng Tanghalan''. In November 2016, Jaya was one of the guest performers of the Filipino girl group DIVAS' first concert titled
DIVAS Live in Manila along with
K Brosas and
Regine Velasquez. ==Personal life==