王菲

王菲 (Faye Wong), also known as 王靖雯. Born August 8, 1969 in Beijing, is a popular singer in Asia, especially mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and more recently in Japan and to some extent in the West.

She is believed by critics and fans alike to be one of the most commercially and artistically distinguished singers in Chinese pop music history, with a following so large and devoted that media in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China often place the title tiānhòu, (天后; diva or goddess) before her name, while Japanese fans call her "Diva of Asia". Shy, intensely private, and unsocial, she is one of the very few people widely popular on both sides of the Taiwan straits despite her aggressive avoidance of the media. Not only admired openly by well-known celebrities around the world (most likely Asian ones), she was also labeled as the gay icon among the gay community.

According to The Guinness Book of Records she sold 9.7 millons copies of all her albums as of March 2000.

She has acted in several TV shows and films, most memorably in Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express, a role that garnered her international acclaim. She also won the award for "Best Actress" at the 1994 Stockholm Film Festival. Her most recent movie, 2046, she stars as an android and one of Tony Leung's love interests.

She is known not only to many Final Fantasy fans from her famous song "Eyes On Me", which was used in the game Final Fantasy VIII and in its promotional campaign in 1998, but also as one of the faces of such brand advertisements as Head & Shoulders shampoo and Pepsi-Cola.

Faye Wong also sung a cover of the theme song for the well-acclaimed blockbuster film Hero, and the song is available on the movie's sound track.

She was previously married to Dou Wei, and had one daughter with him. She is now married to mainland actor Li Ya-Peng, and recently had another daughter with him.

Musical career

Born in Beijing, People's Republic of China, she was originally named Xia Lin (Chinese: 夏琳; pinyin: Xià Lín), adopting her mother's maiden name because the Wang family was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution (her grandfather was a Republic of China congressman when it governed the mainland). At the age of 15, several years after the turmoil ended, her name was changed to Wang Fei (王菲). She inherited a talent for music from her mother, who was a soprano, and recorded several low-cost albums in high school covering the songs of Teresa Teng, her personal idol.

Modest beginnings

In 1987, she moved with her family to Hong Kong and began her musical career after a brief stint as a model, sometimes using the stage name "Miss Charm". She signed a contract with Cinepoly and released three albums under the stage name Shirley Wong (Chinese: 王靖雯; pinyin: Wáng Jìng Wén, Cantonese: Wong Ching Man). Containing a large number of covers of songs by artists from the US and Japan, these albums attracted little attention and a lukewarm response from critics. Frustrated with her career direction, she decided to take some time off in 1991 and travel to New York for vocal studies and cultural exchange. This brief hiatus would prove to be important for her artistic development.

During her absence, Cinepoly released a few compilations repackaging songs from her three albums, thereby keeping her somewhat visible at the record stores.

A year after returning to Hong Kong, she burst into the spotlight with her 1992 album Coming Home, which incorporated R&B influences like her previous two and was a drastic change in musical direction from the more traditional Cantopop fare of her earlier albums. On this album, she covered the song "Fragile Woman," originally sung by the Japanese music diva Miyuki Nakajima. While this song had been covered by other Chinese singers, her angelic version nonetheless swept over Hong Kong and single-handedly lifted her to superstardom. The album also included her first English-language song, "Kisses in the Wind"; she is on record as stating that this is her personal favourite song. 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).

For Coming Home and all subsequent releases, she changed her stage name back to her original name "Wong Fei" (王菲). Not satisfied to rest on her laurels, she wrote the Mandarin lyrics for the ballad "No Regrets" (執迷不悔) in 1993, which led many people to praise her not just as a talented singer but as a gifted songwriter as well; in February, the similarly titled album was released and became an instant best-seller. Although the songs were mostly more soft contemporary arrangements, like most of what was being traditionally released in Hong Kong, it also had a few dance songs and two versions of the title track: Wong's Mandarin song, and the other with Cantonese lyrics by Chen Shao Qi (the Mandarin version is by far the more popular one).

1993: Alternative style

Since then, she has completely shed any R&B influence and has moved on to produce works of considerable originality and a more alternative flavor, epitomized in her next album 100,000 Whys (September 1993). Before this album was released, a few of its tracks were mainstream enough to air in radio transmissions among listeners. It therefore became another instant best-seller, and introduced her fans to a new sound as she began experimenting with alternative music styles from the West, notably "Cold War" (冷戰) covering a song by Tori Amos.

The ethereal Scottish post-punk group Cocteau Twins' influence on her was clearly shown in her next Cantonese album, Random Thoughts. She learned the unique vocal stylings of Dolores O'Riordan of the Irish band The Cranberries, which culminated in her covering their song "Dreams" in Chungking Express (retitled "Dream Person" (夢中人) for Wong's album Random Thoughts (胡思亂想)) and songs by other artists such as The Sundays. Besides covering songs and learning distinct vocal techniques, Wong recorded her own compositions like "Pledge" (誓言), co-written by and featuring Dou Wei on Di Zi, and her first and only rap song "Exit" (出路). She also sang songs written by others, such as "Pure Love" (純情) and "Sleepwalk" (夢遊).

Because of the diversity of musical and aesthetic styles contained in these releases, they became quite influential among singers (old and new) as well as consumers in the Asian markets. To Wong's credit, each album still carried a balance between her preferred artistic taste and Cinepoly's commercial preference.

Mandarin market

Besides two Cantonese albums in 1994, Wong released another two in Mandarin in Taiwan, Mystery (迷) and Sky (天空). The runaway hit "I'm Willing" (我願意) became her trademark song throughout the Chinese-speaking world for years to come. Deemed as one of the greatest Chinese songs of the late 20th century, it has been covered by many other Chinese singers, such as Gigi Leung, Sammi Cheng and Jay Chou.

While her music in Hong Kong had moved noticeably out of the mainstream, these two Mandarin albums, as her first attempt to enter the Taiwan (and later the mainland) market, were nonetheless the warmest and most traditional of her entire career, and are especially cherished by her old fans. Critics generally agree that Yang Minghuang, the producer of these albums, deserves credit for their success; although Faye Wong would still have climbed to the top, he led her to achieve an exquisite and romantic musical style markedly different from the exotic, sharply distinctive and peculiarly artistic streak of her 'alternative' sounds.

Four best-selling albums in both the Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking regions, a record-breaking series of 18 consecutive concerts in Hong Kong, and a widely acclaimed film (Chungking Express): these achievements, all in 1994, made her by far the most eminent female Hong Kong singer at that time. However, as a northern girl with an upbringing at odds with the way of life in Hong Kong, her distaste for the profit-oriented entertainment industry became more and more apparent. Meanwhile, she was frequently in touch with the rock circle back in Beijing. Due to her somewhat reticent and nonchalant attitude, some began to consider her a defiant and arrogant superstar. For example, Wong would often give terse, direct, and somewhat unexpected answers when asked personal questions.

In 1995, she released The Decadent Sound of Faye (菲靡靡之音), a cover album containing unique renditions of songs originally done by her idol Teresa Teng, one of the most revered Chinese singers of the 20th century. Teng's music remains extremely popular in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and later mainland China. A duet was planned for the album, but Teng unfortunately died before this could be recorded; Wong considered scrapping the project out of respect. The title of this album is a pun: during the Cultural Revolution, Teng's songs were condemned as "decadent sounds" (靡靡之音) by the Communist Party of China. The album title is literally translated as Faye's Decadent Sound (菲靡靡之音) where the character "菲" (Faye) has the same pronunciation as "非" (no/not). Decadent Sounds sold quite well despite initial negative criticism. It has come to be recognised as a classic by her fans and is held as an example of imaginative covering by recent critics.

In December, she released her last-to-date Cantonese album Di-Dar (there is no Chinese name) which mixes various feelings of hollowness, languor, apathy and desperation with a touch of Indian and Middle Eastern flavor. Having composed several songs in previous albums expressing a desire to release herself, she was now finally fed up with the hypocritical industry. Music videos show her doing all kinds of meaningless things, playing and dancing by herself, apparently bored to death. Nevertheless, this album was a success, partly because it was so different from the mainstream Cantopop music and, ironically, a couple of very traditional romantic songs topped the charts.

浮躁 Restless

1996 saw the release of what many would consider her boldest and most artistically coherent effort to date, Restless (浮躁), alternately referred to as Impatience. This being her last album with Cinepoly, Wong felt she could take on more artistic risks. The album contains mainly her own compositions, with an aesthetic inspired by the Cocteau Twins, who actually contributed two original songs to the album, "Fracture" (分裂) and "Repressing Happiness" (掃興). As Wong had previously 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.

Critics loved and still love this impatience-themed album that presents a bright picture of joy, carefreeness, anxiety, fear and decadence under a sunny autumn sky. A Buddhist herself, Faye weaves in teachings of transience and disengagement that can also be found in her previous and later albums. Although this is Faye's personal favorite, the response from Hong Kong and Taiwan was less than desirable. Many fans who loved her previous three Mandarin albums turned their back on Restless, which they considered to be weird, self-absorbed, and too brief. However, hardcore fans, or Fayenatics, worship it and use this album to distinguish who is a "real" Fayenatic. Wong has not released another fully artistic album ever since. After the release, Faye 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 had also released an EP 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, Faye 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 published eight of these songs in the next two EPs entitled Toy (玩具) and Help Yourself (自便). Although the EPs contained new songs (such as ballad hits like "Undercurrent" (暗湧), "Date" (約定), and "On Time" (守時)) and were welcomed by fans, they received cool critical responses. The other two songs were included in later compilations; the last to be released was "Scary" (心驚膽戰) in 2002.

1997: EMI and Faye Wong

Wong signed with the recording industry magnate EMI in 1997 after her daughter was born, at a price (according to the media) of 60 million Hong Kong dollars (approx. 7.7 million US dollars) for 55 songs to be released in 5 albums. While most of her earlier albums prior to 1996 were sung in Cantonese, Wong has sung almost exclusively in Mandarin, her mother tongue, ever since. Although the Mandarin market, which includes mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore, is a much larger market than the Cantonese one, Faye also recorded Cantonese versions of a couple of the songs in each of the last four albums with EMI in order to retain her Hong Kong audience. Having gone through a stage of experimentation, Wong stated that she wished to produce "music that I like. I do not care if others don't, though I would be delighted if they do".

王菲 Faye Wong (1997)

Her first album with EMI was Faye Wong (1997) (王菲), released in autumn 1997. Critics had been expecting that she could offer another ground-breaking artistic piece of work after her critically acclaimed yet commercially frustrating Restless in 1996 but, much to their dismay, Faye Wong was almost completely pleasant and commercial in music. The only distinctive thing about it is her panda-eye makeup and strange clothes in the booklet and the music videos. Wong put away all her distinctive vocal techniques, thus forming a brand new "natural" style.

Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins contributed two original compositions to this album, but only one, "Amusement Park" (娛樂場), was used. This release also included a guitar-based cover of the Cocteau Twins' song, "Rilkean Heart," renamed "Nostalgia" (懷念).

This album is filled with feelings of lethargy, languor, drowsiness and disengagement, yet most of the songs sound warm and sweet, as opposed to those sharp self-centered ones before her motherhood. Reporters also noticed that she began to smile more in public and was not as icy or aloof as before. However, this album came out during the Asian financial crisis that swept East and Southeast Asia, among which Hong Kong was heavily hit. Wong's old boss Cinepoly has all the copyrights of her previous songs, and released a Mandarin compilation at the same time in 1997 to counteract (and indeed outperform) her new album with EMI. Later on, Cinepoly would release a couple of compilations every year to compete with Wong's new albums, a tactic which has come under strong criticism from her international fans. Faye Wong didn't sell well in Hong Kong and other damaged areas in Asia, but it did quite well in other Mandarin markets such as Taiwan and mainland China. Although Wong gained some popularity with her previous 4 Mandarin CDs, it was this sweet yet slightly alternative album that really got the Chinese listeners' attention. From here on, her stature began to rise sharply in Asia.

唱遊 Scenic Tour

At the beginning of 1998, Wong was invited to sing "Meet in '98" with her personal friend Na Ying, a prominent mainland pop singer, at the 1998 Spring Festival Gala hosted by China Central Television, an annual show that enjoys a stunning average rating over two decades since its first broadcast on the eve of 1983's Chinese Lunar New Year. This national recognition immediately boosted her career in the mainland, with her name spreading from the young generation keen on pop music from Hong Kong and Taiwan to a far wider range of audience.

This album was released in October, and it contains four songs composed by Faye herself: the opening track "Emotional Life", "Face" (which had a trademark singing style that defied the Chinese music industry at that time), "A Little Clever" and "Tong" (both written for her daughter, with 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).

只愛陌生人 Only Love Strangers

Early in 1999, Pepsi-Cola made Wong a spokesperson. In March, she held two concerts in Nippon Budokan; she was the first Chinese singer to perform in that venue. After these concerts, she shot the promotional music video for "Spectacular" (精彩), which Pepsi used in commercials; the song was included in the album Only Love Strangers (只愛陌生人), released in late September. This was her first album after she parted from her husband Dou Wei, and her first without musical collaboration with him since their relationship had begun. The title track was featured in Sylvester Stallone's remake of Get Carter. She also became a spokesperson for JPhone in October, performing in several commercials which aired in Japan.

The popular videogame Final Fantasy VIII, released in Japan in February 1999, featured the song "Eyes On Me" sung in English by Wong. It was the first time in videogame history a Japanese title would feature a Chinese singer for its theme. The song was a major breakthrough into the Japanese market, with the "Eyes On Me" single selling over 400,000 copies and winning "Song of the Year (Western Music)" at the 14th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards. Later in the year, the game was released in North America. The theme for the game became very popular in the West for both non-Asian and Asian gamers who weren't familiar with her music. While it wasn't a mainstream hit in the West (she had no desire to explore these markets), she did find herself many onlookers, many of whom were able to expand their exposure with her other works.

In addition, she began filming for 2046 in August, a project she would pursue on and off in the next few years when she would have an opening in her schedule.

寓言 Fable

The new millennium saw a ground-breaking shift in Wong's musical career with the album Fable (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.

Fable represents a milestone in Faye's artistic development and constitutes an important album of Faye’s entire opus. It remains indisputably a ground-breaking contribution to the Chinese indie soundscape as well as retaining a special place with Faye fans.

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.

王菲 Faye Wong (2001)

By this time, Faye had forged a famous alliance with producer/musician Zhang Ya Dong (張亞東) and lyricist Lin Xi (林夕), often referred to by the 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. Die-hard Fayenatics felt that it deviated to much from the trademark 'trippy/softrock' style established in her former albums. Even 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 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.

Despite not being her most prominent album, Faye Wong (2001) (王菲) reached number 14 on the Japan Oricon charts - no mean feat for a Chinese singer in a large market that looks more towards the West.

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 fundraising 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. Meanwhile, her former record companies released several more compilations and boxed sets of her records.

She recorded several 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 Impatience. In addition, she recorded a recitation of the Heart Sutra.

將愛 To Love

Meanwhile, she recorded 13 tracks for her album To Love (將愛), released in November 2003. 10 tracks were sung 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.

Personal life

First marriage

Ever since her rise to fame, Wong had been frequently cooperating with musicians back in Beijing's rock circle. She consequently fell in love with fellow Beijinger Dou Wei, her musical partner and a prominent musician/rock star in his own right. One morning, Hong Kong paparazzi captured a picture of her dumping a chamber pot with disarrayed hair and sleepy eyes in a slummy neighbourhood. This photo caused a stir in the HK entertainment industry in whose eyes the contrast between her diva status in Hong Kong and a life in a small, shabby, less than sanitary house in Beijing was quite astonishing. Many from then on saw Wong as a woman who would sacrifice anything for love. In June 1996, after being pregnant for several months, she finally married Dou.

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.

However, the paparazzi, particularly those from Hong Kong, were the first to detect alienation between the two, especially during Wong's concert tour of Japan in March 1999. Several days later, they caught Dou with another woman inside a restaurant in Beijing. Asked who she was, Dou immediately answered, "She is Gao Yuan (高原). My lover". Wong was already famous in the mainland by 1999, so this news caused a shock in the entertainment industry across the Chinese-speaking world. Due to the relatively conservative social values in Chinese society, overwhelming media coverage appeared, ferociously condemning Dou's infidelity. Reports and rumours were flying around, including one that said Gao admitted she and Dou had been lovers for years and had never really separated even after the wedding. Wong's enormous group of multinational fans maintained relentless attacks on Dou for a long time. However, he declared that all had been set up by Wong's agent and company from the very beginning. Their friends in the Beijing music circle also declined to comment. On the other hand, Wong remained silent and secluded during the whole time and never talked about it in public later on, with a few exceptions when she mentioned the future life of her daughter, whom she won custody of after the following divorce.

Nicholas Tse

In her first public romantic relationship after her failed marriage, Wong took up with Hong Kong singer and actor, Nicholas Tse, whose reputation at the time was the town's leading "bad boy" celebrity. While this May-December romance (Wong is 11 years his senior) delighted local tabloids and gossip magazines, which first reported the affair in June 2000, Wong's protective fan base were decidedly confused and upset over this new relationship. Many felt that Tse was not good enough for her, and voiced concerns he would betray her in the end.

Her fans' suspicions were confirmed in March 2002 when local news media reported that Tse had been secretly romancing Hong Kong actress and singer, Cecilia Cheung, who is also 11 years younger than Wong. Not long after this affair become public did Tse sever his ties with Wong and his career suffered because of it. However, after Tse's romance with Cheung ended only months later in July 2002, Wong and Tse resumed their on-again, off-again relationship to the great dismay of her fans, until she met her current husband, actor Li Yapeng, in 2003.

Second marriage

Relying on photos and other sources, the press reported that she began dating and became subsequently engaged to actor Li Yapeng. It remained a mere rumor to some until their wedding in 2005. Around the time of the wedding, her manager confirmed that she might retire from singing and acting. Later that year, her Hong Kong agent confirmed that Wong was pregnant with the couple's child, her second after daughter Dou Jingtong, whom she had with her previous husband. Li has said that he will support whatever decision his wife makes with regards to her musical career.

On May 27, 2006, Wong gave birth to her second daughter, Li Yan (李嫣, lit. meaning "captivating"), by caesarean section at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Through unidentified sources, media outlets soon began to speculate that the baby had a congenital condition. On Aug 12, Li published a thousand-word public online letter, "Thanks (感謝)", on his Sina.com blog; it sought to quell the widening media frenzy through an official statement on the newborn's severe cleft lip. The letter also served as an outlet for their gratitude towards all concerned parties. He expressed their reasoning for seeking medical care in California—the special reconstructive surgeries Li Yan needed were not available in China at the time. Citing a South American folk tale, Li then described his daughter as a special child, with her cleft as a mark of an angel. Since writing the letter, the couple has established the Smileangel Foundation. The charity officially began operation on November 21 with the goal of assisting children with clefts. On December 26 Wong made her first public appearance since 2004 at the foundation's fundraising ball. She opted not to speak or sing, but her new composition "Cheerful Angel" (愛笑的天使) was debuted at the event as the official song of the charity. To date, the foundation raised over 12 million renminbi, including 8.5 million from auctions at the ball; the most significant item was an 18th century jade alms bowl sold for 5 million to Foxconn CFO Huang Chiu-ling and Chairman Terry Gou (the item was donated by Tony Leung Chiu-Wai).