Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung Hok Yau (; born
July 10,
1961 in
Hong Kong with family roots in
Tianjin) is a
Hong Kong singer and film star from the mid-
1980s to the present.
Born on
July 10,
1961 in Hong Kong, Cheung is regarded by many as one of the finest male singers to have come out of
Hong Kong, known for his rich
baritone voice, wide range and exceptional interpretative powers. Since the early
1990s, he is arguably the world's most popular and respected
Chinese pop singer.
Cheung is sometimes dubbed
the God of Songs (歌神), the same title once given to another
Cantopop singer
Sam Hui.
His successful music and acting career has led him to be recognised as one of Hong Kong's icons. Cheung was named the spokesperson for
Hong Kong Disneyland in
2004. As the theme park's spokesperson, Cheung took part in a number of large-scale marketing events organized by
The Walt Disney Company and
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, beginning by hosting a TV program,
Magical World of Disneyland. [
1] He also recorded a song for Hong Kong Disneyland, a multi-lingual song entitled
One. The music video for
One was filmed at Hong Kong Disneyland.
He is married to
May Lo who he has two daughters with.
Singer
He was the national singing champion in Hong Kong
1984 with the song
Fatherland, ousting more than ten thousand other contestants. He was signed by the then
Polygram Records, now
Universal Music Group. Although encouraged by a bright start, he was not yet able to achieve immediate supremacy in Cantopop, then dominated by
Leslie Cheung,
Alan Tam,
Anita Mui and
Danny Chan. Cheung suffered a nosedive in his career in 1988 after a best-selling first two albums. That year he did not have a single song awarded in the annual TVB JSG. His subsequent sales record dipped and one of his albums in the late
1980s managed just around ten thousand in sales. The reason for the fall in his CD sales was partially attributed to his alcohol problem - he could get drunk 5 times a week. After disrupting his friend's birthday party while being drunk, Cheung vowed in public that he would not consume alcohol again till he was 40. He kept that promise.
His recording career subsequently returned to its track. Then, in
1991, with the song 每天愛你多一些 (Loving You More Everyday), his career took a massive upturn. The album, 真情流露
True Love Expression in
1992, as well as the succeeding release, 愛火花
Love Sparks in
1992, became the two most successful albums in Hong Kong history, achieving audited sales of over 400,000 copies in Hong Kong alone and turned Cheung into a superstar, paving the way for himself and his contemporaries,
Andy Lau,
Leon Lai and
Aaron Kwok, to take Cantopop to even greater heights. Subsequent albums continue to be a hit like 我與你
True Love Expression 1993, "狼傳說
Wolf Tale 1994 etc. Since then his career has grown from strength to strength, and Cheung has managed to garner thousands of fans overseas as well as numerous music awards both in Hong Kong and elsewhere, including the best-selling Chinese singer in the Worlds Music Awards for two consecutive years (1995 and 1996). Cheung has also been elected one of the world's Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 1999.
Among his most famous songs are
Amour, 只想一"跟你走 (Only Thinking of Going Through Life With You) and the everlasting 吻别 (Goodbye Kiss) which confirms his status as one, and many consider the pre-eminent member, of the
Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop.
Goodbye Kiss, a
Mandarin number, was also one of the best-selling albums of all time, achieving more sales in
Hong Kong,
Taiwan and
Southeast Asia such as not attained before, with an astounding 5 million copies sold in
1993 alone, a record that has remained yet unbroken.
Goodbye Kiss was also instrumental in helping Cheung to break into the mando-pop market, and it also prompted other Hong Kong singers who wanted to gain a wider market to follow suit, even though, to this very day, very few indeed have been able to approach Cheung's level of success.
His work on the ground-breaking cantonese musical,
Snow, Wolf, Lake musical (
1997), was also enthusiastically received by both audiences and critics. Cheung not only played the male lead, but was also the artistic director for this production. The female lead was played by
Sandy Lam and they achieved 43 full-house performances at the gigantic
Hong Kong Coliseum. In November
2004, Jacky and his concert manager,
Florence Chan Suk-Fan, worked on a revised
Mandarin version of
Snow, Wolf, Lake so as to bring it to a wider audience. The estimated budget for this revised production was HK$100 million and the show premiered on
24 December 2004 in Beijing. The production subsequently toured China and other Asian destinations to huge acclaim.
Cheung won, for the umpteenth time, the
Best Selling Cantonese Album Award in the
Hong Kong IFPI Awards of 2005 with his live album,
Jacky Live Performance. In the fast-changing scene of canto-pop, Cheung is able to maintain his popularity and sales power for more than 20 years after his debut, which is unparalleled in the history of Hong Kong pop music.
Actor
Cheung acted in many films, although singing has always been his priority. He received the Best Supporting Actor
Golden Horse Award for his work in
Swordsman (1990). He also received the Best Actor Award at the
New Delhi Film Festival for his portrayal of the protagonist in
July Rhapsody. His song
Perhaps Love, which serves as the theme song for the multi-award-winning film
Perhaps Love, also won the
Best Song Award at the 2005
Hong Kong Film Awards.
New Dehli??
| Year | Chinese Name | English Name | Language | | 2005 | 雪.狼.湖 | Snow.Wolf.Lake | Mandarin | | 2005 | Jacky活出"命Live""會 | Jacky Live Performance | Cantonese | | 2004 | Life Is Like A Dream | Life Is Like A Dream | Cantonese | | 2002 | 他在那裡 | Where Is He | Mandarin | | 2001 | 學友熱 | Jacky Fever | Mandarin | | 2001 | 天下第一流 | The First | Cantonese | | 2000 | Touch Of Love | Touch Of Love | English | | 1999 | 有個人 | Someone | Cantonese | | 1999 | 走過1999 | Running Through 1999 | Mandarin | | 1998 | 不後" | No Regret | Mandarin | | 1998 | 釋"自己 | Release Yourself | Cantonese | | 1997 | 雪.狼.湖 | Snow.Wolf.Lake | Cantonese | | 1997 | 不老的傅説 | The Never Old Legend | Cantonese | | 1997 | 想'你去吹吹風 | Wanna Go For A Walk With You | Mandarin | | 1996 | 忘記你我做不到 | I Cannot Forget You | Mandarin | | 1996 | 愛與交響曲 | Love and Symphony | Cantonese | | 1995 | 過敏世界 | Sensitive World | Cantonese | | 1995 | "友 | Possession | Mandarin | | 1995 | 真愛新曲＋精選 | True Love compilation | Mandarin | | 1994 | 偸心 | Steal One's Heart | Mandarin | | 1994 | 這個冬天不太冷 | This Winter is not too Cold | Cantonese | | 1994 | "狼傳説 | Born to be Wild | | | | | |
*
Perhaps Love (2005)
*
Jiang Hu (2004)
*
Golden Chicken 2 (2003)
*
Dragon Loaded 2003 (2003)
*
July Rhapsody (2002)
*
Dragon Heat (2000)
*
Anna Magdalena (1998)
*
The Private Eye Blues (1995)
*
High Risk (1995)
*
King of Destruction (1994)
*
To Live and Die in Tsimshatsui (1994)
*
Ashes of Time (1994)
*
Future Cops (1993)
*
Enigma of Love (1993)
*
The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993)
*
Flying Dagger (1993)
*
Legend of Prince (1993)
*
Boys Are Easy (1993)
*
Best of the Best (1992)
*
Deadly Dream Woman (1992)
*
Hot Hot and Pom Pom (1992)
*
The Days of Being Dumb (1992)
*
The Wicked City (1992)
*
Slickers vs. Killers (1991)
*
The Banquet (1991)
*
With or Without You (1991)
*
Once Upon a Time in China (1991)
*
Chinese Legend (1991)
*
Bullet for Hire (1991)
*
The Raid (1991)
*
A Chinese Ghost Story III (1991)
*
Days of Being Wild (1991)
*
Point of Return (1990)
*
Will of Iron (1990)
*
Best Friend of the Cops (1990)
*
Off Track (1990)
*
Chase from Beyond (1990)
*
Bullet in the Head (1990)
*
A Chinese Ghost Story Part II (1990)
*
Curry and Pepper (1990)
*
Swordsman (1990)
*
Black Dragon (1989)
*
Little Cop (1989)
*
Seven Warriors (1989)
*
Vampire Buster (1989)
*
The Eight Happiness (1988)
*
The Haunted Cop Shop of Horrors 2 (1988)
*
Mother Vs. Mother (1988)
*
Couples, Couples, Couples (1988)
*
Tiger Cage (1988)
*
As Tears Go By (1988) Best Actor Award
*
Faithfully Yours (1988)
*
The Haunted Cop Shop of Horrors (1987)
*
Devoted to You (1986)
*
Soul (1986)
*
Spirit and Me (1986)
*
Cinema of Hong Kong*
Jacky Cheung - Official website
*
Lyrics and pictures
