Faye Wong | Artist

Xia Lin aka Faye Wong is a Chinese singer-songwriter born 1969 in Dongcheng, Beijing. Often dubbed the "Diva of Asia", Wong is one of the biggest names in the Chinese-speaking world. In the West, she is perhaps best known for starring in Wong Kar-wai's films Chungking Express (1994) and 2046 (2004). Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong at the age of 18. She debuted as a singer with the Cantonese album Shirley Wong in 1989 and achieved her breakthrough with the Cantopop song "Fragile Woman" in 1992. She established her style by blending alternative music with Chinese pop, and since the late 1990s has recorded primarily in her native Mandarin. Starting out, she adopted her mother's maiden name. Due to her paternal grandfather's role as a congressman, the Wang side of the family was persecuted during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. After the turmoil ended, her name was changed to Wang Fei. She recorded several low-budget albums, consisting mostly of covers during her high school years. In 1987, she moved with her family to Hong Kong, not being able to speak a word of Cantonese at the time, and began her musical career after a brief stint as a model. She signed a record contract and released three studio albums under the name "Shirley Wong Ching-Man". While they included original material, the biggest hits ended up being covers of songs from American and Japanese artists. As a result, these albums attracted little attention and a lukewarm response from critics. Frustrated with her career direction, she travelled to New York City for vocal studies and cultural exchange, which benefited her artistic development. After returning to Hong Kong, she hit the spotlight with her 1992 album Coming Home, which featured the name Peta Faye Wong Ching-Man instead of Shirley. The song "Fragile Woman", originally composed by the Japanese singer-songwriter Miyuki Nakajima and sung by Naomi Chiaki, became a #1 radio hit, Song of the Year at several musical awards, and finally lifted her to HK stardom. Wong's discography includes 27 studio albums plus many more live albums, compilations and singles. Standout albums include Fúzào (Restless) (1996), Chàngyóu (Enjoy) (1998), Zhǐ ài mòshēng rén (Only Love Strangers) (1999), Yùyán (Fable) (2000), and Jiāng ài (To Love) (2003). In 1996 Wong married Dou Wei, a Chinese musician who rose to prominence as frontman of the rock band Black Panther and became a leading figure in Chinese rock music during the 1990s. Upon her second marriage in 2005, she withdrew from the limelight and moved back to Beijing. In 2000, Wong was recognised by Guinness World Records as the best selling Cantopop female artist, having sold an estimated 9.7 million copies of her albums by March 2000. In 2009, she was voted the second most influential Chinese celebrity of the past 60 years, after Teresa Teng.

Artist Website: wikipedia/Faye_Wong

Featured Albums: Faye Wong

Related Artists: Dou Wei, Shirley Wong