Faye Wong

At 54 years old, Faye Wong has this physical status:

Faye Wong (born 8 August 1969) is a Chinese singer-songwriter and actress, often referred to as "the Diva" ('Heavenly Queen') in the Chinese-speaking world.

Shirley Wong appeared on stage for a brief period of her career (Chinese: ).

Born in Beijing, she migrated to Cantonese in 1987 and rose to national prominence in the early 1990s by performing in Cantonese, often mixing alternative music with mainstream Chinese pop.

Since 1994, she has been mainly in Mandarin, China.

Guinness World Records named her as the Best Selling Canto-Pop Female in 2000.

Following her second marriage in 2005, she shone away from the limelight but returned to the scene in 2010 in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

She is perhaps best known for her appearances in Wong Kar-wai's films Chungking Express and 2046 in the West.

Wong has performed only a few songs in English, including "Eyes on Me" – the main song of the video game Final Fantasy VIII, although she has collaborated with international artists such as Cocteau Twins.

Wong is known as a "diva with few words" in public, and has a reputation for her "cool" demeanor.

Jeroen de Kloet's Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture portrayed her as "singer, actress, mother, fame, queen, sex symbol, and diva all at once."

Leah Dou, Leah Dou's daughter, is also a pop singer.

Personal life

In the early 1990s, Wong began a friendship with Dou Wei, a Beijing rocker of the band "Black Panther" who was much more popular in Mainland China. The couple married in June 1996. Dou Jingtong (Wong's given name Jingwen) was born on January 3, 1997, and their daughter, Dou Jingtong (meaning "child of Dou and Jing" [meaning "child of Dou and Jing]). The baby's voice appears in the 1998 album "Tong" as well as the album Lovers & Strangers () which was released in 1999. In late 1999, the parents split, with Wong claiming the right to the daughter and waiving child support.

In Beijing, Wong first met Mainland television actress Li Yapeng in 2004; their wedding took place in July 2005. Around the time of her wedding, her manager announced that she would take an indefinite absence from the entertainment industry. Wong said that the last five years of her married life have been "very steady, very satisfying" for her first time on a talk show in January 2011. Wong and Li announced that they had divorced on September 13.

Wong and Nicholas Tse, whom she had dated in a high-profile relationship in 2000, had rumors that they had revived in 2014. In September 2014, the two models were photographed in Wong's apartment in Beijing. They were caught doing housework, watching television, and kissing.

Faye Wong is a vegetarian. Wong was voted "Asia's most vegetarian woman" in the 2008 survey conducted by PETA members, and he was again nominated for the award in 2010.

Li Yapeng's Sina.com blog posted a thousand-word public online letter titled "Gratitude ()" in August 2006. The letter served as an avenue for their gratitude to all concerned parties, as well as a rumors that their daughter was born with a congenital cleft lip. They cited their reason for seeking medical attention in California: Li Yan's cleft's illness meant that the special reconstructive surgeries she needed were not available in China. Lili, quoting a South American folk tale, referred to his daughter as a special child and her cleft as an angel. Since establishing the Smile Angel Foundation to help children with clefts, the two have continued to visit the Smile Angel Foundation.

Wong made her first public appearance since 2005 at the foundation's inaugural fundraising ball on December 26, 2006, at the Foundation's inaugural fundraising ball. She didn't want to speak or sing, but her latest creation, "Cheerful Angel" (), debuted at the festival as the charity's official theme song. Although Wong did not return to her music career in 2008, she would revisit it later this year, at the second fundraising ball on December 8th. However, she performed and created an electronica-infused Diamond Sutra for the occasion. Wong and her husband visited children in Tibet who are in various stages of recovery after being treated with the charity's assistance. The foundation has raised over 35 million renminbi, with over 29.5 million from auctions during the three December fundraisers, as well as helping more than 2008 children.

The couple accepted a local girl who lost a leg trying to save her classmates from their family in May 2008 as she underwent recuperation and therapy in Beijing. A year later, the middle school student returned to her hometown, but the Liss family did not have to stop paying for her health care until she reaches her 22nd birthday and visit her at least once a year. The Smile Angel Foundation in March 2012 donated 15 million Japanese yen to ChildFund Japan to help homeless children after the 2011 Thoku earthquake and tsunami.

Smile Angel Foundation founded China's first charitable paediatric hospital in 2012. Every year, the Beijing-based hospital is set to begin operations in June and will provide free surgery to 600 children with cleft lips.

In April 2010, the China Social Sciences Press named Wong as one of China's top 13 "richest souls." In May 2013, Wong and Li ranked first on the inaugural "China Celebrity Philanthropist List," a China Philanthropist magazine survey that used a method designed to monitor a celebrity's positive impact on charitable contributions.

Faye performed four songs in a commemoration concert honoring Teresa Teng's 60th birthday, with a share of the concert proceeds going to the charity. The show, which is Wong's first song in the series, Li Bai's "," a duet with Teng that takes place 18 years before, using vocals from Teng for the first time.

Sina Weibo users discovered "veggieg (in Chinese)," on Wong's microblog in 2010 and announced a Faye Wong, who is open, chatative, and surprisingly amusing with her use of cyberwords and puns. The website had over 23 million followers as of April 2014, but it had not been online since early 2015.

Source

Life and career

Wang Fei, the daughter of a mining engineer and a pioneering music soprano, was born at Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China's Cultural Revolution. Wang Yi () is her elder brother. Wong was already involved in singing as a student and attracted the attention of several publishers. On several occasions, the school had to hide her creative pursuits from her stern mother, who saw singing as a dead end. Despite her mother's retaliation, Wong released 6 low-cost cover albums from 1985 to 1987, all in the form of cassettes, most of which were songs by her personal favorite, legendary Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng. The producer Wei Yuanqiang selected Wong Fei Collection for the last of these early recordings, in the hopes of demonstrating that he had a distinctive talent in the teen.

She migrated to Hong Kong in 1987 after being accepted to Xiamen University for college. Her father was an employee of the university. The initiative was for her to remain in the country for a year to fulfill the permanent residence requirement while also going to a university in another country. However, since Wong did not know a word of Cantonese, the word used in British colony, she felt profound loneliness. She began singing lessons with Tai See-Chung (), a Hong Kong celebrity who was also from Mainland China, and had previously trained Hong Kong superstars Anita Mui, Andy Lau, Leon Lai, and Aaron Kwok. The 19-year-old won third place in an ABU singing competition in 1988 under Tai's tutelage. Since Mainlanders were stereotyped as "backwards" in Hong Kong, it was a risky move on Chan Siu-Bo, Cinepoly's general manager.

Cinepoly requested that Wong change her "Mainland-sounding" name to Wong Jing Man, a "sophisticated" stage name. (Shirley's English name was supposed to be "Shirley") Shirley Wong's debut album in 1989 sold over 30,000 copies and helped her win bronze at the "Chik Chak New Artist Award." Two more albums (Everything and You're the Only One) were released, with others containing many cover songs from artists from the United States and Japan. Despite persistent marketing by the company, they did not sell worse than her debut album. Many in Hong Kong mistook her for "backwards," lacking personality.

In 1991, she returned to New York City for vocal research and cultural exchange, being dissatisfied with her career choice. She also missed the registration deadline for her classes in New York because it was a rushed decision.

Faye Wong explained in 1996,

Wong returned to Hong Kong and met Katie Chan, who will remain her agent for the next two decades. The new album, "Coming Home," will prominently feature on the front page of her. "Faye" means a homophone to her given Chinese name, as well as the word "Jing," a reference to her hometown Beijing.

R&B influences were mixed in the 1992 album Coming Home, which marked a change in musical direction from her earlier Cantopop farewells. "Fragile Woman," Miyuki Nakajima's cover of a Japanese song "Rouge" was written by her and sung by Naomi Chiaki, was one of her own songs at this moment. (This 1972 song, in various translations, would be a huge regional hit in Thailand, Vietnam, and even Turkey; the most popular English version, "Broken-Hearted Woman," is thanks to Wong's coverage.) "Kisses in the Wind" was also included in Coming Home, her first English-language number. In a 1994 concert, Wong said she loved this song after it appeared on several websites as her personal favorite; however, in a 1998 CNN interview, she refused to name one favorite song, saying that there were too many, and that she no longer liked her old songs.

The front page of Coming Home prominently shows the word "Faye" and from there onwards, she renamed her stage name to "Wang Fei" (). She appeared on televisionB shows like File of Justice II (II) and Legendary Ranger (1996).

She wrote the Mandarin lyrics for her ballad "No Regrets" in 1993, which has prompted many to praise her as a natural lyricist. It became the title track to her album No Regrets in February. The title ballad's Mandarin version, as well as a Cantonese version (lyrics by Chen Shao Qi) has soft contemporary figures, a few dance tracks, and two versions of the title ballad: Wong's Mandarin version and a Cantonese version.

100,000 Whys (September 1993) showed significant alternative music influences from the West, including the hit song "Cold War" (), a Tori Amos cover of "Silent All These Years" ().

Faye has named Cocteau Twins, a Scottish post-punk band, among her favorite bands, and their presence on her forthcoming Cantonese album, Random Thoughts (). "Dreams" by her Cantonese version was included in Wong Kar-wai's film "Chungking Express" and has maintained its fame. Wong's other interests include reporting songs and learning distinctive vocal styles, as well as her debut and only spoken-word song "Exit" (), which expresses some of her skepticism about the future.

Wong released two other Cantonese albums in Mandarin, including two in 1994, Mysterious () and Sky (). "I'm Willing" () in Mystery became her trademark hit in the Mandarin-speaking world for years, and by other singers such as Gigi Leung, Sammi Cheng, and Jay Chou, she has been chronicled in the Mandarin-speaking world for years. Fans of Sky as a fruitful blend of artistic experimentation and commercialism.

Although her hits in Hong Kong were clearly different, her two Mandarin albums were more lyrical and traditional. Ming-huang, a Taiwanese company, is generally praised for their success.

Faye Wong, the most recognizable female Hong Kong singer in the mid-1990s, has four best-selling albums in Cantonese and Mandarin, a record-breaking 18 consecutive concerts in Hong Kong, as well as a widely distributed film (Chungking Express). In the meantime, her distaste for the profit-oriented HK entertainment industry became more apparent. She was always in touch with Beijing's rock circle. When asked personal questions by the HK media, she would sometimes give terse, direct, and occasionally unexpected answers.

She released Decadent Sounds of Faye (1996), a tribute album of songs first recorded by her idol Teresa Teng, one of the twentieth century's most influential Chinese singers of the twentieth century. On the album, a duet with Teng was planned, but unfortunately she died before it could be recorded. Despite initial critical feedback, Decadent Sounds was a success, and has been praised as an example of inventive coverage by new critics.

Faye Wong and her then-to-be husband and rock music icon Dou Wei were the winners and runners-up to the 1995 MTV International Viewer's Choice Award, winning first and second place respectively with the music videos "Chess" and "Black Dream."

In December, she released her Cantonese album Di-Dar, which blends an alternative yodelling style with a touch of Indian and Middle Eastern flavors. This album was a hit, partially because it was so different from mainstream Cantopop, but—ironically—a couple of very traditional romantic songs topped the charts.

Fuzao (), which many would describe as her most artistically cohesive attempt to date, was released in 1996. Restless or Impatience is usually translated as Restless or Impatience. Wong's last album with Cinepoly was a disappointment, and she felt she could take greater artistic risks. The album features mainly her own compositions, with an aesthetic inspired by the Cocteau Twins' "Fracture" () and "Repressing Happiness" (). She had a remote working relationship with them even before laying down vocals for a special duet version of "Serpentskirt" on the Asian launch of the group's 1996 album, Milk And Kisses.

Although the album was Wong's personal favorite, Hong Kong and Taiwan's response were less supportive. Many fans who loved her previous three Mandarin albums returned to Restless, accusing them of being too young and self-absorbed. There were few ballads that were radio-friendly, and others became dissatisfied with Faye's experimental style of recording. However, hardcore followers, known as Fayenatics, adored the album, and it became a cult hit. Since being unable to perform a single artistic piece, Wong hasn't released another completely unique collection. Wong became the second Chinese artist (after Gong Li) and the first Chinese artist to be featured on Time's cover.

Each year, Cinepoly released an EP of Wong's songs: Like Wind (1996), Faye Disc (), and One Person, Two Roles (). Lin Xi, lyricist Lin Xi (1996) and other writers, such as Wong Ka Keung, Adrian Chan, and Chan Xiao Xia, recorded ten original songs in Cantonese between 1996-97, including lyricist Lin Xi () and other writers, including Wong Ka Keung, Adrian Chan and Chan Xia before she departed from Cinepoly. The company issued eight of these songs in the two subsequent EPs entitled Toy () and Helping Yourself (), after her Cinepoly contract came to an end. Although the EPs contained new songs—ballad hits such as "Undercurrent" (), "Date" (), and "On Time" ()—and were welcomed by fans, they received lukewarm critical responses. The other two songs were released in later compilations; the last to be released was "Scary" () in 2002.

After her first daughter was born, Wong signed for EMI in 1997, a deal worth HK$60 million (approx.) In five albums, the US$7.7 million) will have five songs. Although most of her previous albums were recorded in Cantonese, Wong has now sung almost exclusively in Mandarin, her mother tongue, though she has released Cantonese versions of a few songs in each of her last four albums with EMI to please her Hong Kong audience. Wong said she wanted to make "music that I love" after going through a period of experimentation. I don't care if others don't, but I would be thrilled if they did."

Faye Wong (), her first album with EMI, was released in autumn 1997. Critics are anticipating another artistic breakthrough after 1996's Restlessness, which led to their surprise—much to their surprise—a much more subtle and commercially oriented musical album. The Cocteau Twins' Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie produced two original compositions for the album, but only one, "The Amusement Park," was used. This issue featured an acoustic version of the Cocteau Twins' "Rilkean Heart," which was renamed "Nostalgia" ().

The album is brimming with feelings of lethargy, languor, and abandonment, yet the majority of the tracks sound both warm and sweet, as opposed to those that are more focused on herself before her motherhood. Reporters noticed that she started smiling more often in public and that she wasn't as icy or aloof as before. The album was mainly released during the Asian financial crisis that swept East and Southeast Asia. Cinepoly, the Wong family's oldest company that holds copyright on her previous releases, released a Mandarin compilation in 1997 to promote her new EMI album (and actually outperformed it). Cinepoly will produce two compilations per year to contend with Faye's new launches later this year, a tactic that has come under fire from her international followers. Faye Wong did not do well in Hong Kong, but it did well in Taiwan and mainland China. Although Wong's four previous Mandarin albums, it was really this sweet yet marginally different album that had the Mainland Chinese audience tuning in. Her name began to rise in Asia.

Na Ying, a 1997 singer, signed with EMI and formed a long friendship with Wong. Na had been a regular at the annual CCTV New Year's Gala, the country's most coveted television show, and she had invited Wong to perform a duet with her on the upcoming show in 1998. The "Let's Meet in 1998" and "Hong Kong Diva" as a result of the instant success and arguably the most popular song in Mainland China this year. In late 1998, Wong performed her first concert in her native Mainland China, continuing her tour in 9 cities thanks to this exposure.

Sing and Play () was released in October and featured four songs by Faye: "Emotional Life," "Face," "A Little Clever," and "Tong" (both written for her daughter, with the latter produced by Dou Wei). "Give Up Halfway," (sung both in Mandarin and Cantonese), one of the album's most commercially lucrative tracks, as well as "Red Bean" () was among the album's most popular ballads.

In 1999, it was the best-selling Chinese album in Singapore. Faye Wong three albums in the Singapore top ten selling Chinese albums of 1999, alongside Lovers & Strangers and the compilation album Wishing We Last Forever, making her one of Singapore's top ten best selling Chinese albums of 1999.

The album's first three months after its debut in Japan, it was sold close to 90,000 copies.

Final Fantasy VIII was released in Japan in February 1999, for which Faye Wong sang "Eyes on Me" in English. It was the first time a Japanese video game featured a Chinese singer as its theme. At the 14th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards, the "Eyes on Me" single sold over 335,620 copies in Japan and 500,000 worldwide, making it the best-selling video game music disc to date, as well as winning "Song of the Year (Western Music)" at the 14th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards. The theme song became extremely popular in North America later this year, although Wong's lack of interest in these markets meant she gained many new followers who were not familiar with her music at the time.

She appeared at two concerts in Nippon Budokan in March, with tickets for the first show on 11 March sold out in a single day and a second show added on March 12th; she was the first Chinese singer to perform in that venue. Pepsi-Cola had made Wong a spokesperson, and after those concerts, Pepsi-Cola shot the promotional music video for "Spectacular" (), which Pepsi used in commercials.

Lovers & Strangers () was released in late September and has sold over 800,000 copies, including Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia. This was her first album after she divorced from her husband Dou Wei and her first without any musical relations with him since their friendship began. In Sylvester Stallone's remake of Get Carter, the title track was included. In October, Wong became a spokesperson for JPhone, appearing in numerous commercials that aired in Japan.

In addition,, she started filming for 2046 in August, a venture that she'll continue to film on and off over the next few years as her schedule permitted.

With the release of the album Fable, Wong's musical career came to a halt (). The album's main feature is its segregated and identifiable halves —songs in the first half of the album's running in a virtually continuous manner and in a manner similar to a song cycle — and the second half of discrete, chart-friendly figures. The album itself derives its artistic merits from the first half, which is known for its unique thematic and continuous sequence of songs that has never been seen in China's music industry. The theme itself is ambiguous and the lyrics are open to many interpretations, but it is also true that the Fable motif is the primary thematic reference, derived from the prince and princess's motivic elements in fables and fairytales of European origins. Elements of spirituality, metaphysics, and Buddhism feature prominently in the lyrics, as well as Lin Xi's, who has since been proclaimed Faye's lyricist par excellence. The arrangements display influences of drum and bass, experimentala, east-west collage, and lush string orchestral infusions.

During this year, she appeared in many Chinese and Taiwanesi productions, as well as the Pepsi promotional duet and music video of "Galaxy Unlimited" with Aaron Kwok, the filming of Okinawa Rendezvous.

Faye had formed a strong relationship with producer/musician Zhang Yadong () and lyricist Lin Xi (), which was often described by the Hong Kong crowd as the 'iron triangle.' However, Faye decided to treat this last album with EMI as an experiment in which she will collaborate with new producers/lyricists and see what their vision of her will be like.

However, the public and critics alike were lukewarm at best. Faye herself admitted that she was not completely satisfied with any of her albums, particularly those created by Taiwan 'father of rock' Wu Bai, which had a industrial electronica style reminiscent of Karen Mok's 'Golden Flower' album. She cited two folk-style songs by Singaporean singer-songwriter Tanya Chua as her top picks on her album. Vertigo (), a ballad penned by former love Nicholas Tse, was the song that sparked most of the press's chatter. Faye Wong () ranked 14th on the Japan Oricon charts.

She appeared in the ensemble film 2046, which had been in production since 1999 and then ended in 2004. She was under contract with EMI and later Sony. She appeared at fund-raising concerts to help many charities, including ones that supported those who were battling AIDS and SARS. She appeared on tracks with other celebrities, including Tony Leung, Anita Mui, and Aaron Kwok. She appeared in another Japanese television serial called Usokoi and Leon Lai's film Leaving Me Loving You.

"Separate Ways," Usokoi's theme song, was released as a single (another being "Valentine's Radio"). She recorded several other solo non-album albums, including the eponymous hit theme song to Hero and a Buddhist song with similar sounds to some of her album Fu Zao's. In addition, she recited the Heart Sutra. In the meantime, her former record companies continued to produce new compilations and boxed sets of her music.

She has released 13 songs on her Sony album To Love (), which was released in November 2003, ten in Mandarin and three in Cantonese. "To Love" (), "Leave Everything"), "Sunshine Dearest" (), and "April Snow" () were written by the author. "The Name of Love" by Lin Xi, a Cantonese song, was banned in certain regions, such as mainland China, because the lyrics referenced opium. She said she preferred the Mandarin version of the song (the title track); she had penned these lyrics herself, and there was no mention of drugs in the story. She also performed "Passenger" (), a cover of Sophie Zelmani's "Going Home." Both financially and critically, the album became more popular than her previous self-titled album. She appeared on stage for more than a year after that time.

At the sixth CCTV-MTV Music Awards, Faye Wong was named pan-Asian female artist of the year. She was named Best Female Artist at the 2004 Golden Melody Awards after being nominated numerous times. Her acceptance speech, in which she boasted that "I've heard that I can sing, so I will also confirm this panel's decision," was in some local Taiwanese media.

Faye Wong, the usually reticent, left a note at her last concert on her tour in January 2005, "I hope you all forget about me." Wong's agent Katie Chan () confirmed to the world that she was "resting indefinitely" in May 2005. Li Yapeng, a two-month actress, was born in the next year and their daughter was born in the following year.

Faye Wong did not return, rejecting Live Nation's offer of 100 million HKD, and even refusing the 3 million-yuan bid for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony on her birthday, attracting over 63% of the tens of millions of votes cast in a CCTV online poll, with over 63% of the tens of millions of votes cast. Liu Huan was given the award eventually. (This was the final attempt.) She did, however, perform for causes she genuinely cared for: in May 2008, she sang "Wishing We Last Forever" at a CCTV fundraising event for Sichuan earthquake victims, and "Heart Sutra" in May 2009 at a Buddhist ceremony at the Famen Temple.

In May 2009, Wong appeared in an ad for "Royal Wind" shampoo, igniting rumors that it would be the first step in her comeback.

Universal Music released a set of 3 CDs and 1 DVD in June 2009, and it was extremely popular in the neighborhood.

Faye Wong made an extensive concert tour in recent years, but the music market is still relatively inactive. She hasn't confirmed that she has any plans to produce more studio albums, though she has had occasional launches of a few singles. She does not attend music awards, and she was not involved in the promotion of her comeback concert tour, which was held in a number of cities around Asia from October 2010 to June 2012.

Buddhism, charity, and her own family are her top concerns.

She was clearly marked in February 2010, when she appeared at the CCTV New Year's Gala watched by over 700 million viewers, reporting Li Jian's ballad "Legend." She first announced a series of comeback concerts, five in Beijing and five in Shanghai, starting from 29 October 2010, namely 5 in Beijing and 5 in Shanghai. She has announced that more concerts will be held in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore to satisfy high overseas market demand. The tour started in October 2010 and ended in June 2012.

Despite her long absence, the demand for mainland China's computers was so strong that it crashed in just ten days, and 90 percent of the tickets were sold within two hours after being restored. The tale in Hong Kong repeated itself, with 93% of the tickets sold in a single morning and two ticketing phone lines added to the existing three to deal with the burgeoning demand.

On the 30th of December 2016, "Faye's Moments Live 2016" was a concert that was held in Shanghai's 8,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Cultural Centre. Fans of the Tencent Video website were able to watch a free live webcast of the concert.

Source