Sheryn Regis on getting her ‘crystal’ voice back 10 years after throat surgery: ‘God is good all the time’

At a press conference for Platinum Karaoke, where she was introduced as the brand’s newest endorser, the singer dubbed the “Crystal Voice of Asia” admitted she once believed she would never sing the same way again.

“After ten years na galing sa surgery na ‘yun, you know, I thought I cannot sing anymore. I thought mababago ‘yung boses ko,” she told PUSH ABS-CBN.

“But God is good all the time,” she added.

Sheryn was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2016. Because the thyroid sits near the nerves that control the vocal cords, the operation carried a real risk of damaging her voice.

Before the surgery, she said, she surrendered everything to God.

“Kasi I just wished dati, before, I said na, ‘Lord, magpa-surgery na ako, ikaw na po bahala sa everything. Thy will be done,” she said.

“And then binigay Niya ulit ang boses ko. So that’s why talagang ginagamit ko siya anywhere, anytime,” she added.

Even now, the thought of losing her voice someday still scares her. She said it is a fear every singer lives with.

“Of course, parang it’s every singer’s nightmare na mawalan ng boses,” she said.

That fear weighs even heavier on Sheryn, a known “birit” singer whose songs often call for very high notes.

“Especially ako, bumibirit ako. Alam mo, mahirap ang consistency sa birit ko na hindi ko maibigay sa tao. Mahirap din talaga ‘yun,” she said.

To keep her voice in shape, she makes it a point to sleep seven to ten hours every day.

“Tsaka I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. Tsaka I eat sapat, tama,” she added, stressing that looking after her whole body is part of caring for her voice.

Sheryn also shared that her doctor had told her to rest for six months after the operation. Instead, she was back on stage just three weeks later.

She explained that she had already signed a contract for a show before she learned she needed surgery, and she chose not to say anything about the operation.

“Kasi nakapirma na ako ng contract. Pero hindi ko alam na ma-ooperahan pala ako. After I signed the contract, sabi ko, ‘Naka-sign na ako ng contract, kailangan kong gawin ‘to. Hindi ko na lang sasabihin na inoperahan ako kasi baka sila mag-worry.’ I didn’t want them to worry,” she said.

She has no regrets, she said, because she offered that performance to the Santo Niño.

“But I said, ‘Itong performance ko, Lord, para sa ‘yo.’ Kasi ang kinantahan ko is for the Santo Niño,” she said.

Sheryn, who hails from Carcar, Cebu, was the runner-up to Erik Santos in ABS-CBN’s singing search Star in a Million in 2003. The following year, she finished second at the Voice of Asia festival in Kazakhstan, which earned her the “Crystal Voice of Asia” tag from local media. She went on to sing the themes of Kapamilya shows such as Marina, Krystala and Kampanerang Kuba, before moving to Houston, Texas, in 2010.

In 2021, she came back to Star Music with the single “Tulad ng Dati.” Later that year, she released “Gusto Ko Nang Bumitaw,” a song she helped write that became one of the label’s biggest hits that year. The song took off again in 2022 when Morissette recorded her own version for the teleserye The Broken Marriage Vow, and it became one of the most talked-about “birit” songs online.

Now, five years after that hit, Sheryn said she will soon release a new album under Star Music.

—By Paolo Lim