Faye Wong
Encyclopedia
Faye Wong (born August 8, 1969) is a highly successful and influential Chinese
singer-songwriter
and actress who is usually referred to as a diva
. Early in her career she briefly used the stage name
Shirley Wong (王靖雯). Born in Beijing
, she moved to Hong Kong
in 1987 and rose to stardom in the early 1990s by singing ballads in Cantonese
. Since 1995 she has recorded mostly in her native Mandarin, often combining alternative music with mainstream Chinese pop
. In 2000 she was recognized by Guinness World Records
as the Best Selling Canto-Pop Female. Following her second marriage in 2005 she withdrew from the limelight, but returned to the stage in 2010 amidst immense interest in the Sinosphere
.
Although her music is quite individualized, Faye Wong is famously reserved in public, and has become a cultural icon
of "coolness
". Hugely popular in Mainland China
, Taiwan
, Hong Kong
, Singapore
and Malaysia, she has also gained a large following in Japan
and is to date the only C-pop
female artist to have performed in Tokyo
's Budokan
. In the West
she is best known for starring in Wong Kar-wai
's films Chungking Express
(for which she won an award in Sweden
) and 2046
. While she has collaborated with international artists such as Cocteau Twins
, Wong recorded only a few songs in English
, the most famous being "Eyes on Me
" – the theme song of the video game Final Fantasy VIII
.
, Wong Fei was born in Beijing
in the midst of China
's Cultural Revolution
. She also has an elder brother named Wang Yi (王弋). As a student, Wong already displayed great singing talents and attracted interest from several publishers. On occasions, the school had to hide her artistic activities from her strict mother, who as a professional saw singing as a dead-end career. Despite her mother's opposition, Wong released 6 low-cost cover albums from 1985 to 1987 while still in high school
, all in the form of cassettes
, mostly consisting of songs by her personal idol, Taiwan
's Teresa Teng
. For the last of these early recordings, the producer Wei Yuanqiang chose the title Wong Fei Collection, intending to show that he recognized a distinctive talent in the teenager.
In 1987, after being accepted to college, she immigrated to British Hong Kong
to join her father, who had been working there for a few years. The plan was for her to stay there for a year to fulfill the permanent residency requirement, and go to a university abroad thereafter. However, as Wong knew no Cantonese language, she experienced great loneliness. Following a brief modeling stint, she began singing lessons with Tai See-Chung, who was also from Mainland China
and had previously tutored Hong Kong superstars Anita Mui
, Andy Lau
, Leon Lai
and Aaron Kwok
. Under Tai's tutelage, the 19-year-old signed with Cinepoly Records
after winning third place in an ABU
singing contest in 1988. It was a risky move on the part of Chan Siu-Bo, Cinepoly's General Manager, since Mainlanders
were stereotyped to be "backwards" in Hong Kong.
As a result, Cinepoly asked Wong to change her "Mainland-sounding" name to a "sophisticated" stage name
Wong Jing Man. (Her English name was to be "Shirley".) In 1989, her debut album Shirley Wong
was a surprising success, selling over 30,000 copies and helped her won bronze at the "Chik Chak New Artist Award". Two more albums (Everything
and You're the Only One
) followed, similarly featuring many cover songs by artists from the US and Japan
. However, they sold worse than her debut album, despite relentless promotions by the company. Many in Hong Kong perceived her to be "backwards", lacking personality.
Frustrated with her career decision, she made a surprise move in 1991 by deciding to travel to New York City
for vocal studies and cultural exchange. The media was shocked; in the ultra-competitive Canto-pop scene, taking time off was equivalent to career suicide especially for a young start-up like her. Because it was a hurried decision, she also ended up missing the registration deadline for her classes in New York. However, the brief hiatus would prove to be critical for her later artistic development, as in America she re-discovered herself. Wong returned to Hong Kong and found a new agent in Katie Chan, who would remain her agent for the next 2 decades. The next album would prominently feature on the cover the English name "Faye", a homophone
to her given Chinese name. The "Shirley" Cinepoly tried to carve her into was history.
incorporated R&B influences and was a drastic change in musical direction from the more traditional Cantopop
fare of her earlier albums. But the song that lifted her into superstardom was titled "Fragile Woman", a cover of a Japanese song "Rouge" originally composed by the Miyuki Nakajima
and sung by Naomi Chiaki
. It became the No.1 hit on almost all local radio stations and won Song of the Year at several musical awards. (Thanks to Wong's cover, this 1972 song–in different language versions–would in the early 1990s become a huge regional hit in Thailand
, Vietnam
and the rest of Southeast Asia
and even Turkey
; the most popular English version was titled "Broken-Hearted Woman".) Coming Home also included her first English-language number, "Kisses in the Wind". Wong stated in a 1994 concert that she very much liked this song, after which various websites listed it as her personal favourite; however, in a 1998 CNN interview she declined to name one favourite song, saying that there were too many, and in 2003 she stated that she no longer liked her old songs.
The cover for Coming Home prominently shows the name "Faye", and from then on she changed her stage name back to "Wong Fei" . In 1992–93 she also starred in TVB shows such as Files of Justice II (壹號皇庭II) and Legendary Ranger (原振俠).
In 1993, she wrote the Mandarin lyrics for her ballad "No Regrets" (執迷不悔) which led many to praise her as a gifted lyricist. In February, it became the title track to her album No Regrets
. No Regrets features soft contemporary numbers, a few dance tracks and two versions of the title ballad: Wong's Mandarin version, and a Cantonese version (lyrics by Chen Shao Qi).
.
Faye has named the Scottish
post-punk group Cocteau Twins
among her favourite bands, and their influence was clear on her next Cantonese album, Random Thoughts
(胡思亂想). Her Cantonese version of The Cranberries
' "Dreams
" was featured in Wong Kar-wai
's film Chungking Express
, and gained lasting popularity. Besides covering songs and learning distinctive vocal techniques, Wong recorded her own compositions "Pledge" (誓言), co-written with ex-husband Dou Wei
, and her first and only spoken-word song "Exit" (出路), which expresses some of her pessimism about the future.
, Mystery (迷) and Sky (天空). The runaway hit "I'm Willing" (我願意) in Mystery became her trademark hit in the Mandarin-speaking communities for years, and has been covered by other singers such as Gigi Leung
, Sammi Cheng
and Jay Chou
. Sky was seen by fans as a successful amalgam of artistic experimentation and commercialism.
While her hits in Hong Kong were noticeably alternative, her two Mandarin albums were more lyrical and traditional. Critics generally credit Taiwanese producer Yang Ming-huang for their success.
Four best-selling albums in Cantonese and Mandarin, a record-breaking 18 consecutive concerts in Hong Kong, and a widely acclaimed film (Chungking Express) made Faye Wong the most eminent female Hong Kong singer in the mid-1990s. Meanwhile, her distaste for the profit-oriented HK entertainment industry became more and more apparent. She was frequently in touch with the rock
circle in Beijing
. Given her somewhat reticent and nonchalant personality, she would sometimes give terse, direct, and somewhat unexpected answers when asked personal questions by the HK media.
In 1995, she released Decadent Sounds of Faye (菲靡靡之音), a cover album of songs originally recorded by her idol Teresa Teng
, one of the most revered Chinese singers of the 20th century. A duet with Teng was planned for the album, but unfortunately she died before this could be recorded. Decadent Sounds sold well despite initial negative criticism, and has come to be recognised as an example of imaginative covering by recent critics.
In December, she released her Cantonese album Di-Dar
which mixes an alternative yodelling style with a touch of Indian
and Middle Eastern
flavor. This album was a success, partly because it was so different from the mainstream Cantopop
music, but—ironically—a couple of very traditional romantic songs topped the charts.
(浮躁), usually translated as Restless or Impatience. This was her last album with Cinepoly, and Wong felt she could take more artistic risks. The album contains mainly her own compositions, with an aesthetic inspired by the Cocteau Twins
, who penned two original songs for the album, "Fracture" (分裂) and "Repressing Happiness" (掃興). As Wong had covered their work in 1994, she had established a remote working relationship with them—even laying down vocals for a special duet version of "Serpentskirt" on the Asian release of the group's 1996 album, Milk And Kisses
.
Although the album was Wong's personal favorite, the response from Hong Kong and Taiwan was less supportive. Many fans who enjoyed her previous three Mandarin albums turned their back on Restless, which they considered to be too alternative and self-absorbed. There were few ballads which were radio-friendly—had Faye taken her experimentations too far? However, hardcore fans, known as Fayenatics, adored the album and it became a cult hit. Wong has not released another fully artistic album since. After the release, Wong became the second Chinese artist (after Gong Li
)—and the first Chinese singer—to be featured on the cover of TIME
magazine.
From 1993 to 1995, Cinepoly released an EP
of Wong's songs each year: Like Wind (如風), Faye Disc (菲碟), and One Person, Two Roles (一人分飾兩角). Then in 1996–97, she recorded ten original songs in Cantonese all written by lyricist Lin Xi (林夕)
and various composers, such as Wong Ka Keung
, Adrian Chan, and Chan Xiao Xia, before her departure from Cinepoly. After her contract with Cinepoly expired, the company released eight of these songs in the two subsequent EPs entitled Toy (玩具) and Helping Yourself (自便). Although the EPs contained new songs—ballad hits like "Undercurrent" (暗湧), "Date" (約定), and "On Time" (守時)—and were welcomed by fans, they received lukewarm critical responses. The other two songs were included in later compilations; the last to be released was "Scary" (心驚膽顫) in 2002.
in 1997 after her first daughter was born, in a contract worth 60 million Hong Kong dollar
s (approx. 7.7 million US dollars), to release 55 songs in 5 albums. While most of her earlier albums were sung in Cantonese
, Wong has since sung almost exclusively in Mandarin, her mother tongue, although she recorded Cantonese versions of a couple of songs in each of her last four albums with EMI to please her Hong Kong audience. Having gone through a period of experimentation, Wong stated that she wished to make "music that I like. I do not care if others don't, though I would be delighted if they do".
Her first album with EMI was Faye Wong (1997) (王菲), released in autumn 1997. Critics expecting another artistic breakthrough after 1996's Restlessness found – much to their dismay – a much more inoffensive and commercially oriented musical album. Simon Raymonde
and Robin Guthrie
of the Cocteau Twins wrote two original compositions for the album, but only one, "The Amusement Park" (娛樂場), was used. This release included an acoustic cover of the Cocteau Twins' "Rilkean Heart", renamed "Nostalgia" (懷念).
This album is filled with feelings of lethargy, languor and disengagement, yet most of the tracks sound warm and sweet, as opposed to those piquant self-centered ones before her motherhood. Reporters noticed that she began to smile more often in public and was not as icy or aloof as before. However, the album was released during the Asian financial crisis which swept East
and Southeast Asia
. Wong's old company Cinepoly, which retains the copyright on her previous records, released a Mandarin compilation at the same time in 1997 to counteract her new EMI album (and indeed outperformed it). Later, Cinepoly would release two compilations each year to compete with Faye's new releases, a tactic which has come under fire from her international fans. Faye Wong did not sell well in Hong Kong, but did quite well in Taiwan and mainland China. Although Wong had garnered some popularity with her 4 previous Mandarin albums, it was really this sweet yet slightly alternative album which had the Mainland Chinese audience listening. Her profile began to rise sharply in Asia.
signed with EMI
and struck a lasting friendship with Wong. Na had been a regular at the annual CCTV New Year's Gala
, the highest-watched TV show in Mainland China, and she invited Wong to do a duet with her on the upcoming show in 1998. The collaboration by the "Mainland Diva" and "Hong Kong Diva", titled "Let's Meet in 1998", became an instant hit and arguably the most played song in Mainland China that year. Thanks to this exposure, in late 1998 Wong finally held her first concert in her native Mainland China, and continued her tour in 9 cities.
Scenic Tour
(唱遊) was released in October, and contained four songs composed by Faye: the opening track "Emotional Life", "Face", "A Little Clever" and "Tong" (both written for her daughter, the latter produced by Dou Wei). Amongst other songs were "Give Up Halfway" (sung both in Mandarin and Cantonese), which was one of the more commercially successful tracks from the album, along with the successful ballad "Red Bean" (紅豆).
It was the best selling Chinese album in Singapore
in 1999. Together with Only Love Strangers
and the compilation album Wishing We Last Forever, Faye Wong had 3 albums in the Singapore top 10 selling Chinese albums of 1999, making her one of the best selling artists in Singapore in 1999.
was released in Japan in February 1999, for which Faye Wong recorded the ballad "Eyes on Me
" in English. It was the first time that a Japanese video game featured a Chinese singer for its theme. The "Eyes on Me" single sold over 400,000 copies in Japan, winning "Song of the Year (Western Music)" at the 14th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards. When the game was released in North America later that year, the theme song became very popular among gamers in the West; while it was not a mainstream hit there (as Wong had no desire to explore these markets), she gained many fans who were not previously familiar with her music.
In March, she held two concerts in Nippon Budokan
; she was the first Chinese singer to perform in that venue. Earlier in the year, Pepsi-Cola had made Wong a spokesperson, and after these concerts she shot the promotional music video
for "Spectacular" (精彩), which Pepsi used in commercials.
The album Only Love Strangers
(只愛陌生人) was released in late September, and sold over 800,000 copies, topping the charts in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. This was her first album after she parted from her husband Dou Wei
, and her first without any musical collaborations with him since their relationship began. The title track was featured in Sylvester Stallone
's remake of Get Carter
. Wong also became a spokesperson for JPhone in October, performing in several commercials which aired in Japan.
In addition, she began filming for 2046
in August, a project she would pursue on and off over the next few years when her schedule permitted.
(寓言). The prominent feature of this album is its segregated and distinguishable halves – songs in the first half of the album running in an almost continuous manner and in a format that is akin to a song-cycle, and the second half of discrete, chart-friendly numbers. The album itself derives its artistic merits from the first half, notable for its unique thematic and continuous sequencing of songs unprecedented in the Chinese music industry. The theme itself is ambiguous and the lyrics subject to multiple interpretations, though it is quite certain that the theme of Fable forms the main thematic reference, derived from the motivic elements of the prince and princess in fables and fairytales of European origins. Elements of spirituality, metaphysics and Buddhism hold an important place in the lyrics as well, penned by Lin Xi who has by then, been unanimously identified as Faye's lyricist par excellence. Musically the arrangements display influences of drum and bass, electronica
, east-west collage and lush string orchestral infusions.
Her other activities during this year included the Pepsi promotional duet and music video of "Galaxy Unlimited" with Aaron Kwok
, the filming of Okinawa Rendezvous, as well as several concerts in China and Taiwan.
, often referred to by the HK public as the 'iron triangle'. However, due to Zhang Ya Dong's unavailability during this period (he was engaged on other projects), Faye decided to treat this last album with EMI as an experiment whereby she would collaborate with new producers/musicians/lyricists and 'see what their vision of her will be'.
Nevertheless, the response from the public and critics alike were lukewarm at best. Faye herself admitted that she was not totally satisfied with some tracks, namely those produced by Taiwan 'father of rock' Wu Bai
, which had an industrial electronica
flavor reminiscent of Karen Mok
's 'Golden Flower' album. She cited the two folk-style songs written by Singaporean singer-song writer Tanya Chua
as her favorite picks on her album. The song that generated most noise from the press turned out to be one penned by former love Nicholas Tse
. Faye Wong
(王菲) reached number 14 on the Japan Oricon charts.
While she was under contract with EMI and later Sony, she performed in the ensemble movie 2046
which had been in production since 1999 and finally wrapped in 2004. She performed at fund-raising concerts to benefit various charities, including ones that helped those who suffered from AIDS
and SARS. She sang on tracks with other celebrities such as Tony Leung
, Anita Mui
, and Aaron Kwok
. She also starred in a Japanese TV serial, Usokoi, and the film Leaving Me Loving You with Leon Lai
.
The theme song for Usokoi, titled "Separate Ways", was released as a single; it was one of her few Japanese songs (another being "Valentine's Radio"). She recorded several other solo non-album tracks, such as the eponymous hit theme song to Hero
and a Buddhist song containing similar sounds to some of her work on her album Fu Zao. In addition, she recorded a recitation of the Heart Sutra
. Meanwhile, her former record companies released several more compilations and boxed sets of her records.
For her Sony album To Love
(將愛), released in November 2003, she recorded 13 tracks, 10 in Mandarin and 3 in Cantonese. She wrote the music and lyrics for 3 songs, the title track "To Love", "Leave Nothing" (不留), "Sunshine Dearest" (陽寶), as well as the music for "April Snow" (四月雪). Before the album's release, her Cantonese song "The Name of Love" (假愛之名), with lyrics by Lin Xi, was banned in some areas such as mainland China
because the lyrics mentioned opium. According to interviews, she said that she preferred the Mandarin version of the song (the title track); she had penned these lyrics herself, and they made no reference to drugs. She also recorded "Passenger" (乘客), a cover of Sophie Zelmani
's "Going Home". The album became more successful than her previous self-titled album, both financially and critically. Afterwards, she held numerous successful concerts for over a year. At the 2004 Golden Melody Awards, she was awarded Best Female Artist after being nominated many times. Her acceptance speech, in which she quipped "I've known that I can sing, therefore I will also confirm this panel's decision," was controversial to the local Taiwanese media.
, I hope you all forget about me." In May 2005 her agent Katie Chan (陳家瑛) confirmed to press that Wong was "resting indefinitely". Two months later she wed actor Li Yapeng
, and their daughter was born in the following year.
In the four years that followed, Faye Wong would not return, ignoring Live Nation
's offer of 100m-HKD
, and even rejecting the 3m-yuan
offer for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony
on her birthday. (The Beijing native was the unanimous choice of netizens, receiving over 63% of the tens of millions of votes cast in a CCTV
online poll. The honor eventually went to Liu Huan
.) She did, however, voluntarily perform for causes she truly cared about: she sang "Wishing We Last Forever" in May 2008 at a CCTV fundraising event for Sichuan earthquake
victims, and "Heart Sutra
" in May 2009 for a Buddhist ceremony at the Famen Temple
.
In February 2009, her previous collaborator Zhang Yadong released his second music collaboration album titled Zhang Yadong – Underflow. The opening track was the first release of Faye Wong's jazzy pop song "I Love You", which she recorded as the theme for Zhang Yuan
's 2002 movie of the same name
. Wong also released a song for her newly founded charity Smile Angel Foundation
; but it appeared as if she would stay retired forever.
In May 2009, Wong appeared in an ad for "Royal Wind" shampoo, sparking speculation that it would be the first step in her comeback. In January 2010 the film Confucius was released with Faye Wong singing the theme song "Orchid Parade", and the media concluded that "China's pop queen is back". Her return was clearly marked in February 2010, when she performed at the CCTV New Year's Gala
watched by over 700 million people, covering Li Jian's ballad "Legend". Soon afterwards, she announced a series of comeback concerts starting in October 2010. Despite her lengthy absence, interest was overwhelming: in Mainland China tickets worth nearly 200 million yuan
(US$29 million) were taken up in just 10 days while in Taiwan the computerized ticketing system crashed due to excessive traffic, and 90 percent of the tickets were sold within two hours after it was restored. The story repeated itself in Hong Kong
, with 93% of the tickets gone in one morning and 2 ticketing phone lines added to the 3 existing, as Wong added 4 Chinese cities in her tour to catch up with the huge demand. In 2011, she teamed up with Eason Chan
for the theme song of her husband's movie Eternal Moment
.
Faye Wong began her "Faye Wong Tour 2011" on March 5 at the Asia World Expo in Hong Kong. While on her tour, she appeared as a special guest at Eason Chan's
concert on September 29 at the Beijing Worker's Stadium, surprising many as Wong has previously never accepted any invitation to appear as a special guest at another singer's concert, thus making this the first time of doing so.
, a talented Beijing rocker of the band "Black Panther" who was much more famous in Mainland China. In June 1996, the couple married.Their daughter, Dou Jingtong (竇靖童, lit. meaning "child of Dou and Jing" [from Wong's first stage name Jingwen]) was born on January 3, 1997. The baby's voice appears in the song "Tong" on the 1998 album Scenic Tour (唱遊), as well as the title track of the album Only Love Strangers (只愛陌生人) released in 1999.
They divorced in late 1999 with Wong claiming the rights to the daughter and waiving child support
.
Wong began dating Mainland
television actor Li Yapeng
in 2004 in Beijing; their wedding took place in July 2005. Around the time of her wedding, her manager confirmed that she might take an indefinite break from the entertainment business. Their daughter, Li Yan, was born on 27 May 2006. In January 2011, appearing for the first time with her husband on a talk show
, Wong told host Yang Lan
that the past 5 years of her married life has been "very steady, very satisfying".
blog. The letter served as an outlet for their gratitude towards all concerned parties, and confirmed rumors their daughter was born with a congenital cleft lip. He expressed their reason for seeking medical treatment in California
: due to the severity of Li Yan's cleft, the special reconstructive surgeries she needed were not available in China. Citing a South American folk tale, Li described his daughter as a special child and her cleft as a mark of an angel. The couple has since established the Smile Angel Foundation
to assist children with clefts.
On December 26, 2006 Wong made her first public appearance since 2005 at the foundation's inaugural fundraising
ball. She opted not to speak or sing, but her new composition "Cheerful Angel" (愛笑的天使) debuted at the event as the official theme song of the charity. At the second fundraising ball on December 8, 2007, Wong mentioned that although she would not return to her music career in 2008, she would consider it afterwards. However, she sang and produced an electronica-infused version of the Diamond Sutra
for the event. For the foundation's publicity event on November 27–28, 2008, Wong and her husband visited children in Tibet
who are in various stages of recovery after being cured with the help of the charity. To date, the foundation has raised over 35 million renminbi
, including over 29.5 million from auctions during the three December fundraisers, and helped more than 2008 children.
In May 2008, following the disastrous earthquake
in Sichuan
, the couple accepted a local girl who lost a leg trying to save her classmates, to their family as she underwent recuperation and treatments in Beijing. The middle school
student returned to her hometown a year later but help would not stop; the Lis agreed to continue paying for her medical needs until she turns 22 and visit her at least once a year.
users discovered Wong's microblog under the account "veggieg ", and unveiled a Faye Wong who is open, talkative and surprisingly funny with her use of cyberlanguage
and puns. As of November 2011, the still unverified account has over 5 million followers.
The focus of Faye Wong's concerts has always been on her vocal performance. She seldom dances or speaks to the audience, and there are generally no supporting dancers. There were two exceptions to the latter in the 1994–95 live concerts; first, many dancers joined Faye on stage for the lively song "Flow Not Fly". In the second half, Faye and a line of male dancers were menaced by a giant mechanical spider overhead during the song "Tempt Me".
Another trademark is her unconventional fashion on stage. Her 1994 concerts were memorable for dreadlocks and extremely long sleeves, as well as for the silver-painted tears. Her 1998 concerts saw her sporting the "burnt" cheek makeup, the "Indian chief" look, and the soleless strap-on boots. At the start of her 2003 concerts her headgear was topped by an inverted shoe supporting a very long feather, and her makeup for that concert went through several changes of painted eye-shades.
Her 2003 concerts set a Hong Kong record, selling 30,000 tickets within three days.
After her release of Miyuki Nakajima's "Mortal World" (人間) in 1997, she ended her concerts for the next few years with this song while shaking hands with the audience, then taking a deep bow to a horizontal position before leaving the stage. She does not perform encores, and usually exits by sinking below the stage via a platform.
She has given concerts in North America and Australia as well as many venues in East
and Southeast Asia
, including charity concerts. The key features of her four major concert tours are set out below.
and childishness. The part of Faye Wong's personality that resonated most with her audiences is her independence and her courage to be different. As she wrote for the lyrics of "No Regrets",
Katie Chan, Wong's agent, once said "Faye does whatever she wants.... it's really quite a miracle that she became a success."
China Celebrity 100
. In a 2011 "most popular celebrity in China" marketing study she was also ranked in the top 5. In 2009, to celebrate the 60th anniversary
of the People's Republic of China
, a government web portal
conducted an online poll on The Most Influential Chinese Cultural Celebrity in the Past 60 Years; out of 192 candidates, Wong received over 7 million votes, second only to the deceased Teresa Teng
from Taiwan, Wong's own personal idol. Chen Tao, a China Radio International
DJ
, compares Wong's influence in the Sinosphere
to Madonna
's in America: "She represents a certain era of pop music, a certain trend, and a vision of being unique." Beijing-based scholar Wang Dong also believes Wong's popularity reflects a social phenomenon broader than entertainment itself, as people identify themselves through Wong due to her image of being unique.
Outside the Chinese world, the American rock band J-Church
once recorded a song "(I want to see) Faye Wong" and put Wong's picture on the cover of a split album
. A Norwegian band "Green Club Riviera" also had a song titled "Faye Wong". Wong probably has more Western fans than most of her C-pop peers, collectively referred to as "Fayenatics".
According to famous Japanese director Shunji Iwai
, his film All About Lily Chou-Chou
was inspired by attending a Faye Wong concert, and the titular character, portrayed by singer Salyu
, was based on Wong.
China's 2007 spacecraft Chang'e 1 played Faye Wong's version of "Wishing We Last Forever".
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
singer-songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and actress who is usually referred to as a diva
Diva
A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
. Early in her career she briefly used the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Shirley Wong (王靖雯). Born in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, she moved to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
in 1987 and rose to stardom in the early 1990s by singing ballads in Cantonese
Cantonese
Cantonese is a dialect spoken primarily in south China.Cantonese may also refer to:* Yue Chinese, the Chinese language that includes Cantonese* Cantonese cuisine, the cuisine of Guangdong province...
. Since 1995 she has recorded mostly in her native Mandarin, often combining alternative music with mainstream Chinese pop
C-pop
C-pop is an abbreviation for Chinese popular music , a loosely defined musical genre by artists originating from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Others come from countries where the Chinese language is used by a large number of the population, such as Singapore and Malaysia...
. In 2000 she was recognized by Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
as the Best Selling Canto-Pop Female. Following her second marriage in 2005 she withdrew from the limelight, but returned to the stage in 2010 amidst immense interest in the Sinosphere
Sinosphere
In areal linguistics, Sinosphere refers to a grouping of countries and regions that are currently inhabited with a majority of Chinese population or were historically under Chinese cultural influence...
.
Although her music is quite individualized, Faye Wong is famously reserved in public, and has become a cultural icon
Cultural icon
A cultural icon can be a symbol, logo, picture, name, face, person, building or other image that is readily recognized and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group...
of "coolness
Cool (aesthetic)
Something regarded as cool is an admired aesthetic of attitude, behavior, comportment, appearance and style, influenced by and a product of the Zeitgeist. Because of the varied and changing connotations of cool, as well its subjective nature, the word has no single meaning. It has associations of...
". Hugely popular in Mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Malaysia, she has also gained a large following in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and is to date the only C-pop
C-pop
C-pop is an abbreviation for Chinese popular music , a loosely defined musical genre by artists originating from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Others come from countries where the Chinese language is used by a large number of the population, such as Singapore and Malaysia...
female artist to have performed in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
's Budokan
Nippon Budokan
The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in central Tokyo, Japan.This is the location where many "Live at the Budokan" albums were recorded...
. In the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
she is best known for starring in Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046...
's films Chungking Express
Chungking Express
Chungking Express is a 1994 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick Hong Kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a woman...
(for which she won an award in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
) and 2046
2046 (film)
2046 is a 2004 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. It is a loose sequel to the 1991 Hong Kong film Days of Being Wild and the 2000 Hong Kong film In the Mood for Love...
. While she has collaborated with international artists such as Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
, Wong recorded only a few songs in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, the most famous being "Eyes on Me
Eyes on Me (Faye Wong song)
"Eyes on Me" is a pop ballad performed by Chinese diva Faye Wong as a love theme for the video game Final Fantasy VIII. The song's lyrics, written in somewhat imperfect English by Kako Someya, unveil the hopes of a night club singer for romance with a member of her audience.-Single:The song was...
" – the theme song of the video game Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII
is a role-playing video game released for the PlayStation in 1999 and for Windows-based personal computers in 2000. It was developed and published by Square as the Final Fantasy series' eighth title, removing magic point-based spell-casting and the first title to consistently use realistically...
.
1969–1991: Early life and Shirley Wong
The daughter of a mining engineer and a revolutionary music sopranoSoprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, Wong Fei was born in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in the midst of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
's Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
. She also has an elder brother named Wang Yi (王弋). As a student, Wong already displayed great singing talents and attracted interest from several publishers. On occasions, the school had to hide her artistic activities from her strict mother, who as a professional saw singing as a dead-end career. Despite her mother's opposition, Wong released 6 low-cost cover albums from 1985 to 1987 while still in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, all in the form of cassettes
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
, mostly consisting of songs by her personal idol, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
's Teresa Teng
Teresa Teng
Teresa Teng , was an immensely popular and influential Chinese pop singer from Taiwan. Teresa Teng's voice and songs are instantly recognized throughout East Asia and in areas with large Asian populations...
. For the last of these early recordings, the producer Wei Yuanqiang chose the title Wong Fei Collection, intending to show that he recognized a distinctive talent in the teenager.
In 1987, after being accepted to college, she immigrated to British Hong Kong
British Hong Kong
British Hong Kong refers to Hong Kong as a Crown colony and later, a British dependent territory under British administration from 1841 to 1997.- Colonial establishment :...
to join her father, who had been working there for a few years. The plan was for her to stay there for a year to fulfill the permanent residency requirement, and go to a university abroad thereafter. However, as Wong knew no Cantonese language, she experienced great loneliness. Following a brief modeling stint, she began singing lessons with Tai See-Chung, who was also from Mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
and had previously tutored Hong Kong superstars Anita Mui
Anita Mui
Anita Mui Yim-fong was a popular Hong Kong singer and actress. During her prime years she made major contributions to the cantopop music scene, while receiving numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout most of her career, and was generally regarded as a cantopop diva...
, Andy Lau
Andy Lau
Andy Lau MH, JP is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer, actor, and film producer. Lau has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time...
, Leon Lai
Leon Lai
Leon Lai is a Hong Kong-based actor and Cantopop singer. The media refer to Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings . He uses the stage name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming" which literally means "dawn."-Biography:...
and Aaron Kwok
Aaron Kwok
Aaron Kwok Fu-shing is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. He has been active since the 1980s to the present. The media refer to him, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings . Kwok's onstage dancing and displays is influenced by Michael Jackson...
. Under Tai's tutelage, the 19-year-old signed with Cinepoly Records
Cinepoly Records
Cinepoly Records is a Hong Kong-based record label founded in 1985. It was a subsidiary of PolyGram Records and the film company Cinema City. Ownership of Cinepoly Records switched to Universal Music Group after Universal acquired PolyGram Records in 1998 and albums are now distributed by...
after winning third place in an ABU
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union , formed in 1964, is a non-profit, professional association of broadcasting organisations. It currently has 200 members in 57 countries and regions, reaching a potential audience of about 3 billion people....
singing contest in 1988. It was a risky move on the part of Chan Siu-Bo, Cinepoly's General Manager, since Mainlanders
Mainland Chinese
Mainland Chinese or Mainlanders are Chinese people who live in a region considered a "mainland". It is frequently used in the context of areas ruled by the People's Republic of China, referring to people from Mainland China as opposed to other areas controlled by the state such as Hong Kong or...
were stereotyped to be "backwards" in Hong Kong.
As a result, Cinepoly asked Wong to change her "Mainland-sounding" name to a "sophisticated" stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Wong Jing Man. (Her English name was to be "Shirley".) In 1989, her debut album Shirley Wong
Shirley Wong (album)
Shirley Wong is a 1989 album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong, then using the stage name Shirley Wong...
was a surprising success, selling over 30,000 copies and helped her won bronze at the "Chik Chak New Artist Award". Two more albums (Everything
Everything (Faye Wong album)
Everything is a 1990 album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong. The title song is the Cantonese version of Jody Watley's 1989 hit.-Track listing:# 巴黎塔尖 - Paris Eiffel Tower Tip...
and You're the Only One
You're the Only One (Faye Wong album)
You're the Only One is a 1990 album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong.-Track listing:#美麗的震盪 - Beautiful Vibration#又繼續等 - Still Waiting...
) followed, similarly featuring many cover songs by artists from the US and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. However, they sold worse than her debut album, despite relentless promotions by the company. Many in Hong Kong perceived her to be "backwards", lacking personality.
Frustrated with her career decision, she made a surprise move in 1991 by deciding to travel to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for vocal studies and cultural exchange. The media was shocked; in the ultra-competitive Canto-pop scene, taking time off was equivalent to career suicide especially for a young start-up like her. Because it was a hurried decision, she also ended up missing the registration deadline for her classes in New York. However, the brief hiatus would prove to be critical for her later artistic development, as in America she re-discovered herself. Wong returned to Hong Kong and found a new agent in Katie Chan, who would remain her agent for the next 2 decades. The next album would prominently feature on the cover the English name "Faye", a homophone
Homophone
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose and rose , or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms...
to her given Chinese name. The "Shirley" Cinepoly tried to carve her into was history.
1992–1993: Rise to Superstardom
The 1992 album Coming HomeComing Home (Faye Wong album)
Coming Home is an album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong. It was released on her return to Hong Kong in 1992 after her year long stay in New York City.Wong had issued her first three official albums under the stage name Shirley Wong...
incorporated R&B influences and was a drastic change in musical direction from the more traditional Cantopop
Cantopop
Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
fare of her earlier albums. But the song that lifted her into superstardom was titled "Fragile Woman", a cover of a Japanese song "Rouge" originally composed by the Miyuki Nakajima
Miyuki Nakajima
is a Japanese vocalist, guitarist, lyricist, composer and radio personality. As a principal Japanese female veteran singer-songwriter she is often compared to Yumi Matsutoya, she has released 37 studio albums, 40 singles, 2 live albums and multiple compilations to date, and whose sales have been...
and sung by Naomi Chiaki
Naomi Chiaki
, is a Japanese singer and actress who worked from the late 1960s to the early 1990s.Chiaki made her debut as a singer in 1969, and released her breakthrough single "Yottsu no Onegai" in the following year. "Kassai", a song which has been commonly considered her signature song was released in 1972...
. It became the No.1 hit on almost all local radio stations and won Song of the Year at several musical awards. (Thanks to Wong's cover, this 1972 song–in different language versions–would in the early 1990s become a huge regional hit in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and the rest of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and even Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
; the most popular English version was titled "Broken-Hearted Woman".) Coming Home also included her first English-language number, "Kisses in the Wind". Wong stated in a 1994 concert that she very much liked this song, after which various websites listed it as her personal favourite; however, in a 1998 CNN interview she declined to name one favourite song, saying that there were too many, and in 2003 she stated that she no longer liked her old songs.
The cover for Coming Home prominently shows the name "Faye", and from then on she changed her stage name back to "Wong Fei" . In 1992–93 she also starred in TVB shows such as Files of Justice II (壹號皇庭II) and Legendary Ranger (原振俠).
In 1993, she wrote the Mandarin lyrics for her ballad "No Regrets" (執迷不悔) which led many to praise her as a gifted lyricist. In February, it became the title track to her album No Regrets
No Regrets (Faye Wong album)
No Regrets is a 1993 album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong.By the time of the album's release, Wong was already established a substantial fanbase in Hong Kong. She wrote the Mandarin lyrics for the ballad "No Regrets", released as a hit single...
. No Regrets features soft contemporary numbers, a few dance tracks and two versions of the title ballad: Wong's Mandarin version, and a Cantonese version (lyrics by Chen Shao Qi).
1993–1994: Alternative style
Her next album 100,000 Whys (September 1993) showed considerable alternative music influences from the West, including the popular song "Cold War" (冷戰), a cover of "Silent All These Years" by Tori AmosTori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
.
Faye has named the Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
post-punk group Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
among her favourite bands, and their influence was clear on her next Cantonese album, Random Thoughts
Random Thoughts (Faye Wong album)
Random Thoughts is a 1994 album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong. It confirmed her move into alternative music and covers songs by the Cocteau Twins, whose influence she readily acknowledged....
(胡思亂想). Her Cantonese version of The Cranberries
The Cranberries
The Cranberries are an Irish rock band formed in Limerick in 1989 under the name The Cranberry Saw Us, later changed by vocalist Dolores O'Riordan. The band currently consists of O'Riordan, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler...
' "Dreams
Dreams (The Cranberries song)
"Dreams" is the first single released by rock band The Cranberries. The song is taken from their 1993 debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?...
" was featured in Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046...
's film Chungking Express
Chungking Express
Chungking Express is a 1994 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick Hong Kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a woman...
, and gained lasting popularity. Besides covering songs and learning distinctive vocal techniques, Wong recorded her own compositions "Pledge" (誓言), co-written with ex-husband Dou Wei
Dou Wei
Dou Wei is a Chinese musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Dou Wei is a multi-instrumentalist and produces music across many genres. He first came to prominence as a member of the heavy rock group Black Panther . His album Dark Dreams draws influences from The Cure and Bauhaus, was a landmark...
, and her first and only spoken-word song "Exit" (出路), which expresses some of her pessimism about the future.
1994–1995: Mandarin market
Besides two Cantonese albums in 1994, Wong released two other albums in Mandarin in TaiwanTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Mystery (迷) and Sky (天空). The runaway hit "I'm Willing" (我願意) in Mystery became her trademark hit in the Mandarin-speaking communities for years, and has been covered by other singers such as Gigi Leung
Gigi Leung
Gigi Leung Wing-kei is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress.-Biography:Given the name Leung Bik-Zi at birth, at the age of 7 her mother changed her name changed to 'Wing-Kei' for superstitious reasons; as a child, Leung suffered from frequent asthma attacks and it was believed a change of name...
, Sammi Cheng
Sammi Cheng
Sammi Cheng Sau-Man is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. Having enjoyed much success in the Hong Kong music industry, Sammi has been known as a diva and has been one of the most successful female singer in Hong Kong since the 1990s. Her albums have sold more than 25 million copies through...
and Jay Chou
Jay Chou
Jay Chou is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, actor and director who has won the World Music Award four times. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for...
. Sky was seen by fans as a successful amalgam of artistic experimentation and commercialism.
While her hits in Hong Kong were noticeably alternative, her two Mandarin albums were more lyrical and traditional. Critics generally credit Taiwanese producer Yang Ming-huang for their success.
Four best-selling albums in Cantonese and Mandarin, a record-breaking 18 consecutive concerts in Hong Kong, and a widely acclaimed film (Chungking Express) made Faye Wong the most eminent female Hong Kong singer in the mid-1990s. Meanwhile, her distaste for the profit-oriented HK entertainment industry became more and more apparent. She was frequently in touch with the rock
Chinese rock
Chinese Rock , occasionally referred as Mandorock or Cantorock depending on the language of the song in question, is commonly used to describe a wide variety of forms of rock and roll music, in connection with the rock bands...
circle in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. Given her somewhat reticent and nonchalant personality, she would sometimes give terse, direct, and somewhat unexpected answers when asked personal questions by the HK media.
In 1995, she released Decadent Sounds of Faye (菲靡靡之音), a cover album of songs originally recorded by her idol Teresa Teng
Teresa Teng
Teresa Teng , was an immensely popular and influential Chinese pop singer from Taiwan. Teresa Teng's voice and songs are instantly recognized throughout East Asia and in areas with large Asian populations...
, one of the most revered Chinese singers of the 20th century. A duet with Teng was planned for the album, but unfortunately she died before this could be recorded. Decadent Sounds sold well despite initial negative criticism, and has come to be recognised as an example of imaginative covering by recent critics.
In December, she released her Cantonese album Di-Dar
Di-Dar
Di-Dar is an album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong.Released in December 1995, towards the end of her recording contract with Cinepoly Records, this is Faye Wong's last Cantonese album....
which mixes an alternative yodelling style with a touch of Indian
Music of India
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
and Middle Eastern
Middle Eastern music
The music of Western Asia and North Africa spans across a vast region, from Morocco to Afghanistan, and its influences can be felt even further afield. Middle Eastern music influenced the music of India, as well as Central Asia, Spain, Southern Italy, the Caucasus and the Balkans, as in chalga...
flavor. This album was a success, partly because it was so different from the mainstream Cantopop
Cantopop
Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
music, but—ironically—a couple of very traditional romantic songs topped the charts.
1996: Restless and Cinepoly EPs
1996 saw the release of what many would consider her boldest and most artistically coherent effort to date, Fu ZaoFu Zao (Faye Wong album)
Fu Zao is a 1996 album by the C-pop singer Faye Wong; the Chinese title is variously translated into English as Restless, Impatience, Anxiety and other similar words. The Japanese release included the English translation Anxiety on the obi strip.Many consider it her boldest and most artistically...
(浮躁), usually translated as Restless or Impatience. This was her last album with Cinepoly, and Wong felt she could take more artistic risks. The album contains mainly her own compositions, with an aesthetic inspired by the Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
, who penned two original songs for the album, "Fracture" (分裂) and "Repressing Happiness" (掃興). As Wong had covered their work in 1994, she had established a remote working relationship with them—even laying down vocals for a special duet version of "Serpentskirt" on the Asian release of the group's 1996 album, Milk And Kisses
Milk and Kisses
Milk & Kisses is an album by Cocteau Twins issued in 1996. It proved their last; a meeting two years later to record a new album ended with the breakup of the band....
.
Although the album was Wong's personal favorite, the response from Hong Kong and Taiwan was less supportive. Many fans who enjoyed her previous three Mandarin albums turned their back on Restless, which they considered to be too alternative and self-absorbed. There were few ballads which were radio-friendly—had Faye taken her experimentations too far? However, hardcore fans, known as Fayenatics, adored the album and it became a cult hit. Wong has not released another fully artistic album since. After the release, Wong became the second Chinese artist (after Gong Li
Gong Li
Gong Li is a Chinese film actress. Gong first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and is credited with helping to bring Chinese cinema to Europe and the United States....
)—and the first Chinese singer—to be featured on the cover of TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
magazine.
From 1993 to 1995, Cinepoly released an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
of Wong's songs each year: Like Wind (如風), Faye Disc (菲碟), and One Person, Two Roles (一人分飾兩角). Then in 1996–97, she recorded ten original songs in Cantonese all written by lyricist Lin Xi (林夕)
Albert Leung
-Education:He was educated at the boys school Chan Sui Ki College and La Salle College, and graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1984.-Songwriting career:He has been a cantopop lyricist since 1985, using the pen name Lin Xi...
and various composers, such as Wong Ka Keung
Wong Ka Keung
Steve Wong Ka-Keung is a Hong Kong musician, composer and the songwriter. He was one of the members of the now disbanded, Hong Kong rock band Beyond. Steve Wong plays bass guitar and provides vocals...
, Adrian Chan, and Chan Xiao Xia, before her departure from Cinepoly. After her contract with Cinepoly expired, the company released eight of these songs in the two subsequent EPs entitled Toy (玩具) and Helping Yourself (自便). Although the EPs contained new songs—ballad hits like "Undercurrent" (暗湧), "Date" (約定), and "On Time" (守時)—and were welcomed by fans, they received lukewarm critical responses. The other two songs were included in later compilations; the last to be released was "Scary" (心驚膽顫) in 2002.
1997: EMI and Faye Wong
Wong signed for the recording giant EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
in 1997 after her first daughter was born, in a contract worth 60 million Hong Kong dollar
Hong Kong dollar
The Hong Kong dollar is the currency of the jurisdiction. It is the eighth most traded currency in the world. In English, it is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively HK$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
s (approx. 7.7 million US dollars), to release 55 songs in 5 albums. While most of her earlier albums were sung in Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
, Wong has since sung almost exclusively in Mandarin, her mother tongue, although she recorded Cantonese versions of a couple of songs in each of her last four albums with EMI to please her Hong Kong audience. Having gone through a period of experimentation, Wong stated that she wished to make "music that I like. I do not care if others don't, though I would be delighted if they do".
Her first album with EMI was Faye Wong (1997) (王菲), released in autumn 1997. Critics expecting another artistic breakthrough after 1996's Restlessness found – much to their dismay – a much more inoffensive and commercially oriented musical album. Simon Raymonde
Simon Raymonde
Simon Philip Raymonde is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer, Ivor Raymonde.-Career:...
and Robin Guthrie
Robin Guthrie
Robin Guthrie is a musician best known as co-founder of the Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has played guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and other musical instruments, in addition to programming, sampling and sound processing...
of the Cocteau Twins wrote two original compositions for the album, but only one, "The Amusement Park" (娛樂場), was used. This release included an acoustic cover of the Cocteau Twins' "Rilkean Heart", renamed "Nostalgia" (懷念).
This album is filled with feelings of lethargy, languor and disengagement, yet most of the tracks sound warm and sweet, as opposed to those piquant self-centered ones before her motherhood. Reporters noticed that she began to smile more often in public and was not as icy or aloof as before. However, the album was released during the Asian financial crisis which swept East
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. Wong's old company Cinepoly, which retains the copyright on her previous records, released a Mandarin compilation at the same time in 1997 to counteract her new EMI album (and indeed outperformed it). Later, Cinepoly would release two compilations each year to compete with Faye's new releases, a tactic which has come under fire from her international fans. Faye Wong did not sell well in Hong Kong, but did quite well in Taiwan and mainland China. Although Wong had garnered some popularity with her 4 previous Mandarin albums, it was really this sweet yet slightly alternative album which had the Mainland Chinese audience listening. Her profile began to rise sharply in Asia.
1998: Conquering Mainland China
In 1997 singer Na YingNa Ying
Na Ying is a Chinese vocalist. She is considered as one of the best present-day female singers in Mainland China, having sold more than 10 million albums. She is also noted for her buoyant and forthright personality....
signed with EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
and struck a lasting friendship with Wong. Na had been a regular at the annual CCTV New Year's Gala
CCTV New Year's Gala
The CCTV New Year's Gala is a Chinese New Year special produced by China Central Television. Broadcast on the eve of Chinese New Year on its flagship CCTV-1, satellite channels CCTV-4, CCTV-9, CCTV-E, CCTV-F, and CCTV-HD, the broadcast has a yearly viewership of over 700 million viewers, making it...
, the highest-watched TV show in Mainland China, and she invited Wong to do a duet with her on the upcoming show in 1998. The collaboration by the "Mainland Diva" and "Hong Kong Diva", titled "Let's Meet in 1998", became an instant hit and arguably the most played song in Mainland China that year. Thanks to this exposure, in late 1998 Wong finally held her first concert in her native Mainland China, and continued her tour in 9 cities.
Scenic Tour
Scenic Tour (Faye Wong album)
Scenic Tour is an 1998 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong. It includes 10 tracks in Mandarin, with 3 bonus Cantonese tracks.Scenic Tour is also the first Chinese album recorded in HDCD techniques...
(唱遊) was released in October, and contained four songs composed by Faye: the opening track "Emotional Life", "Face", "A Little Clever" and "Tong" (both written for her daughter, the latter produced by Dou Wei). Amongst other songs were "Give Up Halfway" (sung both in Mandarin and Cantonese), which was one of the more commercially successful tracks from the album, along with the successful ballad "Red Bean" (紅豆).
It was the best selling Chinese album in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in 1999. Together with Only Love Strangers
Only Love Strangers
Only Love Strangers is a 1999 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong. It contains 10 tracks in Mandarin with bonus Cantonese versions of two of the songs....
and the compilation album Wishing We Last Forever, Faye Wong had 3 albums in the Singapore top 10 selling Chinese albums of 1999, making her one of the best selling artists in Singapore in 1999.
1999: Venturing into Japan
The video game Final Fantasy VIIIFinal Fantasy VIII
is a role-playing video game released for the PlayStation in 1999 and for Windows-based personal computers in 2000. It was developed and published by Square as the Final Fantasy series' eighth title, removing magic point-based spell-casting and the first title to consistently use realistically...
was released in Japan in February 1999, for which Faye Wong recorded the ballad "Eyes on Me
Eyes on Me (Faye Wong song)
"Eyes on Me" is a pop ballad performed by Chinese diva Faye Wong as a love theme for the video game Final Fantasy VIII. The song's lyrics, written in somewhat imperfect English by Kako Someya, unveil the hopes of a night club singer for romance with a member of her audience.-Single:The song was...
" in English. It was the first time that a Japanese video game featured a Chinese singer for its theme. The "Eyes on Me" single sold over 400,000 copies in Japan, winning "Song of the Year (Western Music)" at the 14th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards. When the game was released in North America later that year, the theme song became very popular among gamers in the West; while it was not a mainstream hit there (as Wong had no desire to explore these markets), she gained many fans who were not previously familiar with her music.
In March, she held two concerts in Nippon Budokan
Nippon Budokan
The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in central Tokyo, Japan.This is the location where many "Live at the Budokan" albums were recorded...
; she was the first Chinese singer to perform in that venue. Earlier in the year, Pepsi-Cola had made Wong a spokesperson, and after these concerts she shot the promotional music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Spectacular" (精彩), which Pepsi used in commercials.
The album Only Love Strangers
Only Love Strangers
Only Love Strangers is a 1999 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong. It contains 10 tracks in Mandarin with bonus Cantonese versions of two of the songs....
(只愛陌生人) was released in late September, and sold over 800,000 copies, topping the charts in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. This was her first album after she parted from her husband Dou Wei
Dou Wei
Dou Wei is a Chinese musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Dou Wei is a multi-instrumentalist and produces music across many genres. He first came to prominence as a member of the heavy rock group Black Panther . His album Dark Dreams draws influences from The Cure and Bauhaus, was a landmark...
, and her first without any musical collaborations with him since their relationship began. The title track was featured in Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
's remake of Get Carter
Get Carter (2000 film)
Get Carter is the 2000 remake of the 1971 crime film of the same name, starring Sylvester Stallone in the title role. The film also features Miranda Richardson, Rachel Leigh Cook, Alan Cumming, Mickey Rourke, and Rhona Mitra. Michael Caine, who starred in the original, plays a supporting role...
. Wong also became a spokesperson for JPhone in October, performing in several commercials which aired in Japan.
In addition, she began filming for 2046
2046 (film)
2046 is a 2004 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. It is a loose sequel to the 1991 Hong Kong film Days of Being Wild and the 2000 Hong Kong film In the Mood for Love...
in August, a project she would pursue on and off over the next few years when her schedule permitted.
2000: Fable
The new millennium saw a shift in Wong's musical career with the album FableFable (album)
Fable is a 2000 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong.The album is structured into 3 basic parts. The first five tracks deal with certain aspects of Buddhism and fairy tales, especially that of Cinderella. The next three are radio-friendly pop songs...
(寓言). The prominent feature of this album is its segregated and distinguishable halves – songs in the first half of the album running in an almost continuous manner and in a format that is akin to a song-cycle, and the second half of discrete, chart-friendly numbers. The album itself derives its artistic merits from the first half, notable for its unique thematic and continuous sequencing of songs unprecedented in the Chinese music industry. The theme itself is ambiguous and the lyrics subject to multiple interpretations, though it is quite certain that the theme of Fable forms the main thematic reference, derived from the motivic elements of the prince and princess in fables and fairytales of European origins. Elements of spirituality, metaphysics and Buddhism hold an important place in the lyrics as well, penned by Lin Xi who has by then, been unanimously identified as Faye's lyricist par excellence. Musically the arrangements display influences of drum and bass, electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, east-west collage and lush string orchestral infusions.
Her other activities during this year included the Pepsi promotional duet and music video of "Galaxy Unlimited" with Aaron Kwok
Aaron Kwok
Aaron Kwok Fu-shing is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. He has been active since the 1980s to the present. The media refer to him, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings . Kwok's onstage dancing and displays is influenced by Michael Jackson...
, the filming of Okinawa Rendezvous, as well as several concerts in China and Taiwan.
2001 to 2004: Faye Wong and To Love
By this time, Faye had forged a famous alliance with producer/musician Zhang Ya Dong (張亞東) and lyricist Lin Xi (林夕)Albert Leung
-Education:He was educated at the boys school Chan Sui Ki College and La Salle College, and graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1984.-Songwriting career:He has been a cantopop lyricist since 1985, using the pen name Lin Xi...
, often referred to by the HK public as the 'iron triangle'. However, due to Zhang Ya Dong's unavailability during this period (he was engaged on other projects), Faye decided to treat this last album with EMI as an experiment whereby she would collaborate with new producers/musicians/lyricists and 'see what their vision of her will be'.
Nevertheless, the response from the public and critics alike were lukewarm at best. Faye herself admitted that she was not totally satisfied with some tracks, namely those produced by Taiwan 'father of rock' Wu Bai
Wu Bai
Wu Bai on 14 January 1968) is a Taiwanese rock singer and songwriter. He formed the band Wu Bai & China Blue with Dean "Dino" Zavolta on drums, Yu Ta-hao on keyboards, Chu Chien-hui on bass guitar and Wu Bai himself on lead guitar and lead vocals...
, which had an industrial electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
flavor reminiscent of Karen Mok
Karen Mok
Karen Joy Morris, known more commonly in the Sinosphere as Karen Mok or Mok Man-Wai, is a three-time Golden Melody Award-winning Hong Kong-based actress and singer-songwriter.- Biography :...
's 'Golden Flower' album. She cited the two folk-style songs written by Singaporean singer-song writer Tanya Chua
Tanya Chua
Tanya Chua is a Golden Melody Award-winning Singaporean singer and songwriter.-Music career:A former business administration student at Singapore Polytechnic, Chua started out singing in English, releasing her first English album, Bored, in 1997...
as her favorite picks on her album. The song that generated most noise from the press turned out to be one penned by former love Nicholas Tse
Nicholas Tse
Nicholas Tse is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor and musician, and son of actor Patrick Tse. He is a member of the Emperor Entertainment Group...
. Faye Wong
Faye Wong (2001 album)
Faye Wong is a 2001 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong.-Track listing:#"光之翼" – 3:21#: "Wings of Light"#"等等" – 3:28#: "Wait a Moment"#"打錯了" – 3:12#: "Wrong Number"...
(王菲) reached number 14 on the Japan Oricon charts.
While she was under contract with EMI and later Sony, she performed in the ensemble movie 2046
2046 (film)
2046 is a 2004 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. It is a loose sequel to the 1991 Hong Kong film Days of Being Wild and the 2000 Hong Kong film In the Mood for Love...
which had been in production since 1999 and finally wrapped in 2004. She performed at fund-raising concerts to benefit various charities, including ones that helped those who suffered from AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
and SARS. She sang on tracks with other celebrities such as Tony Leung
Tony Leung Chiu Wai
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai is a Hong Kong film actor and former TVB actor. A major film star since the 1990s, Leung has won nine Hong Kong Film Awards and three Golden Horse Best Actor awards...
, Anita Mui
Anita Mui
Anita Mui Yim-fong was a popular Hong Kong singer and actress. During her prime years she made major contributions to the cantopop music scene, while receiving numerous awards and honours. She remained an idol throughout most of her career, and was generally regarded as a cantopop diva...
, and Aaron Kwok
Aaron Kwok
Aaron Kwok Fu-shing is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. He has been active since the 1980s to the present. The media refer to him, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings . Kwok's onstage dancing and displays is influenced by Michael Jackson...
. She also starred in a Japanese TV serial, Usokoi, and the film Leaving Me Loving You with Leon Lai
Leon Lai
Leon Lai is a Hong Kong-based actor and Cantopop singer. The media refer to Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings . He uses the stage name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming" which literally means "dawn."-Biography:...
.
The theme song for Usokoi, titled "Separate Ways", was released as a single; it was one of her few Japanese songs (another being "Valentine's Radio"). She recorded several other solo non-album tracks, such as the eponymous hit theme song to Hero
Hero (2002 film)
Hero is a 2002 wuxia film directed by Zhang Yimou. Starring Jet Li as the nameless protagonist, the film is based on the story of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin in 227 BC....
and a Buddhist song containing similar sounds to some of her work on her album Fu Zao. In addition, she recorded a recitation of the Heart Sutra
Heart Sutra
The Heart Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra. Its Sanskrit name literally translates to "Heart of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom." The Heart Sūtra is often cited as the best known and most popular of all Buddhist scriptures.-Introduction:The Heart Sūtra is a member of the Perfection of...
. Meanwhile, her former record companies released several more compilations and boxed sets of her records.
For her Sony album To Love
To Love (Faye Wong album)
To Love is a 2003 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong.This was Faye Wong's first album recorded with Sony. it remains her last album to date. Released on 7 November 2003, it has 13 tracks, 10 in Mandarin and 3 in Cantonese...
(將愛), released in November 2003, she recorded 13 tracks, 10 in Mandarin and 3 in Cantonese. She wrote the music and lyrics for 3 songs, the title track "To Love", "Leave Nothing" (不留), "Sunshine Dearest" (陽寶), as well as the music for "April Snow" (四月雪). Before the album's release, her Cantonese song "The Name of Love" (假愛之名), with lyrics by Lin Xi, was banned in some areas such as mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
because the lyrics mentioned opium. According to interviews, she said that she preferred the Mandarin version of the song (the title track); she had penned these lyrics herself, and they made no reference to drugs. She also recorded "Passenger" (乘客), a cover of Sophie Zelmani
Sophie Zelmani
Sophie Zelmani is a Swedish singer-songwriter who released her first single in 1995, called "Always You".-Early life:...
's "Going Home". The album became more successful than her previous self-titled album, both financially and critically. Afterwards, she held numerous successful concerts for over a year. At the 2004 Golden Melody Awards, she was awarded Best Female Artist after being nominated many times. Her acceptance speech, in which she quipped "I've known that I can sing, therefore I will also confirm this panel's decision," was controversial to the local Taiwanese media.
2005 to present: Hiatus and comeback
In January 2005, during the last concert of her tour, the usually reticent Faye Wong left a quote that left her fans wondering: "If I ever retire from showbizShow business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
, I hope you all forget about me." In May 2005 her agent Katie Chan (陳家瑛) confirmed to press that Wong was "resting indefinitely". Two months later she wed actor Li Yapeng
Li Yapeng
Li Yapeng is a Chinese actor. He starred two CCTV TV series adaptations of Louis Cha's Wuxia novels; Guo Jing in The Legend of the Condor Heroes and Linghu Chong in Laughing in the Wind .In 2005 he married actress and singer Faye Wong, and had a daughter by her in May 2006, Li Yan...
, and their daughter was born in the following year.
In the four years that followed, Faye Wong would not return, ignoring Live Nation
Live Nation
Live Nation is a live-events company based in Beverly Hills, California, focused on concert promotions. Live Nation formed in 2005 as a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications, which then merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 to become Live Nation Entertainment....
's offer of 100m-HKD
Hong Kong dollar
The Hong Kong dollar is the currency of the jurisdiction. It is the eighth most traded currency in the world. In English, it is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively HK$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
, and even rejecting the 3m-yuan
Chinese yuan
The yuan is the base unit of a number of modern Chinese currencies. The yuan is the primary unit of account of the Renminbi.A yuán is also known colloquially as a kuài . One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo or colloquially máo...
offer for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony
2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time on August 8, 2008, as 8 is considered to be a lucky number. The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture...
on her birthday. (The Beijing native was the unanimous choice of netizens, receiving over 63% of the tens of millions of votes cast in a CCTV
China Central Television
China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
online poll. The honor eventually went to Liu Huan
Liu Huan
Liu Huan is a Chinese Mandopop singer and songwriter.-Biography:Liu graduated from Yaohua High School in Tianjin in 1981. Four years later, he graduated from the University of International Relations in Beijing, majoring in French...
.) She did, however, voluntarily perform for causes she truly cared about: she sang "Wishing We Last Forever" in May 2008 at a CCTV fundraising event for Sichuan earthquake
2008 Sichuan earthquake
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake or the Great Sichuan Earthquake was a deadly earthquake that measured at 8.0 Msand 7.9 Mw occurred at 14:28:01 CST...
victims, and "Heart Sutra
Heart Sutra
The Heart Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra. Its Sanskrit name literally translates to "Heart of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom." The Heart Sūtra is often cited as the best known and most popular of all Buddhist scriptures.-Introduction:The Heart Sūtra is a member of the Perfection of...
" in May 2009 for a Buddhist ceremony at the Famen Temple
Famen Temple
Famen Temple is located in Famen town, Fufeng County, 120 kilometers west of Xi'an City, Shaanxi province. It was widely regarded as the "ancestor of pagoda temples in Guanzhong area".-History:...
.
In February 2009, her previous collaborator Zhang Yadong released his second music collaboration album titled Zhang Yadong – Underflow. The opening track was the first release of Faye Wong's jazzy pop song "I Love You", which she recorded as the theme for Zhang Yuan
Zhang Yuan
Zhang Yuan is a Chinese film director who has been described by film scholars as a pioneering member of China's Sixth Generation of filmmakers...
's 2002 movie of the same name
I Love You (2002 film)
I Love You is a 2002 Chinese drama film directed by Zhang Yuan and starring Xu Jinglei and Tong Dawei. The film was a co-production between the Xi'an Film Studio and Jewel Film Investment Company....
. Wong also released a song for her newly founded charity Smile Angel Foundation
Smile Angel Foundation
Smile Angel Foundation is a Beijing-based charity founded in 2006 by Faye Wong and Li Yapeng to help Chinese children born with clefts. It is affiliated with the Red Cross Society of China...
; but it appeared as if she would stay retired forever.
In May 2009, Wong appeared in an ad for "Royal Wind" shampoo, sparking speculation that it would be the first step in her comeback. In January 2010 the film Confucius was released with Faye Wong singing the theme song "Orchid Parade", and the media concluded that "China's pop queen is back". Her return was clearly marked in February 2010, when she performed at the CCTV New Year's Gala
CCTV New Year's Gala
The CCTV New Year's Gala is a Chinese New Year special produced by China Central Television. Broadcast on the eve of Chinese New Year on its flagship CCTV-1, satellite channels CCTV-4, CCTV-9, CCTV-E, CCTV-F, and CCTV-HD, the broadcast has a yearly viewership of over 700 million viewers, making it...
watched by over 700 million people, covering Li Jian's ballad "Legend". Soon afterwards, she announced a series of comeback concerts starting in October 2010. Despite her lengthy absence, interest was overwhelming: in Mainland China tickets worth nearly 200 million yuan
Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
(US$29 million) were taken up in just 10 days while in Taiwan the computerized ticketing system crashed due to excessive traffic, and 90 percent of the tickets were sold within two hours after it was restored. The story repeated itself in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, with 93% of the tickets gone in one morning and 2 ticketing phone lines added to the 3 existing, as Wong added 4 Chinese cities in her tour to catch up with the huge demand. In 2011, she teamed up with Eason Chan
Eason Chan
Eason Chan Yik-shun is a prominent male singer in Hong Kong's music industry. Undoubtedly one of the most dominant male singers in the post-1997 era of Hong Kong music industry. Eason Chan has been praised by Time magazine as a front runner in the next generation of Cantopop...
for the theme song of her husband's movie Eternal Moment
Eternal Moment
Eternal Moment is a Chinese romantic drama film directed by Zhang Yibai and starring Xu Jinglei, Li Yapeng and Chapman To.The film is a sequel to the television drama, Cherish Our Love Forever , which was also directed by Zhang...
.
Faye Wong began her "Faye Wong Tour 2011" on March 5 at the Asia World Expo in Hong Kong. While on her tour, she appeared as a special guest at Eason Chan's
Eason Chan
Eason Chan Yik-shun is a prominent male singer in Hong Kong's music industry. Undoubtedly one of the most dominant male singers in the post-1997 era of Hong Kong music industry. Eason Chan has been praised by Time magazine as a front runner in the next generation of Cantopop...
concert on September 29 at the Beijing Worker's Stadium, surprising many as Wong has previously never accepted any invitation to appear as a special guest at another singer's concert, thus making this the first time of doing so.
Personal life
In 1995, Wong fell in love with Dou WeiDou Wei
Dou Wei is a Chinese musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Dou Wei is a multi-instrumentalist and produces music across many genres. He first came to prominence as a member of the heavy rock group Black Panther . His album Dark Dreams draws influences from The Cure and Bauhaus, was a landmark...
, a talented Beijing rocker of the band "Black Panther" who was much more famous in Mainland China. In June 1996, the couple married.Their daughter, Dou Jingtong (竇靖童, lit. meaning "child of Dou and Jing" [from Wong's first stage name Jingwen]) was born on January 3, 1997. The baby's voice appears in the song "Tong" on the 1998 album Scenic Tour (唱遊), as well as the title track of the album Only Love Strangers (只愛陌生人) released in 1999.
They divorced in late 1999 with Wong claiming the rights to the daughter and waiving child support
Child support
In family law and public policy, child support is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child following the end of a marriage or other relationship...
.
Wong began dating Mainland
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
television actor Li Yapeng
Li Yapeng
Li Yapeng is a Chinese actor. He starred two CCTV TV series adaptations of Louis Cha's Wuxia novels; Guo Jing in The Legend of the Condor Heroes and Linghu Chong in Laughing in the Wind .In 2005 he married actress and singer Faye Wong, and had a daughter by her in May 2006, Li Yan...
in 2004 in Beijing; their wedding took place in July 2005. Around the time of her wedding, her manager confirmed that she might take an indefinite break from the entertainment business. Their daughter, Li Yan, was born on 27 May 2006. In January 2011, appearing for the first time with her husband on a talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
, Wong told host Yang Lan
Yang Lan
Yang Lan is a Chinese businesswoman, talk show hostess, and co-owner with her husband Wu Zheng of Sun Television Cybernetworks in Shanghai, China.-Personal and business life:...
that the past 5 years of her married life has been "very steady, very satisfying".
Charities and Smile Angel Foundation
In August 2006, Li published a thousand-word public online letter, "Gratitude (感謝)", on his Sina.comSina.com
SINA is an online media company for China and Chinese communities around the world. SINA operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, SINA Mobile, SINA Online, and SINA.net. SINA has over 100 million registered users worldwide...
blog. The letter served as an outlet for their gratitude towards all concerned parties, and confirmed rumors their daughter was born with a congenital cleft lip. He expressed their reason for seeking medical treatment in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
: due to the severity of Li Yan's cleft, the special reconstructive surgeries she needed were not available in China. Citing a South American folk tale, Li described his daughter as a special child and her cleft as a mark of an angel. The couple has since established the Smile Angel Foundation
Smile Angel Foundation
Smile Angel Foundation is a Beijing-based charity founded in 2006 by Faye Wong and Li Yapeng to help Chinese children born with clefts. It is affiliated with the Red Cross Society of China...
to assist children with clefts.
On December 26, 2006 Wong made her first public appearance since 2005 at the foundation's inaugural fundraising
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
ball. She opted not to speak or sing, but her new composition "Cheerful Angel" (愛笑的天使) debuted at the event as the official theme song of the charity. At the second fundraising ball on December 8, 2007, Wong mentioned that although she would not return to her music career in 2008, she would consider it afterwards. However, she sang and produced an electronica-infused version of the Diamond Sutra
Diamond Sutra
The Diamond Sūtra , is a short and well-known Mahāyāna sūtra from the Prajñāpāramitā, or "Perfection of Wisdom" genre, and emphasizes the practice of non-abiding and non-attachment...
for the event. For the foundation's publicity event on November 27–28, 2008, Wong and her husband visited children in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
who are in various stages of recovery after being cured with the help of the charity. To date, the foundation has raised over 35 million renminbi
Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
, including over 29.5 million from auctions during the three December fundraisers, and helped more than 2008 children.
In May 2008, following the disastrous earthquake
2008 Sichuan earthquake
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake or the Great Sichuan Earthquake was a deadly earthquake that measured at 8.0 Msand 7.9 Mw occurred at 14:28:01 CST...
in Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, the couple accepted a local girl who lost a leg trying to save her classmates, to their family as she underwent recuperation and treatments in Beijing. The middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
student returned to her hometown a year later but help would not stop; the Lis agreed to continue paying for her medical needs until she turns 22 and visit her at least once a year.
Microblog
In 2010, Sina WeiboSina Weibo
Sina Weibo is a Chinese microblogging website. Akin to a hybrid of Twitter and Facebook, it is one of the most popular sites in China, in use by well over 30% of Internet users, with a similar market penetration that Twitter has established in the USA...
users discovered Wong's microblog under the account "veggieg ", and unveiled a Faye Wong who is open, talkative and surprisingly funny with her use of cyberlanguage
Internet linguistics
Internet linguistics is a sub-domain of linguistics advocated by David Crystal. It studies new language styles and forms that have arisen under the influence of the Internet and other New Media, such as Short Message Service text messaging...
and puns. As of November 2011, the still unverified account has over 5 million followers.
Concerts
Another trademark is her unconventional fashion on stage. Her 1994 concerts were memorable for dreadlocks and extremely long sleeves, as well as for the silver-painted tears. Her 1998 concerts saw her sporting the "burnt" cheek makeup, the "Indian chief" look, and the soleless strap-on boots. At the start of her 2003 concerts her headgear was topped by an inverted shoe supporting a very long feather, and her makeup for that concert went through several changes of painted eye-shades.
Her 2003 concerts set a Hong Kong record, selling 30,000 tickets within three days.
After her release of Miyuki Nakajima's "Mortal World" (人間) in 1997, she ended her concerts for the next few years with this song while shaking hands with the audience, then taking a deep bow to a horizontal position before leaving the stage. She does not perform encores, and usually exits by sinking below the stage via a platform.
She has given concerts in North America and Australia as well as many venues in East
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, including charity concerts. The key features of her four major concert tours are set out below.
Public Image
Dutch scholar Jeroen Groenewegen credits Wong's mass appeal to some of her perceived "cool" traits including autonomy, androgynyAndrogyny
Androgyny is a term derived from the Greek words ανήρ, stem ανδρ- and γυνή , referring to the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics...
and childishness. The part of Faye Wong's personality that resonated most with her audiences is her independence and her courage to be different. As she wrote for the lyrics of "No Regrets",
Katie Chan, Wong's agent, once said "Faye does whatever she wants.... it's really quite a miracle that she became a success."
Legacy
Faye Wong is one of the biggest Chinese celebrities today. In 2004 and 2005 she was ranked in the top 5 on the ForbesForbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
China Celebrity 100
China Celebrity 100
China Celebrity 100 is a list published annually by Forbes, and is similar to Celebrity 100 also published by Forbes. Factors that are taken into account include income, search engine hits, as well as exposure on newspapers, magazines and television....
. In a 2011 "most popular celebrity in China" marketing study she was also ranked in the top 5. In 2009, to celebrate the 60th anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, a government web portal
China Internet Information Center
China Internet Information Center is a web portal authorized by the People's Republic of China.Its current president is Huang Youyi.- Localization :...
conducted an online poll on The Most Influential Chinese Cultural Celebrity in the Past 60 Years; out of 192 candidates, Wong received over 7 million votes, second only to the deceased Teresa Teng
Teresa Teng
Teresa Teng , was an immensely popular and influential Chinese pop singer from Taiwan. Teresa Teng's voice and songs are instantly recognized throughout East Asia and in areas with large Asian populations...
from Taiwan, Wong's own personal idol. Chen Tao, a China Radio International
China Radio International
China Radio International , the former Radio Beijing and originally Radio Peking, founded on December 3 of 1941, is one of the three state-owned media in China along with China National Radio and China Central Television in the People's Republic of China .As the PRC's external radio station, CRI...
DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
, compares Wong's influence in the Sinosphere
Sinosphere
In areal linguistics, Sinosphere refers to a grouping of countries and regions that are currently inhabited with a majority of Chinese population or were historically under Chinese cultural influence...
to Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's in America: "She represents a certain era of pop music, a certain trend, and a vision of being unique." Beijing-based scholar Wang Dong also believes Wong's popularity reflects a social phenomenon broader than entertainment itself, as people identify themselves through Wong due to her image of being unique.
Outside the Chinese world, the American rock band J-Church
J Church (band)
J Church was an American punk rock band formed by guitarist and vocalist Lance Hahn and bassist Gardner Maxam in 1992 in San Francisco, California after the demise of Hahn and Maxam's former band, Cringer...
once recorded a song "(I want to see) Faye Wong" and put Wong's picture on the cover of a split album
Split album
A split album is a music album which includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There have been singles and EPs released in the same nature, which can be referred to as split singles and split EPs respectively...
. A Norwegian band "Green Club Riviera" also had a song titled "Faye Wong". Wong probably has more Western fans than most of her C-pop peers, collectively referred to as "Fayenatics".
According to famous Japanese director Shunji Iwai
Shunji Iwai
is a Japanese film director/video artist, writer and documentarian.-Life and career:Iwai was born in Sendai, Japan, Miyagi prefecture. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987....
, his film All About Lily Chou-Chou
All About Lily Chou-Chou
is a 2001 Japanese film written and directed by Shunji Iwai. The film portrays the rough lives of high school children in Japan, and centres around the music of a fictional singer Lily Chou-Chou.-Plot:...
was inspired by attending a Faye Wong concert, and the titular character, portrayed by singer Salyu
Salyu
is a Japanese singer, produced by Takeshi Kobayashi. She debuted in 2000 as the fictional singer Lily Chou-Chou for the film All About Lily Chou-Chou, and later debuted as a solo artist in 2004...
, was based on Wong.
China's 2007 spacecraft Chang'e 1 played Faye Wong's version of "Wishing We Last Forever".
Studio Albums
- 1989: Shirley Wong (王靖雯)
- 1990: EverythingEverything (Faye Wong album)Everything is a 1990 album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong. The title song is the Cantonese version of Jody Watley's 1989 hit.-Track listing:# 巴黎塔尖 - Paris Eiffel Tower Tip...
- 1990: You're the Only OneYou're the Only One (Faye Wong album)You're the Only One is a 1990 album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong.-Track listing:#美麗的震盪 - Beautiful Vibration#又繼續等 - Still Waiting...
- 1992: Coming HomeComing Home (Faye Wong album)Coming Home is an album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong. It was released on her return to Hong Kong in 1992 after her year long stay in New York City.Wong had issued her first three official albums under the stage name Shirley Wong...
- 1993: No RegretsNo Regrets (Faye Wong album)No Regrets is a 1993 album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong.By the time of the album's release, Wong was already established a substantial fanbase in Hong Kong. She wrote the Mandarin lyrics for the ballad "No Regrets", released as a hit single...
(執迷不悔) - 1993: 100,000 Whys (十萬個為什麼)
- 1994: Mystery (迷)
- 1994: Random ThoughtsRandom Thoughts (Faye Wong album)Random Thoughts is a 1994 album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong. It confirmed her move into alternative music and covers songs by the Cocteau Twins, whose influence she readily acknowledged....
(胡思亂想) - 1994: Sky (天空)
- 1994: Ingratiate OneselfIngratiate OneselfIngratiate Oneself is a 1994 album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong.Cinepoly Records released this album in December, only a few months after her highly influential alternative music Cantonese album Random Thoughts and her second Mandarin Chinese album...
(討好自己) - 1995: Decadent Sounds of Faye (菲靡靡之音)
- 1995: Di-DarDi-DarDi-Dar is an album recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong.Released in December 1995, towards the end of her recording contract with Cinepoly Records, this is Faye Wong's last Cantonese album....
- 1996: Restless (浮躁)
- 1997: Faye WongFaye Wong (1997 album)Faye Wong is a self-titled album by C-pop singer Faye Wong. Her first recording with EMI, it was recorded in Beijing and released in 1997, around the time that she relocated to Beijing after several years of success in Hong Kong....
(王菲) - 1998: Scenic TourScenic Tour (Faye Wong album)Scenic Tour is an 1998 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong. It includes 10 tracks in Mandarin, with 3 bonus Cantonese tracks.Scenic Tour is also the first Chinese album recorded in HDCD techniques...
(唱遊) - 1999: Only Love StrangersOnly Love StrangersOnly Love Strangers is a 1999 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong. It contains 10 tracks in Mandarin with bonus Cantonese versions of two of the songs....
(只愛陌生人) - 2000: FableFable (album)Fable is a 2000 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong.The album is structured into 3 basic parts. The first five tracks deal with certain aspects of Buddhism and fairy tales, especially that of Cinderella. The next three are radio-friendly pop songs...
(寓言) - 2001: Faye WongFaye Wong (2001 album)Faye Wong is a 2001 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong.-Track listing:#"光之翼" – 3:21#: "Wings of Light"#"等等" – 3:28#: "Wait a Moment"#"打錯了" – 3:12#: "Wrong Number"...
(王菲) - 2003: To LoveTo Love (Faye Wong album)To Love is a 2003 album by Beijing-based C-pop singer Faye Wong.This was Faye Wong's first album recorded with Sony. it remains her last album to date. Released on 7 November 2003, it has 13 tracks, 10 in Mandarin and 3 in Cantonese...
(將愛)
Tours
| Concert Series | Dates & venues | Songs on concert albums that had not been previously released on any studio albums | Availability and trivia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faye Wong Live In Concert 1994–95 (王菲最精彩演唱会) | 18 concerts in Hong Kong (Dec 1994 – Jan 1995), 7 more in Edmonton Edmonton Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census... , Vancouver Vancouver Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,... , New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... , Toronto Toronto Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from... , Taipei Taipei Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean... , Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million... and Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the... |
(i) "I Will Marry You Tomorrow" (Emil Chau); (ii) "One Thousand Words, Ten Thousand Phrases" (Teresa Teng Teresa Teng Teresa Teng , was an immensely popular and influential Chinese pop singer from Taiwan. Teresa Teng's voice and songs are instantly recognized throughout East Asia and in areas with large Asian populations... ) |
Released on CD, VHS and Laserdisc Laserdisc LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical... . The visual designer for the concerts was the film director Wong Kar-wai Wong Kar-wai Wong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046... |
| Faye Wong Scenic Tour 1998–99 (王菲唱游大世界演唱会) | 17 concerts at Hong Kong Coliseum: 24 Dec 1998 – 9 Jan 99, 11 concerts in China and 2 in Japan, then 5 more in Singapore, Malaysia & USA | (i) "Bohemian Rhapsody Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera... " (Queen Queen (band) Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor... ); (ii) "Auld Lang Syne Auld Lang Syne "Auld Lang Syne" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song . It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight... " |
Released on CD and VCD. In the Japan concert, she covered Dou Wei's "Don't Break My Heart". After her divorce, she stopped performing "Pledge" for the remaining concerts |
| Faye Wong Tour in 2000–01 | 11 concerts in China, 1 concert in Taipei Taipei Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean... , 1 in Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater... , 1 in Sydney and then 3 more in Japan |
"Thank You For Hearing Me" (Sinéad O'Connor Sinéad O'Connor Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U".... ) |
Her concert in Tokyo of Japan is being released on VCD and DVD. |
| No Faye No Live Tour 2003–05 (菲比寻常) | 8 concerts in Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour... (Dec 2003), 8 more in Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million... , Shanghai Shanghai Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010... , Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the... , Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty... , Hangzhou Hangzhou Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people... , Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... , Taipei Taipei Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean... and Guangzhou Guangzhou Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port... |
(i) "Heart of Glass Heart of Glass (song) "Heart of Glass" is a song by American New Wave band Blondie, written by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. Featured on the band's third studio album, Parallel Lines, it was released as a single in January 1979 and topped the charts in several countries, including the US and UK.Rolling... " (Blondie Blondie (band) Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s... ); (ii) "The Look of Love The Look of Love (1967 song) "The Look of Love" is a popular song composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and sung by Dusty Springfield, which appeared in the 1967 spoof James Bond film Casino Royale.-Songwriters:... " (Dusty Springfield Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s... ) |
Released on CD, SACD, VCD and DVD. She decided to perform "Pledge" again for these concerts. Pu Shu's "Those Flowers" was only covered for concerts in China. The title sponsor was the clothing company Baleno Baleno (Hong Kong) Baleno Holdings Limited is a Hong Kong clothing brand sold in Asia. It is one of the most successful fashion brands to expand into China since opening up its retail markets.- History :... |
| Comeback Tour 2010–11 (巡唱) | 5 concerts in Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... (Oct–Nov 2010), 5 in Shanghai Shanghai Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010... (Nov 2010), 3 in Taipei Taipei Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean... (Jan 2011), 5 in Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour... (Mar 2011), 2 in Guangzhou Guangzhou Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port... (May 2011), 2 in Nanjing Nanjing ' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions... (May 2011), 2 in Changsha (July 2011), 2 in Wuhan Wuhan Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers... (August 2011), 1 in Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the... (Oct 2011), 1 in Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million... (Nov 2011), and 6 more in Harbin Harbin Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River... , Chengdu Chengdu Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status... and Xi'an Xi'an Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty... . |
She performed 23 tracks for all the concerts, except for Hong Kong where she performed 24. Throughout the tour, she covered other artists' songs as follows: Eason Chan Eason Chan Eason Chan Yik-shun is a prominent male singer in Hong Kong's music industry. Undoubtedly one of the most dominant male singers in the post-1997 era of Hong Kong music industry. Eason Chan has been praised by Time magazine as a front runner in the next generation of Cantopop... 's "大开眼戒" (Cantonese), Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals... 's "Rilkean Heart", Sinead O'Connor's "A Perfect Indian" and Karen Mok Karen Mok Karen Joy Morris, known more commonly in the Sinosphere as Karen Mok or Mok Man-Wai, is a three-time Golden Melody Award-winning Hong Kong-based actress and singer-songwriter.- Biography :... 's "单人房双人床" (Mandarin) |
Tour Setlists
- 夢遊
- 夢中人
- 多得他
- 無奈那天
- 靜夜的單簧管
- Medley:
- Miss You Night & Day
- Summer of Love
- 又繼續等
- Everything
- 不再兒嬉
- 從明日開始
- 明天我要嫁給你
- Medley:
- 天與地
- 用心良苦
- Medley:
- 如風
- 季候風
- 有一天我會
- 浪漫風暴
- Kisses in the Wind
- 流非飛
- 愛與痛的邊緣
- 知己知彼
- 胡思亂想
- 誓言
- 誘惑我
- 棋子
- 執迷不悔
- 容易受傷的女人
- 冷戰
- 千言萬語
- 出路
- 我願意
- Overture
- 感情生活
- 浮躁
- 悶
- 暗湧
- 天空 (unplugged)
- 臉
- 迷路
- 夢中人
- 夢遊
- 原諒自已
- 末日
- 墮落
- 天使
- 懷念
- 夢醒了
- 但願人長久
- 情誡
- 一人分飾兩角
- 為非作歹
- Di-Dar
- 曖昧
- Bohemian RhapsodyBohemian Rhapsody"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
- 你快樂 (所以我快樂)
- Auld Lang SyneAuld Lang Syne"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song . It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight...
- 約定
- 償還
- 我願意
- 執迷不悔
- Overture
- 我願意
- 再見螢火蟲
- 悶
- 矜持
- Medley:
- 半途而廄
- 只愛陌生人
- 開到茶靡
- 過眼雲煙
- 流浪的紅舞鞋
- 新房客
- 香奈兒
- 感情生活
- 掙脫
- 推翻 （unplugged）
- 你 (unplugged)
- 但願人長久
- 天空
- Separate Ways
- 天使
- Eyes On MeEyes on Me (Faye Wong song)"Eyes on Me" is a pop ballad performed by Chinese diva Faye Wong as a love theme for the video game Final Fantasy VIII. The song's lyrics, written in somewhat imperfect English by Kako Someya, unveil the hopes of a night club singer for romance with a member of her audience.-Single:The song was...
- Thank You For Hearing Me
- 人間
- Overture
- 天空
- 誓言
- Medley:
- 純情
- 背影
- 夢中人
- 流浪的紅舞鞋
- 我願意
- 假如我是真的
- 只願為你守著約
- 但願人長久
- 新房客
- 香奈兒
- 將愛
- 開到荼蘼
- 償還
- 紅豆
- 暗湧
- 光之翼
- 悶
- Heart of Glass
- 旋木
- 只愛陌生人
- The Look of Love
- 如風
- 愛與痛的邊緣
- 精彩
- Medley:
- 尾班車
- 靜夜的單簧管
- 守時
- 約定
- 給自己的情書
- 冷戰
- 人間
Films
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 1991 in film The year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November... |
Beyond's Diary | BEYOND日記之莫欺少年窮 | Mary | |
| 1994 1994 in film 1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time... |
Chungking Express Chungking Express Chungking Express is a 1994 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick Hong Kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a woman... |
重慶森林 | Faye | Nominated—14th HK Film Awards 14th Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony for the 14th Hong Kong Film Awards was held in 1995.-Best Film:-Best Director:-Best Screenplay:-Best Actor:-Best Actress:-Best Supporting Actor:-Best Supporting Actress:-Best New Performer:-Best Cinematography:... for Best Actress Won—Stockholm Film Festival for Best Actress |
| 2000 2000 in film The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor .... |
Okinawa Rendez-vous Okinawa Rendez-vous Okinawa Rendezvous is a 2000 Hong Kong film produced and directed by Gordon Chan, and starring Leslie Cheung, Faye Wong, Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Gigi Lai.... |
戀戰沖繩 | Jenny | |
| 2002 2002 in film The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of... |
Chinese Odyssey 2002 Chinese Odyssey 2002 Chinese Odyssey 2002 is a 2002 Hong Kong film written and directed by Jeffrey Lau and produced by Wong Kar-wai. It stars Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Faye Wong, Zhao Wei and Chang Chen.... |
天下無雙 | Princess Wushuang | Nominated—22nd HK Film Awards 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards The ceremony for the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards was held on 6 April 2003 in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and hosted by Eric Tsang, John Shum, Athena Chu and Anna Yau. Twenty-seven winners in nineteen categories were unveiled... for Best Actress Won—HK Film Critics Society Awards Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards The Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards are the annual awards given by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society in Hong Kong, China since 1995. The awards are determined by votes cast in three rounds after a substantial discussion session between the members of the society... for Best Actress |
| 2004 2004 in film The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol... |
2046 2046 (film) 2046 is a 2004 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. It is a loose sequel to the 1991 Hong Kong film Days of Being Wild and the 2000 Hong Kong film In the Mood for Love... |
Wang Jingwen | ||
| Leaving Me, Loving You | 大城小事 | Xin Xiaoyue |
Television
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 1991 in television For the American TV schedule, see: 1991-92 United States network television schedule.The year 1991 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1991.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:... |
Traces of the Heart | 別姬 | Mei-fong | TVB movie Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to... |
| 1992 1992 in television The year 1992 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1992.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:*Hallmark Hall of Fame .*Guiding Light .*The Today Show .... |
The Files of Justice (Part II) | 壹號皇庭II | Mandy | TVB series |
| 1993 1993 in television The year 1993 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1993.For the American TV schedule, see: 1993-94 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:... |
Legendary Ranger | 原振俠 | Hoi-tong | TVB series (20 episodes) |
| Eternity | 千歲情人 | Bou Ging-hung | TVB series (20 episodes) | |
| 1994 1994 in television The year 1994 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1994.For the American TV schedule, see: 1994-95 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:... |
Modern Love Story: Three Equals One Love | 愛情戀曲：愛情3加1 | Wun-gwan | one part of TVB series |
| 2001 2001 in television The year 2001 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2001.-Events:-Debuts:-1940s:*Meet the Press .*Candid Camera .*CBS Evening News .... |
Love From a Lie | ウソコイ | Lin Fei | Kansai TV Kansai Telecasting Corporation , often called or , is a TV station affiliated with Fuji News Network and Fuji Network System in Osaka, serving the Kansai region of Japan... series (11 episodes) |
External links
- Microblog (While unverified, the account is believed to belong to her)
- 王菲 – photo montage (may be slow to load)
- Faye Wong Today – feifan's fan site
- 菲迷府 – Fayenaticshome
- All About Ah Faye – Stefan's fan site
- 唱遊王菲天與地 – Cecilia's Fan Site
- Smile Angel Foundation