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‘Glee’ Alum Charice Pempengco Changes Name to Jake Zyrus After Declaring ‘My Soul Is Like Male’

Jake Zyrus
Jake Zyrus performs during the Pinoy Relief Benefit concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 11, 2014.Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Glee alum Charice Pempengco now goes by the name Jake Zyrus, nearly three years after declaring in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that “my soul is like male.”

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The Filipino singer-songwriter, 25, debuted the new name on Instagram on Sunday, June 18. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the love and respect,” Zyrus wrote. “I love you back and I’m sending peace to everyone.”

Zyrus later shared an emotional message on Twitter, writing, “My first tweet as Jake. Overwhelmed. Saw all your love comments and I’m so happy. Finally. I love you, everyone and see you soon. I won’t let anyone ruin this moment. I won’t let anyone ruin my happiness. Thank you to all the beautiful write ups about me.”

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The musician first rose to fame in 2007 as a YouTube star before landing a three-episode stint as foreign exchange student Sunshine Corazon on season 2 of Glee. Zyrus is also the first Asian solo singer of all time to reach the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Zyrus came out as a lesbian in 2013, but later shut down rumors of a gender transition. “I’m not going to go through that stage where I change everything — not change my body,” Zyrus said during a 2014 interview on OWN’s Oprah: Where Are They Now. “I would change, like, this look: Cut my hair and wear boy clothes and everything, but that’s all.”

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