Sophia Laforteza

Sophia Laforteza leads KATSEYE as the group's designated leader, a role she earned before the group even had a name. Born on December 31, 2002, at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, New York, she grew up in Manila and is fluent in English and Tagalog. Her mother, Carla Guevara Laforteza, is a musical theater actress and singer in the Philippines; her father, Godfrey Laforteza, is an executive chef at Newport World Resorts. Sophia has an older brother and a younger sibling. She began singing at three years old. By five, she was enrolled in classes across ballet, jazz, musical theater, hip-hop, and tap dancing, and appeared on the Philippine talk show She Said, She Said alongside her mother. She graduated with the highest academic honors from Multiple Intelligence International School in Quezon City in June 2021, and competed on the Philippine edition of Family Feud in May 2022 before her international breakthrough. Sophia emerged as the top-ranked contestant from The Debut: Dream Academy, the 2023 competition series that formed KATSEYE under HYBE and Geffen Records. Selected from over 120,000 global applicants, she was announced as the group's first member and designated leader at the live finale on November 17, 2023, making her the first Filipino artist signed to a HYBE label. The group debuted in June 2024 with the EP SIS (Soft Is Strong), followed by Beautiful Chaos in 2025, which earned KATSEYE Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. As KATSEYE's anchor, Sophia has navigated the group through its most high-profile moments, from award show stages to the Billboard Hot 100 with "Gabriela" in 2025. Her Filipino-American identity has made her a visible symbol of Southeast Asian representation in global pop, a role she has embraced with her platform.