Jacky Cheung
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jacky Cheung 張學友 |
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 Jacky Cheung
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| Background information | ||
| Born | 10 July 1961 | |
| Origin | Hong Kong | |
| Genre(s) | Pop | |
| Years active | 1985—present | |
| Label(s) | Universal Music Group | |
| Website | JackyCheung.hk | |
- This is a Chinese name; the family name is 張 (Cheung)
Jacky Cheung Hok Yau (Traditional Chinese: 張學友, Simplified Chinese: 张学友, pinyin: Zhāng Xúeyǒu; 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.
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[edit] Biography
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), a title was 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 with whom he has two daughters.
[edit] Career
[edit] 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), a translated version of the Southern All Stars hit, Manatsu no Kajitsu, 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, 餓狼傳說 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, 只想一生跟你走 (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.
In 1995 Jacky Cheung received the "Chinese Artiste of The World" in Monte Carlo at the World Music Awards.
[edit] Actor
Cheung acted in many films, although singing has always been his priority. He received the Best Supporting Actor Hong Kong Films Award for his work in As Tears Go By (1988) as well as 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. He also starred in Taiwanese mini-series called "Love Scar" with F4 member Jerry Yan and Karen Mok, where he acted as Jerry Yan's older brother.
[edit] Duets
Jacky Cheung had numerous duets, including American actresses Sarah Brightman (There for Me) and Reba Mcentire (For My Broken Heart). His female duets in Hong Kong were Faye Wong (Love's Promise), Kelly Chen (Waiting for Your Love) and Anita Mui (Love is Hard). He also had a duet with Filipino singer-actress Regine Velasquez entitled "In Love With You" with rivaled Andy Lau's duet with Filipino singer-actress Sharon Cuneta.
[edit] Partial Discography
| Year | Chinese Name | English Name <Literal Chinese-English Translation> | Language |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 雪.狼.湖 | Snow.Wolf.Lake | Mandarin |
| 2005 | Jacky活出生命Live演唱會 | Jacky Live Performance | Cantonese |
| 2004 | 黑白畫映 | Black & White | Mandarin |
| 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 <World's First Class> | Cantonese |
| 2000 | Touch Of Love | Touch Of Love | English |
| 1999 | 有個人 | Someone <Having Someone> | Cantonese |
| 1999 | 走過1999 | Running Through 1999 | Mandarin |
| 1998 | 不後悔 | No Regret | Mandarin |
| 1998 | 釋放自己 | Release Yourself | Cantonese |
| 1997 | 雪.狼.湖 | Snow.Wolf.Lake | Cantonese |
| 1997 | 不老的傅説 | The Undying Legend | Cantonese |
| 1997 | 想和你去吹吹風 | Wana 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 <Oversensitive World> | Cantonese |
| 1995 | 擁友 | Possession <Embrace Friend> | 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 | 餓狼傳説 | Born to be Wild <Legend of a Hungry Wolf> | Cantonese |
| 1993 | 祝福 | Blessing | Mandarin |
| 1993 | 吻別 | The Goodbye Kiss | Mandarin |
| 1993 | 我與你 | Me and You | Cantonese |
| 1992 | 愛・火・花 | Sparks of Love | Cantonese |
| 1992 | 真情流露 | True Love Expression | Cantonese |
| 1991 | 一顆不變心 | A Never Changing Heart | Cantonese |
| 1991 | 情不禁 | Uncontrolled Passion | Cantonese |
| 1990 | 張學友的初戀故事・似曾相識 | Somewhere In Time <Jacky Cheung's First Love Story・Seem to Have Met before> | Mandarin |
| 1990 | 夢中的你 | Dreaming of You | Cantonese |
| 1989 | 祇願一生愛一人 | You Will Always Be My Love <Wishing to Love One Person in a Lifetime> | Cantonese |
| 1989 | 給我親愛的 | For My Dearest | Cantonese |
| 1988 | 意亂情迷 | Crazy for You <Distraughtly Crazy In Love> | Mandarin |
| 1988 | 昨夜夢魂中 | Dream In Grief <Last Night in the Dream State> | Cantonese |
| 1987 | 在我心深處 | Deep In My Heart | Mandarin |
| 1987 | 張學友 JACKY | Jacky Cheung JACKY | Cantonese |
| 1986 | 情無四歸 | Homeless Love | Mandarin |
| 1986 | 相愛 | In Love | Cantonese |
| 1985 | Amour 遙遠的她 | Amour She is Afar | Cantonese |
| 1985 | Smile | Smile | Cantonese |
[edit] Partial Filmography
- 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)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Jacky Cheung - Official website
- Lyrics and pictures
