Contains Chinese text
Jay Chou () (born January 18, 1979) is a
Taiwanese musician, singer, producer, actor and director who has won the
World Music Award four times. He is well-known for composing all his own songs and songs for other singers. 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 popular Chinese singers. Although he was trained in
classical music, Chou combines
Chinese and
Western music styles to produce songs that fuse
R&B,
rock and
pop genres, covering issues such as domestic violence, war, and urbanization.
In 2000 Chou released his first album, titled
Jay, under the record company Alfa Music. Since then he has released one album per year, selling several million copies each. His music has gained recognition throughout Asia, most notably in regions such as
Mainland China,
Japan,
Hong Kong,
Malaysia,
Indonesia,
Singapore,
Vietnam,
Taiwan, and in overseas Asian communities, winning more than 20 awards each year. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. He debuted his acting career in
Initial D (2005), for which he won Best Newcomer Actor in
Golden Horse Awards, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor by
Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). His career now extends into directing and running his own record company JVR Music. He has also endorsed various models of Media Players released by
Onda in which he appears on the box, and his signature and likeness is printed on the back of certain models of these players.