Hacken Lee
(born 6 December 1967) is an award winning Hong Kong based Cantopop singer and lyricist, actor, Master of Ceremonies and Association football sportscaster.
|
HACKEN LEE TICKETS
|
Biography
Early Years: 1985-1995
While Hacken was still studying at
Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, Lee entered the
TVB new talent show along with
Alex To,
William So,
Vivian Chow,
Grasshopper, and
Eddie Ng. Although he did not get into the top 30, his passion for singing made him enter another competition. Lee won the 1985 Hong Kong 18 District Singing Contest singing "Love in the Fog" (???), a song made famous by
Alan Tam, and was offered a contract with
PolyGram Records.
[1] As a new and relatively unknown singer, the sales of his first
EP album "??? (EP)" did not even reach the 5,000 mark. However, in 1988, he appeared in a
TVB television series "
Teenage No More" (?????), which ignited his popularity and kicked off his career.
In 1992, Hacken reached the first peak in his career with "Red Sun" (??), a song which he sang and penned the lyrics. "Red Sun" (??) is still widely recognized to this day as the prime "feel-good" song in Hong Kong, and it appeared at the time when Cantopop was blooming in the early 90s. Likewise, Lee's music grew in popularity, and his first concert, held at the
Hong Kong Coliseum in 1993 was very well received; all the tickets sold out in a couple days.
However, his fortune took a turn for the worse in 1995 and his music career came to a stand-still following various contract disputes with his record company and a concert with a very low turnout. For a time, Hacken had no recording contract and worked instead as a TVB presenter for shows such as the music programme "
Jade Solid Gold
",
Miss Hong Kong
and numerous sports events, notably soccer. At the same time, he turned to acting and appeared occasionally in dramas for TVB.
Although his music career was at a low point then, Hacken made a name for himself as a TV host and an actor. But occasionally, he recorded songs for TVB, as such as the TVB theme song for the 1998 World Cup.
Current Career: 1999-Present
In 1999, Hacken signed on with
Universal Music, his current record company. However, it was not until 2001 before he began to have a succession of hits once more, including "
Flying Flower
" (??), "
Feet of Fortune
" (???), "
I Won't Sing
" (?????) and "
The Grasp of Love
" (????).
The turning point of his career came in late 2001, after a collaboration with the
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert series was very well-received, along with subsequent sales of its recordings. Similarly, Hacken's early 2002 concert and subsequent sales of that concert's recordings were equally well-received.
He co-starred in the
TVB drama,
Legal Entanglement
(????), which aired around the time of the 2002 concert. The series achieved high ratings and was one of TVB's most popular dramas that year. He later won the "Most Favourite Character" award at the 2002 TVB Anniversary Awards for his role in this drama series. He was also appointed the host of the
2002 World Cup and sang the theme song of TVB, which dominated the local charts for quite some time.
Riding on a wave of popularity and recognition for his singing talents, Hacken won the TVB Jade Solid Gold Award three times, twice in succession (2002 and 2003) and another one in 2005.
In 2003, he cooperated with
Alan Tam in a series of highly successful concerts around the world, including multiple shows in Hong Kong and
Las Vegas. The concerts were named "Neighbors" (??????) which is a play of words with a well known Chinese
four-character idiom ???? using homonyms ? and ? in the artists' names. The concert became known for the "happy culture" which it inspired, especially welcomed in a period of economic downturn and an air of pessimism in Hong Kong society as a whole.
He also partnered with
Joey Yung for the first time in 2004, in a collaboration better known by another four-character idiom "Urgency cannot afford delay" (????), once again a Chinese
pun using the artists' names ? and ?.
Lee was the first Chinese artist to release a
DualDisc. Entitled
Hacken Lee Concert Hall
(??????), the
DVD side of the disc featured "
Making Of" footage, while the
CD side features live recordings of the songs in
Surround Sound.
A sequel CD,
Hacken Lee Seoul Concert Hall
(?????? II), was released in November 2006 following the success of the original
Concert Hall
, which sold over 80,000 copies. All songs in the second
Concert Hall
disc were recorded live from 28 August to 31, 2006 at the
Harmony Theatre,
Koyang Culture City Hall,
Korea. Many local Korean musicians participated in the recording project, including
Kwak Jung Harpist K
on harp,
So Kyoung-Jin on Korean big drum,
Jang Hyo-Seok on saxophone,
Kim Won-Jin as boy soprano, Kim Hyun-Mi,
Jung Hyun-Suk Joy of Strings
on violin,
Kim Hae-Ryeon on viola, and
Chung Yu-Young on cello.
David Hodges from
New York played an antique 1920
bandoneon in the recording. Unlike the original
Concert Hall
, which was released on the
DualDisc format,
Seoul Concert Hall
was released in 2 discs, DVD + CD, with the former recorded in high-definition 1080i format.
In 2006, he held a series of sell-out concerts (sponsored by
Carlsberg) during the
Chinese New Year period at the HK Coliseum, from 28 January through to 6 February.
On 28 November 2006, Hacken married his long-time girlfriend,
Miss Hong Kong 1992
Emily Lo Suk Yi and many celebrities attended their grand wedding.
Rumours broke out that Emily Lo was pregnant in early March 2007, Hacken soon admitted to the rumours at a press conference of his new album 'My Cup Of Tea'. He did not reveal it by word but by song, this song is named 'Xiao Bao Bao'. On 22 October 2007 Emily gave birth to their first child, a son Ryan.
Hacken Lee No.1 Hits was released in 22 November 2007. It contains 4 CDs of his classic hits and his new songs.
In 2007, Hacken with his environmental-themed song ???>, won the song of the year on Jade Solid Gold award. ???> is a song about environmental issues and reminds us that we only have one earth.
In 2008, Hacken against hosted a series of Chinese new year concerts, which featured the new song
Everyday is a valentine's day
??????>. His concert was a sellout with 11 shows in Hong Kong and this is followed by a world tour.
Hacken also accepted the job as a host for the Beijing Olympics broadcast in 2008.
Movie/Drama/Tv Shows
- Teenage No More
(?????; 1988, TVB)
- Two of a Kind
(?????; 1989, TVB)
- 1990 TVB ?????
- 1991 TVB ?????
- Angel's Call
(?????; 1992, TVB)
- 1992 TVB ?????
- 1992 TVB ?????
- 1992 TVB ???
- 1994 TVB ?????PART II
- 1994 TVB ????
- 1996 TVB ???????
- 1997 TVB ????
- World Cup 1998
(1998???; TVB)
- 1999 RTHK I.T.??
- Jade Solid Gold
(????; 1999, TVB)
- Street Fighters
(??.?.??; 2000, TVB)
- 2001 TVB ??????fun
- 2002 TVB ?????
- 2002 TVB ???????
- Legal Entanglement
(????; 2002, TVB)
- 2004 TVB ????????
- 2005 TVB ????????
- Minutes to Fame
(????; 2005, TVB)
- We Are Family
(?????; 2006)
- 2006 TVB ???
- The Lady Iron Chef
(????; 2007)
Discography
Albums
- 1986 - ???(EP)
- 1987 - ????
- 1988 - ?????
- 1989 - ????
- 1989 - Purple Dream
- 1990 - ?????
- 1990 - Love
- 1991 - ????
- 1991 - ?????
- 1992 - ?????
- 1992 - ??
- 1993 - ????
- 1993 - Album
- 1994 - ??'93 ???
- 1994 - ??
- 1994 - ????(??)
- 1994 - ????
- 1995 - ????(??)
- 1995 - Reborn
- 1995 - Hackenation
- 1996 - ????
- 1996 - ??
- 1997 - ??(??)
- 1997 - ?????
- 1999 - ????
- 2000 - ?????
- 2001 - ??.?? Live
- 2001 - ??
- 2002 - ???
- 2002 - ???????
- 2002 - ???
- 2002 - ????
- 2003 - ???????
- 2003 - Ever Last
- 2003 - Custom Made
- 2004 - ????04?????
- 2004 - Smart I.D.
- 2004 - ????
- 2004 - ???x??????????
- 2005 - ?????(??)
- 2005 - ??????
- 2006 - ??????????
- 2006 - ????
- 2006 - ??????II
- 2007 - My Cup of Tea
- 2008 - ??????????
- 2009 - Today Special
Gallery
References
- umg.com.hk Lee Hacken profile