Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Dubbed the "God of Songs", he is the best-selling music artist of all time in Taiwan and Hong Kong, with sales of over 60 million records worldwide. His first album Smile (1985) sold over 300,000 copies in Hong Kong and his second album Amour (1986) sold over 400,000 copies, earning a multi-platinum certification from IFPI Hong Kong. After a period of declining sales in the late 1980s, The Goodbye Kiss (1993) sold over 4,000,000 copies, becoming one of the best-selling albums in Asia. In 1995, his albums sales exceeded 5,000,000 copies, making him the second highest-selling artist in the world that year, behind Michael Jackson. Cheung has embarked on ten concert tours, with the 1/2 Century World Tour (2010–2012) setting a Guinness World Record for the largest audience for a live act in twelve months. A Classic Tour (2016–2019) became one of the most-attended concert tours of all time, drawing over 4.5 million people. His accolades include the Billboard Music Award for Most Popular Asian Singer in 1994, and the World Music Award for the World's Best-Selling Asian Artist in 1996. In 1999, Cheung was honored by Junior Chamber International as one of the Ten Outstanding Young People in the World. In 2000, he was inducted into the Superstars Hall of Fame of the 1990s by Universal Music. Cheung is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop.
As an actor, Cheung starred in films such as Devoted to You (1986), Where's Officer Tuba? (1986), As Tears Go By (1988), and The Swordsman (1990).
Early life Cheung was born and grew up in Quarry Bay in the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island. His father is from Tianjin and his mother is from Shanghai.Big5.cri.cn. "CRIonline ." 五好男人張學友. Retrieved on 12 April 2009. As a child, he lived with his parents and two siblings in a 100 square feet apartment which they simultaneously shared with at least fifteen other relatives. He attended North Point Government Primary School from 1967 to 1973, and graduated from Literary College in 1978.
In 2007, Cheung revealed that the paternal side of his family are mostly seamen, including his father, paternal cousin, and older brother. His first language is Cantonese, but he also speaks Mandarin and basic English. He sings Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and modern English pop songs. Cheung is known for his rich baritone voice,Time.com. "Time.com." Cantopop kingdom. Retrieved on 12 April 2009. but also his dramatic vibrato by rapidly moving his pronounced Adam's Apple.
Musical career
1985–1992: Career beginnings and early breakthrough Cheung originally started working as a reservation officer for the airline Cathay Pacific. His music career started when he won the Amateur 18-Hong Kong district singing contest in 1984 with the song "Fatherland" () by Michael Kwan.Sina.com. "Sina.com ." 资料：张学友--永恒的歌神 不朽的传奇. Retrieved on 12 April 2009. He outcompeted more than 10,000 other contestants. After winning the contest, he was signed by the then Polygram Records, now Universal Music Group. Although encouraged by a bright start, he did not achieve immediate supremacy in Cantopop, then dominated by Leslie Cheung, Alan Tam, Anita Mui and Danny Chan. In 1985, he won his first two major awards together with the 1985 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards and the 1985 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards.TVB. "TVB ." JSG 1985 TVB. Retrieved on 13 April 2009.RTHK. "RTHK ." RTHK 1985 TVB. Retrieved on 13 April 2009. From 1985 to 1998, he won the Top 10 Songs award from Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards every year, except in 1988.
In 1991, he released the song "Loving You More Every Day" (), a translated version of the Japanese Southern All Stars hit "Midsummer's Fruit" (). The album True Love Expression () in 1992, as well as the subsequent release, Love Sparks () in 1992, achieved sales of over 400,000 copies in Hong Kong alone.Anhui news. "Anhui news ." 歌神張學友明日42歲 希望自己唱到80歲. Retrieved on 1 May 2009.
1993–1998: Commercial success and on-stage musical His subsequent albums included 1993 Me and You () and 1994 Born to be Wild (). In 1994, Billboard Music Awards named him the most popular singer in Asia.Changsha digital online. "Csonline.com.cn." Jacky Cheung to visit Beijing fans. Retrieved on 1 May 2009. He received numerous music awards both in Hong Kong and elsewhere, including the best-selling Asian artist in the World Music Awards for two consecutive years in 1995 and 1996 held at Monaco.Universal music. "Umusic ." Jacky Cheung extends long relationship with Universal Music. Retrieved on 1 May 2009.
Amongst his hit songs, some of his most famous were "Amour", "Just want to spend my life with you" () and "Goodbye Kiss" (). The 1993 album The Goodbye Kiss () is one of the best-selling Chinese music albums of all time, achieving more sales in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia than ever attained before. More than 4 million copies of the album were sold in 1993, making him one of PolyGram's top 10 artists worldwide that year. It made him the first singer with non-Taiwanese citizenship to win Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards. The album was also instrumental in helping Cheung break into the mandopop market. Due to these great songs and albums, Cheung is generally considered to be the pre-eminent member of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop. He is regarded by some sources as the best singer of the four.People.com.cn. "People.com.cn ." 《東邪西毒》一個時代 他們不再年輕卻風華絕代. Retrieved on 1 May 2009.
In 1995, Cheung staged his record-breaking 100-show world tour titled "Yau Hok Yau" (), literally a pun of "friendship Jacky Cheung" reusing the same Chinese characters found in his name.Sina.com.tw. "Sina.com.tw ." 專輯：張學友《學友光年世界巡回演唱會07》. Retrieved on 1 May 2009. The tour started with 34 shows from 8 April to 9 June at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Then the tour continued in Perth and Brisbane, Australia and returned to Taipei and mainland China.Hangzhou.com.cn. "China Hangzhou.com." 1991–1999张学友演唱会纪录. Retrieved on 1 May 2009. It then expanded to Madison Square GardenNew York Times. "So Sweet, So Smooth, Such a King of Canto-Pop ." Retrieved on 22 April 2011. in the US, different parts of Europe, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Japan. In 1997, Cheung was named best-selling Chinese singer in the world by Time, which reported record sales of more than 25 million worldwide.
In 1997, his work on the groundbreaking Cantonese Broadway-style musical Snow.Wolf.Lake was enthusiastically received by both audiences and critics.Xinhuanet. "Xinhuanet." 四大天王 蓦然回首十五年. Cheung not only played the male lead, he was also the artistic director for this production. The first female leads were played by Sandy Lam in Hong Kong and Nadia Chan in Singapore. Kit Chan played the second female lead. They achieved 42 consecutive full-house performances at the gigantic Hung Hom Hong Kong Coliseum which remains the record today.Gofuntaiwan.net. "Gofuntaiwan.net ." 華人最大型經典音樂劇－ (雪狼湖). Retrieved on 12 April 2009. In November 2004, Cheung 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 female leads this time were Evonne Hsu and Nadia Chan respectively. The market budget alone exceeded HK$15 million. The estimated budget for this revised production was HK$100 million and the show premiered on 24 December 2004 in Beijing.Xinhuanet. "Xinhuanet." 揭開《雪狼湖》票房收入之謎 Retrieved on 12 April 2009.
1999–2008: Widespread recognition In 1999, he was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World by JCI (Junior Chamber International), a worldwide federation of young professionals and entrepreneurs. In 2000 he was awarded the Golden Needle Award by RTHK.RTHK. "RTHK.org ." 2000 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. Retrieved on 12 April 2009. This award, the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award, recognised outstanding contributions to the music industry. He expressed his astonishment upon receiving the award, as he was the least experienced living recipient at only 16 years, and this award was awarded to singers, producers and lyricists that are late in their careers or are semi-retired, in which he was not, but to quash any negative publicity, he clarified that according to his research, there was no stipulation of this sort.
In 2004, Cheung released Life Is Like A Dream, an album in which Jacky co-produced with long-time collaborative partner Michael Au, and Jacky composed the melody for all songs, and penned the lyrics for 3 of the songs.
Cheung won the Best Selling Cantonese Album Award at the Hong Kong IFPI Awards in 2005 with his live album, Jacky Live Performance, which he took in person for the first time in years. This is despite poor ticket sales for the reason that the concert was meant to be a one-night-only charity concert in nature, and Jacky attempted to sing a song by other artists for the first time. In the fast-changing scene of canto-pop, Cheung has maintained his popularity and sales power for more than 20 years after his debut, which is very difficult in Hong Kong pop music.
In 2007, Cheung staged his Year of Jacky Cheung World Tour 2007. The tour started on 18 February 2007 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. When the tour ended in Hong Kong on 3 February 2008 after touring 58 cities around the world, a total of 105 shows had been given, attracting more than 2 million fans. 105 became the highest number of shows in a tour by a Chinese artist, breaking the previous record of 100, which was also set by Cheung previously.Hollywoodindustry.dig. "Hollywoodindustry.digitalmedianet.com ." Hard Rock International World's First Chinese Memorabilia Displayed at City of Dreams. Retrieved on 12 April 2009. In that same year, he also released a Mandopop album, By Your Side, in which he was the sole executive producer of the album for the first time after Michael Au suddenly left to further his career in Beijing.
2009–2017: Touring and jazz efforts In 2009, Cheung recorded Private Corner, his first jazz album for which he coined the phrase "Canto-jazz". The album was produced by Andrew Tuason. "Everyday Is Christmas", "Which Way, Robert Frost?", "Let It Go", "Lucky in Love" and "Double Trouble" were co-written by Roxanne Seeman in collaboration with Tuason, tailor-made for Cheung. "Lucky in Love" is the end-credit song of "Crossing Hennessy", Hong Kong movie starring Jacky Cheung and Tang Wei, produced by Bill Kong. Nokia's music download service website (Ovi.com) announced that "Everyday Is Christmas" was the 10th most downloaded Christmas song in the world in 2010, joining classic hits such as Wham's "Last Christmas" and Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You". Cheung is the only Chinese language singer to make it into the Top Ten.
In 2010, Cheung started his Jacky Cheung 1/2 Century World Tour. This tour started on 30 December 2010 at Shanghai, and ended in Hong Kong on 30 May 2012. For 1 year and 5 months, his tour included 5 countries 77 cities, overall 146 shows, more than 2,800,000 audiences. 146 became the highest number of shows in a one tour by Chinese artist. Previous record of 105 was also made by Jacky Cheung on his 2007–2008 World Tour. Both 2007 and 2010 World tour was led by Andrew Tuason as Cheung's Musical Director. At the beginning of that year, he also attempted new musical styles. His new album, Private Corner, became his first ever Jazz album in Cantopop history, it also featured other non-mainstream Cantopop styles such as strings quartet, Waltz and Hymn. The special edition also featured a special glass-CD, also a first in Chinese pop history. "Double Trouble" from Private Corner was a featured produced number in the Jacky Cheung 1/2 Century World Tour.