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Roberto Jose Dela Cruz Nievera (October17, 1936 –March27, 2018) was a Filipino singer and businessman. He rose to prominence in 1959 after winning the "Search for Johnny Mathis of the Philippines", a singing contest on the television variety show Student Canteen. He was one of the original members of the Society of Seven (SOS).

Born in Baguio, Nievera grew up participating in many amateur singing contests. He studied at the University of the Philippines Diliman, where he was trained by National Artist for Theater Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero. After earning the title "Johnny Mathis of the Philippines" from Student Canteen, he led a successful career performing in clubs. Nievera then joined the Hawaii-based musical group the Fabulous Echoes in 1966, which later became the Society of Seven.

After a decade-long stint with the SOS, Nievera released his self-titled debut album in 1976. He recorded three more albums released between 1977 and 1996. Nievera returned to the Philippines in 1989 and mounted a series of concerts called Timeless through the 1990s, which earned him another moniker as the "Timeless Balladeer". He also endeavored into business by opening various restaurant franchises in the country. Nievera remigrated to the United States in 2004, where he died in 2018 at the age of 81. He was the father of Martin Nievera, whom he mentored.

19361958: Early life and education
Roberto Jose Dela Cruz Nievera was born on October17, 1936 in Baguio, Philippines. His father, Lunas Jose Nievera, was from the province of Ilocos Sur; he was a doctor who worked for the transportation company Benguet Auto Line. His mother, Lizo Dela Cruz, was from Bulacan. He had a sister named Chita. At the age of seven, Nievera already started singing. He joined many amateur singing contests in his hometown,  where he often performed a song called "Ang Binatang Caviteño", which his mother taught him. As an elementary student at St. Louis School, Nievera said that he wanted to become a priest. He also imagined himself becoming a doctor like his father.

Nievera attended the Baguio Military Institute and initially planned to enroll at the Philippine Military Academy. He eventually opted to study foreign service at the University of the Philippines Diliman, where he became part of the UP Dramatic Club. Nievera later told in a 2001 interview, "From then on, my life changed completely." As a club member, he received training from playwright Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero, who was their director: "Freddie [Ma. Guerrero] found out that I could sing. So he tried to mold me. During intermission in the plays, Freddie would ask me to sing." Nievera said that he realized he could pursue singing as a profession when he was sixteen, while also having ambitions of perhaps becoming a newscaster or a deejay.

19591965: Career beginnings
He continued to participate in amateur singing contests in Manila. In 1959, Nievera joined the "Search for Johnny Mathis of the Philippines" on the television variety show Student Canteen. He went on to win the competition performing the song "It's Not for Me to Say". Nievera "nurtured three ambitions" when he started singing: "to go to America, to record an album in Hollywood, and to perform in Las Vegas." While performing at the Clover Theater for one week (which was one of his winnings from Student Canteen), he was accepted as a flight attendant at Philippine Airlines (PAL): "I thought at that time that PAL was more stable than a showbiz career." He worked there so he could go to the United States, but later quit in 1960 because he was "confined to the domestic flights" and was never able to fly internationally.

He began singing professionally in clubs, including in Ember's Club in Cubao,  where he was earning ₱15 a night. He also performed at the Airmen's Club of Camp John Hay in Baguio. Nievera said that he initially struggled in the entertainment industry, which he observed was dominated by "sexy singers" such as Pilita Corrales and Carmen Soriano: "To be noticed... we started imitating American singers." He carried his title from Student Canteen as the Philippines' version of Johnny Mathis; two of Nievera's contemporaries, Eddie Mesa and Diomedes Maturan, were also dubbed the Filipino counterparts of foreign acts Elvis Presley and Perry Como, respectively. According to him, "dapat noon may title ka, usong uso 'yan noon [you must have a title then because it was very popular]". Nievera met his first wife, Conchita Razon, who gave birth to twins Martin and Victoria in 1962. He was later offered to sing in the United States.

19661976: Society of Seven
Nievera belonged in the original line-up of the Society of Seven (SOS), a Hawaii-based musical troupe of Filipino Americans formed in 1969. He joined in 1966, when it was still the Fabulous Echoes. Nievera had to learn to play a trombonium as it was required in their acts. Frannie Kirk, who previously managed the SOS and Nievera, said in 2018: "He was bleeding in the lips by the time he learned how to play it." Nievera eventually became the lead singer. When he was with the group, he was known as Roberto because two other members were also named Bert. The Society of Seven mainly performed at the Main Showroom of Outrigger Waikiki.

Nievera and his family resided on the fifteenth floor of the Outrigger; his wife had separated with her first husband in the Philippines and fled with the twins to Hawaii when they were three years old. A third child, daughter Rachel, was born. Nievera inspired his son Martin to become a singer himself, who told in 2018 that he "would watch [his father] perform downstairs with the Society of Seven, and every night I would dream and imagine myself as one of the members of that group, singing for audiences both big and small." At their family-owned restaurant while Martin was working as a burger flipper,  Nievera was also teaching his son "how and when to belt and how to end the song in a big way." By the age of fourteen, Martin was performing with him in Society of Seven shows.

He toured with his group in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other major cities in the West Coast of the United States. Johnny Mathis saw and watched Nievera perform Mathis' signature song in one of Society of Seven shows in Lake Tahoe. SOS manager Frannie Kirk recalled in 2018, "He was doing 'Misty', with eyes shut, and the real Johnny Mathis heard this voice and came to see where it was coming from. Roberto had his eyes shut and was surprised [to see Mathis] but was excited that he liked the act." After ten years with them, he left the SOS in 1976; Gary Bautista filled the vacant position left by Nievera's departure in 1980. He recorded and released his debut album, Nievera, in Hollywood through Silver Sword Production which had also produced the SOS.

1977–1989: Solo ventures
The Nieveras relocated to Concord, California. Nievera and his son worked as burger flippers at Roadrunner Burgers, where he taught him "The Greatest Love of All". Martin performed the same song at the 1981 California State Talent Competition, which he won. Around this time, when his son was nineteen, Nievera and his wife were already having problems with their relationship.

According to a colleague, Nievera thought he was already retired from music after 1976, but he found gigs performing with Pilita Corrales, who invited him to her concerts. A year later, he followed Nievera with his second album, an LP titled Sumasainyo, Nievera. His son began his own singing career in the Philippines in 1982. According to Martin, "Dad gave me a choice. He said, 'Stay in America and try your luck in Hollywood or come to the Philippines and let me help you start living your dream.'" Martin quickly became a huge celebrity, earning the 1983 Aliw Award for Entertainer of the Year; the previous year, he was named the Most Promising Artist.

In 1989, Nievera also returned to the Philippines. Nievera and his wife separated, of which he later said in 2001, "Some good things never last. Something happened, so... I'm so lucky that I've found love the second time around." Carol Hernandez, his second wife, bore their first child together, son Lance, in c. 1989–1990. His new family grew to include three more children, two of whom were adopted.

1990–2002: Timeless
In the Philippines, he launched the Bert Nievera Music Lounge in Makati and also made guest appearances on television. Nievera himself began hosting for television, starring on IBC-13's Chairman of the Board with Eddie Mercado and Bobby Ledesma. In 1991, they received a Best Musical Program Host nomination at the 5th PMPC Star Awards for Television. In the same year, he started embarking on a series of concerts titled Timeless at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in Pasay.

Nievera described Timeless as a montage of his career's evolution. Accompanied by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, he sang medleys of Henry Mancini, Frank Sinatra, George Gershwin, Nat King Cole, the Platters, Michel Legrand, George Canseco, and Broadway. Martin also performed with him, as well as other guests of Nievera's choice. Timeless ran until 2002, which earned Nievera another moniker as the "Timeless Balladeer". Nievera said that "the word 'timeless' just came up during our brainstorming and that was it. 'Timeless' is the word that best describes what I've been and what I'm still doing. He concurrently travelled to Australia, the Middle East, US, Brunei, Singapore, and Malaysia to perform. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad employed him several times.

2003–2018: Business activities and death
Nievera and his wife Carol owned the Philippine franchise to Hard Rock Cafe and Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. He said in 2001, "Carol is a good businesswoman. Everything I know about business I learned it from Carol. We have a perfect teamwork. I have the contacts in the industry. Carol and I work together well in our projects." The couple had previously opened the first Philippine branch of the American food chain Country Waffles in 2000. They established several Country Waffles restaurants in Metro Manila and Baguio, the investors of which were mostly entrepreneurs and celebrities. Some outlets began closing down in early 2004 as the Nieveras sparked "what's probably the decade's biggest food industry scandal" after fleeing to the United States in January 2004 amid alleged death threats from Country Waffle employees, which angered their investors, who did not receive returns. In 2006, the Philippine justice department charged them with fraud.

He settled to semi-retirement in Las Vegas with Carol. In 2017, his son Martin told in an interview that his father suffered brain seizure. Martin had still occasionally performed with him in the US, the last of which was a Christmas 2017 concert at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino. At 3:37 a.m. on March27, 2018, Nievera died at the Southern Hills Hospital & Medical Center, at the age of 81. The cause of death was multiple organ failure due to sepsis. The Society of Seven, with Martin, paid tribute to him in their Las Vegas concert that April.

Artistry
Nievera was a baritone. His voice has been described by some publications as smooth and "velvety". A 1991 issue of the magazine Asiaweek read that Nievera's "mellow style... took the Philippines by storm". While in college, Nievera was also coached by one of his colleagues, who was an opera singer. However, he said that he "found it monotonous, so after only two sessions nag-drop out na ako [I dropped out]. I resorted to self-study..." He added, "Through the years, I developed my own style, my own technique. Who knows, had I continued my lessons... baka naging opera/classical singer ako [I might have become an opera/classical singer]." Nievera said in 2001 that "I learned a lot from the Society of Seven."

Certain personal influences, other than Johnny Mathis, were Perry Como, Vic Damone, Mario Lanza, and Jo Stafford. He grew up with their ballads, which he called "semi-classics". These songs include "Be My Love", "No Other Love", "Till the End of Time", "If You Are But a Dream", "Innamorata", and many others. Nievera also considered "Misty", Mathis' signature song, to be his, especially during his first years in the show business as the "Johnny Mathis of the Philippines". He mentioned, "It was very popular then, very memorable to me.... The line in it that touches me the most is the last one... I'm too misty and too much in love."

He heavily inspired his son Martin, who said:

"As a singer, he always told me to look into the eyes of my audience and not just in their general direction. This is why you never see me looking in just one place when I sing. My face, my eyes, even my body pan the audience left to right and right to left again, just like how a... cameraman would do when directed to. For dad, the only way to one's soul is through his or her eyes. He would tell me, "Ask yourself this question before you go out onstage, do you want to just sing a song or change a life?""

Discography

 * Nievera (1976)
 * Sumasainyo, Nievera (1977)
 * Remembers (1985)
 * Salamat sa Pag-Ibig (1996)