Jay Chou (; born January 18, 1979) is a Taiwanese singer and musician. Dubbed the "King of Mandopop", and having sold over 30 million records, Chou is one of the best-selling artists in Taiwan and is known for his work with lyricist Vincent Fang, with whom he has frequently collaborated on his music.
In 2000, Chou released his debut studio album, Jay (2000), under the record company Alfa Music. Chou rose to fame with the release of his second studio album, Fantasy (范特西) (2001), which combined Western and East Asian music styles. The album won five Golden Melody Awards, including Album of the Year. He has since further released twelve more studio albums, spawning a string of hit singles and gaining significant prominence in Overseas Chinese communities such as Taiwan, Hong Kong SAR, Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Chou has embarked on six world tours, performing in cities around the world to more than 10 million spectators as of 2019. Outside of music, Chou is also an actor, active businessman and investor. As a businessman, Chou has served as the President of his own fashion brand PHANTACi since 2006 and was a founding member of his own talent agency, JVR Music in 2007. Chou has also ventured into acting, where he made his acting debut in the film Initial D 頭文字D(2005), followed shortly by a starring role in the epic Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). He has since starred in a number of movies, becoming known to Western audiences when he made his Hollywood debut in 2011 with The Green Hornet, starring alongside Seth Rogen and Christoph Waltz, followed by Now You See Me 2 (2016).
Early life
Jay Chou was born and raised in Linkou, Taipei County, Taiwan. Both his parents were secondary school teachers: his mother, Yeh Hui-Mei (), who was an art teacher who taught fine arts, while his father, Chou Yao-Chung (), is a biomedical researcher. His mother noticed his sensitivity to music and took him to piano lessons at the age of four. During his childhood, he was fascinated with capturing sounds and songs with his tape recorder, which he carried everywhere with him. In the third grade, he became interested in music theory and also started cello lessons. He was an only child and loved to play piano, imitate TV actors, and perform magic tricks. His favorite composer was, and is still to this day, Chopin. Jay graduated from Taipei Jinhua High School. His parents divorced when he was 14 and he was teased by his classmates, which caused him to become reclusive and introverted. He had no friends and preferred to be alone, listening to music, contemplating and daydreaming. At , he majored in piano and minored in cello. He showed a talent for improvisation, became fond of pop music, and began to write songs.
Chou was conscripted for mandatory military service after graduating from high school with inadequate grades for university. However, severe back pain triggered by sports eventually led to the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis (HLA-B27), and he was exempted from military service. Meanwhile, he found a job as a waiter.
Early career
Chou's mother initially inspired Chou to become a music teacher, while Chou remained relatively clueless on what to do with his life. Without his knowledge, a friend registered both their names in a talent show called Super New Talent King in 1998. Chou played the piano accompaniment for his friend, whose singing was described as "lousy". Although they did not win, the show's host, Jacky Wu – an influential character in Taiwan's entertainment business – happened to glance at the music score and was impressed with its complexity. Wu then asked who wrote it, discovered Chou and hired him as a contract composer and paired him with the novice lyricist Vincent Fang. for his then record company, Alfa Music. Chou then spent most of his time in Wu's studio learning music producing, sound mixing, recording, and writing songs. Although he was trained in classical music, Chou combines Chinese and Western music styles to produce songs that fuse R&B, rock and pop genres. However, Wu told Chou that he would help Chou release an album after he wrote 50 songs and he would pick 10 from there. Chou already had an arsenal of songs he wrote for others but had been rejected, so among those he chose 10 for his debut CD album, Jay, released in 2000. The album established his reputation as a musically gifted singer-songwriter whose style is a fusion of R&B, rap, classical music, and yet distinctly Chinese. His fame grew quickly in Overseas Chinese communities and Sinophone-speaking regions throughout Southeast Asia.