Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau
is a Hong Kong singer and actor from the mid-1980s to the 2008. The Chinese-language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings (????). [1] Cheung is nicknamed the "God of Songs" (??). However he is the second person to have the title. Former Cantopop star Sam Hui is generally considered the "first generation God of Songs".
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JACKY CHEUNG TICKETS
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Biography
Born on 10 July 1961 in Hong Kong, Cheung is known for his rich
baritone voice.
[4] He is also one of the first Hong Kong singers to add a
rock and roll quality to his voice, citing singers such as
Elton John,
Barry Manilow and
Billy Joel as key influences. He has also experimented with different genres of rock, such as
alternative rock, light
grunge and
art rock. He married Hong Kong actress May Lo (???) on February 15, 1996 in London. with whom he has two daughters.
[5]
Career
Music
Jacky Cheung originally started working as a
clerk for the
Cathay Pacific airline.
[6] His music career started when he won the Amateur
18-Hong Kong district national singing contest in 1984 with the song
Fatherland
(????).
[7] He ousted more than 10,000 other contestants.
After winning the contest, he was signed by the then
Polygram Records, now
Universal Music Group.
Although encouraged by a bright start, he was not able to achieve immediate supremacy in Cantopop, then dominated by
Leslie Cheung,
Alan Tam,
Anita Mui and
Danny Chan. In 1985 he won his first two major awards together with the
1985 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards and the
1985 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards.
[8] [9]
Audio samples of Jacky Cheung
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His recording career got back on track in 1991 when his career took a massive upturn with his song "Loving You More Every Day" (???????), a translated version of the Japanese
Southern All Stars hit, "Midsummer's Fruit" (?????). The album
True Love Expression
(????) in 1992, as well as the subsequent release,
Love Sparks
(???) in 1992, became the two most successful CD albums in Hong Kong history, achieving audited sales of over 400,000 copies in Hong Kong alone.
[10]
Cheung became an instant superstar, paving the way for himself and his contemporaries,
Andy Lau,
Leon Lai and
Aaron Kwok, to take Cantopop to even greater heights. His subsequent albums such as the 1993
"Me and You"
(???) and 1994
"Born to be wild"
(????) were also big hits. Since then, his career only grew stronger. Cheung managed to garner thousands of fans in Hong Kong and overseas. In the 1994
Billboard Music Awards in the US, he was named the most popular singer in Asia.
[11] He received numerous music awards both in Hong Kong and elsewhere, including the best-selling Chinese singer in the
World Music Awards for two consecutive years in 1995 and 1996 held at
Monaco.
Cheung was also elected as one of the world's Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 1999.
Amongst his hit songs, some of his most famous were
Amour
, "Just want to spend my life with you" (???????) and "Goodbye Kiss" (??). The album
Goodbye Kiss
(??) was one of the best-selling albums of all time, achieving more sales in Hong Kong,
Taiwan and
Southeast Asia than ever attained before, with an astounding 4 million copies sold in 1993 alone.
[12] The 4 million sold worldwide allowed him to be the first Asian artist to get on PolyGram's annual Top 10 roster.
[13] The album was also instrumental in helping Cheung break into the mandopop market. Due to these great songs and albums, Cheung is generally considered to be the pre-eminent member of the
Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop
. He is regarded by some sources as the first singer of the four.
[14]
In 1995, Jacky staged his record-breaking 100-show world tour titled "Yau Hok Yau" (???), literally a pun of "friendship Jacky Cheung" reusing the same Chinese characters found in his name.
[15] The tour started with 34 shows from April 8 to June 9 at the
Hong Kong Coliseum. Then the tour continued at
Perth Brisbane Australia and returned back to
Taipei and
mainland China.
[16] It then expanded to
Madison Square Garden in the
US, different parts of
Europe,
Singapore,
India,
Malaysia and
Japan.
He was regarded as the new Michael Jackson by
Business Week.
His successful music and acting career has made him one of Hong Kong's icons. Cheung was elected by
Time Magazine as one of the "25 most influential people in the New Hong Kong" in 1996.
In 1999, he was named one of the 10 Outstanding Young Persons of the World by the Junior Chamber International, a worldwide federation of young professionals and entrepreneurs.
In 2000 he was awarded by
RTHK,
the Golden Needle Award.
[17] This award, the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award, recognized outstanding contributions to the music industry.
Cheung won the
Best Selling Cantonese Album Award
in the
Hong Kong IFPI Awards of 2005 with his live album,
Jacky Live Performance
. In the fast-changing scene of canto-pop, Cheung has been able to maintain his popularity and sales power for more than 20 years after his debut, which is unparalleled in the history of Hong Kong pop music.
In 2007, Jacky staged his
"Year of Jacky Cheung World Tour 2007"
. The tour started on 18 February 2007 at
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in
Las Vegas. When the tour ended in Hong Kong on 3 February 2008 after touring 58 cities around the world, a total of 105 shows had been given, attracting more than 2 million fans. 105 became the highest number of shows in a tour by a Chinese artist, erasing the previous record of 100, which was also set by Jacky previously.
[18]
Duets
Cheung not only performs
solo but often in
duets. Hong Kong artists he has performed with in duet songs include:
- Priscilla Chan - "A Pair of Lonely Hearts"
- Faye Wong - "Love's Promise"
- Kelly Chen - "Waiting for Your Love"
- Anita Mui - "Love is Hard"
A duet with
Filipino singer-actress
Regine Velasquez on the song
"In Love with You"
was included in her multi-platinum album
"Listen Without Prejudice"
. In 2008 Cheung and
A-Mei, the popular
Taiwanese singer, performed
Ju Fu ("Blessing") as a duet in a benefit concert for victims of the 2008
earthquake in
Sichuan,
China. Other duet partners include:
- Sarah Brightman - "There for Me"
- Reba McEntire - "For My Broken Heart"
On stage musical
In 1997 his work on the groundbreaking
Cantonese broadway-style musical
Snow.Wolf.Lake
was enthusiastically received by both audiences and critics.
Cheung not only played the male lead, but was also the artistic director for this production. The first female lead was played by
Sandy Lam in Hong Kong and
Nnadia Chan in
Singapore.
Kit Chan played the second female lead. They achieved 43 consecutive full-house performances at the gigantic
Hung Hom Hong Kong Coliseum which remains the record today.
[19] In November 2004, Jacky and his concert manager,
Florence Chan Suk-Fan, worked on a revised
Mandarin version of
Snow, Wolf, Lake
so as to bring it to a wider audience. The female leads this time were
Evonne Hsu and Nnadia Chan respectively. The market budget alone exceeded
HK$15 million.
The estimated budget for this revised production was HK$100 million and the show premiered on 24 December 2004 in
Beijing.
[20]
Acting
While Cheung is known for his singing, he has also acted in many films. He received the Best Supporting Actor award in the
8th Hong Kong Film Awards for his work in
As Tears Go By
(1988) as well as the Best Supporting Actor
Golden Horse Award for his work in
Swordsman
(1990).
[21] [22] That same year he also collaborated with
John Woo and
Tony Leung in the film
Bullet in the Head
. For his work in
July Rhapsody, he also received the Best Actor Award at the
New Delhi Film Festival for his portrayal of the protagonist role. His song
Perhaps Love
, which serves as the theme song for the multi-award-winning film
Perhaps Love
, also won the
Best Song Award
at the 2005
Hong Kong Film Award and the
CASH Best Song Award
at the 2005/2006
CASH Gold Sail Music Awards. He also starred in Taiwanese mini-series called
Love Scar
with
F4 member
Jerry Yan and
Karen Mok, where he acted as Jerry Yan's older brother.
[23]
In the 2004 released and
Wong Ching Po directed triads drama film,
Jiang Hu
, Jacky played the role of
Lefty
, the best friend and right hand man of a crime boss,
Hung Yan Chau
, who is played by
Andy Lau. The film includes several actors from the cast of
Infernal Affairs
.
[24]
Ceremonies and spokesperson
Cheung was named the spokesperson for
Hong Kong Disneyland in 2004. He took part in a number of large-scale marketing events organized by
The Walt Disney Company and
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, beginning with the hosting of a TV program,
Magical World of Disneyland
.
[25] He recorded a multi-lingual song for Hong Kong Disneyland, entitled
One.
The music video for
One
was filmed at Hong Kong Disneyland. He also recorded for the
Hong Kong Disneyland: The Grand Opening Celebration Album.
In December 2006, Cheung performed live the theme song
"Together Now"
at the
Opening Ceremony of the
15th Asian Games in
Doha,
Qatar.
[26] He was introduced as "the most popular Asian performer in the world".
Community
In March 2009 he became the first
Cantopop /
Mandopop artist to contribute items to the
Hard Rock franchise memorabilia collection.
[27] Items are to be exhibited at the Hard Rock hotel in
Macau.
A joint donation is also made to donate
HK$600,000 to the Children's Cancer Foundation and
ORBIS Macau.
Incidents
Foreign domestic helper incident
In November 2006 Jacky Cheung reported to the police acts of theft committed by one of his
maidservants, Preslyn-saga Catacutan. The report accused Ms Catacutan of stealing three photographs and a letter belonging to him as well as pursuing suspicious activities in Cheung's home, including attempts to unlock his secret telephone code.
Local newspaper reports described friends and co-workers as having complained to Cheung many times about the loss of personal effects after the servant was hired. Cheung decided he was better off terminating the servant's employment contract with compensation in respect of Hong Kong employment law.
[28]
On the day of the dismissal, Catacutan Preslyn-saga allowed her employer to perform a customary check of the content of her purse. Cheung found one of his personal letters, with his name and address, in the bag. Concerned that other personal items may have been taken, Cheung called the police. The police escorted both Cheung and the maid to the police station. Three photos of Cheung were later found in the possession of his former servant. Cheung said he had not wanted to alert the police, but felt he had to do so out of concern for the safety of his family, as his address may have been leaked to unknown persons.
[29]
The Hearing Magistrate, Winston Leung, described Cheung as "courageous" for bringing the matter before the court and consenting to appear as prosecution witness. Ms Catacutan was subsequently found guilty of theft, aggravated by a serious breach of faith, and sentenced to six months in jail. An appeal against the conviction is pending.
Controversy ensued when some agencies for domestic servants in Hong Kong argued that Cheung overreacted in alerting the police and that the sentence was disproportionate to the crime. They interpreted the episode as an example of unfair discrimination against Hong Kong's ethnic minorities.
[30] Other agencies supported the action.
Actions by the Philippines consulate in Hong Kong fueled further public debate. The consulate announced that his country had placed Cheung on a 'blacklist' that would prevent him from taking on anyone of Filipino nationality as an employee. After Cheung's former servant was sentenced the consulate remarked that Cheung's family had employed 21 different maids in a three-year period.
[31]
IFPI Awards (partial list)
IFPI Gold Disc Award
[32]
- 1989 87'??? Polygram
- 1990 ?????? Polygram
IFPI Platinum Disc Award
- 1988 Smile Polygram
- 1988 ???? Polygram
- 1988 ?? Polygram
- 1988 Jacky Polygram
- 1989 ????? Polygram
- 1990 ????? Polygram
- 1990 ??????? Polygram
IFPI Top 10 Sales Album
- 2003 Where is he ???? What's Music
- 2004 Black & White What's Music
- 2005 ???? Live ??? What's Music
IFPI Top 10 Sales Artist
IFPI Top Sales Album
- 2005 ???? Live ??? What's Music
See also
- Cinema of Hong Kong
- Music of Hong Kong
References
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- The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Immigration Department
- ???,Jacky Cheung,????,????
- International Herald Tribune Jacky Cheung's maid jailed
- Popstar fired '21 maids in three years'
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