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PolyGram

Fate	Sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group
Successor(s)	Universal Music Group
Founded	1962
Founder(s)	Philips Records
Defunct	1999
Parent	Philips

PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.

Hollandsche Decca Distributie (HDD), 1929-1950[link]

In 1929, Decca Records (London) licensed record shop owner H.W. van Zoelen as a distributor in the Netherlands. By 1931, his company Hollandsche Decca Distributie (HDD) had become exclusive Decca distributor for all of the Netherlands and its colonies. Over the course of the 1930s, HDD put together its own facilities for A&R, recording and manufacture.

HDD was commercially successful during World War II because of the absence of American and British competition. Van Zoelen wanted to sell to Philips so that HDD would have sufficient financial backing when their major competitors returned after the war. This led Philips to buy HDD in 1942.

In the mid-twentieth century, the majority of large recording companies manufactured both gramophones and records; Philips CEO Anton Philips noted the risk in creating gramophones without an interest in music recording and record manufacture, and that Radio Corporation of America (RCA) had merged with the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929 for this reason. Philips' labs were developing magnetic tape and LPs, and that record companies could support eventual new formats, although other record companies were notably unenthusiastic about experimenting with new formats.

After the war, Philips built a large factory in Doetinchem to produce 78 rpm records.

Philips Phonografische Industrie (PPI), 1950-1962[link]

In the 1940s, the record business was spread out within Philips — research in the Eindhoven labs, development elsewhere in Eindhoven, recording in Hilversum, manufacturing in Doetinchem, distribution from Amsterdam and exports from Eindhoven. During the late 1940s, Philips combined its various music businesses into Philips Phonografische Industrie (PPI), a wholly owned subsidiary.

PPI's early growth was based on alliances. A merger was first proposed with Decca of London in late 1945, but was rejected by Edward Lewis, Decca's owner. (PolyGram finally acquired Decca in 1979.)

In the early 1950s, Philips set itself the goal of making PPI the largest record company in Europe.

PPI's second attempt at a merger was with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG). DGG, owned by Siemens AG and well known for its classical repertoire, had been the German licensee for Decca from 1935. DGG also owned Polydor Records. Shortly after PPI was founded it had made a formal alliance with DGG to manufacture each others' records, coordinate releases and not to poach each others' artists or bid against each other for new talent. PPI and DGG finally merged in 1962.

The alliance with DGG still left PPI without repertoire in Britain or the US. But in 1951, after Columbia had failed to renew its international distribution agreement with EMI, PPI agreed to distribute Columbia recordings outside the US and have Columbia distribute its recordings inside the US. This agreement ran until 1961, when Columbia set up its own European network, PPI signed a worldwide distribution deal with Mercury Records in 1961. Ironically, PPI's parent company Philips, through its U.S. affiliate Consolidated Electronics Industries Corp (a.k.a. Conelco), acquired Mercury in 1962.

PPI built or bought factories in smaller countries. In 1962, PPI had a large factory in Baarn and factories in France, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Nigeria and Brazil.

PPI played an important role in the introduction of the long-playing vinyl record to Europe. Columbia introduced their LP record in 1948 and Philips presented its first LP at a record retailers' convention in 1949. Philips' commitment to LP technology was an important factor in its 1951-1961 deal with Columbia.^{[citation needed]}

GPG and PolyGram, 1962-1980[link]

In 1962, PPI and DGG formed the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG), with Philips taking a 50% share in DGG and Siemens a 50% share in PPI. In 1972 the companies formally merged to form PolyGram, of which Philips and Siemens each owned 50%. In 1977 both organizations merged operationally, integrating the recording, manufacturing, distribution and marketing into a single organization.

The various record labels within PolyGram continued to operate separately. PolyGram gave its labels, as A&R organizations, great autonomy.

GPG needed to move into the US and UK markets, and did so by a process of both formation and acquisition: Polydor Records established its American operations in 1969, Mercury Record Productions (US) was acquired in 1972 from sister company North American Philips Corp., RSO (UK) in 1967, MGM Records and Verve (US) in 1972, Casablanca (US) in 1977, Pickwick in 1978, and Decca (UK) in 1980 (the latter acquisition basically brought PolyGram full circle, see the HDD section above). PolyGram acquired United Distribution Corporation (UDC) in 1973 and signed distribution deals with MCA and 20th Century Records in 1976.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Philips had been at work on a new consumer magnetic tape format for music. The Philips Compact Cassette came out in 1963. It was small, played longer than an LP and was robust. In 1965 the cassette accounted for 3% of revenues, growing in 1968 to 8% and in 1970 to 10.6%.

In the late 1960s and through the 1970s, GPG/PolyGram diversified into film and television production and home video. RSO's successes included Saturday Night Fever and Grease. PolyGram's highly successful marketing during the disco craze included the Casablanca film Thank God It's Friday and its associated soundtrack. During the boom in disco, PolyGram's US market share had gone from 5% to 20%. This can also be attributed to multi-million selling LPs & 45s by The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, The Village People, Andy Gibb, Kool and The Gang and rock act Kiss. For a short while,^[quantify] it was the world's largest record company.^{[citation needed]}

Reorganization, 1980-1999[link]

Before 1978, with the acquisition of UDC, the distribution organization was too large and PolyGram was losing money. When US operations were running at full capacity, PolyGram expanded aggressively, and would press large quantities of records without knowing the demand. In late 1979, PolyGram was caught offguard by the sudden end of the popularity of disco music, leaving it with an underutilized distribution network, profligate labels, and overoptimistic product orders. PolyGram's Casablanca label was infamous for management spending on luxury cars and cocaine. After 1980, PolyGram's losses had spiraled upwards of US$220 million.

Another contributing factor to PolyGram's financial woes was the massive failure of the big budget 1978 musical Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. The film starred the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton at the height of popularity, and featured Beatle covers by them as well as Aerosmith, Billy Preston, and Earth, Wind, and Fire. The film was highly anticipated to surpass the box office success of both the Saturday Night Fever and Grease, mostly due to the film's popular music stars. The soundtrack LP, based on only advance orders, was released triple platinum.^{[citation needed]} However, the movie was released to poor reviews and died a quick death at the box office. Despite its triple platinum start, the soundtrack LP's sales bombed after the film's release. In turn, record dealers flooded PolyGram with returned LPs. The resulting losses nearly wiped out the profits the company had made on both the Saturday Night Fever and Grease soundtracks. When the disco craze ended in 1979 and record sales for both The Bee Gees and Casablanca's Village People plummeted, the company's fate was sealed. PolyGram also experienced losses with the defection of Casablanca's Donna Summer to newly formed Geffen as well as the dropping of Andy Gibb (from RSO), whose personal problems with cocaine and alcohol began to affect his recording career. Summer and The Bee Gees also had legal disputes with their labels, which further complicated matters.

In 1983, Philips manager Jan Timmer was appointed CEO. He cut the workforce from 13,000 to 7,000, reduced PolyGram's LP and cassette plants from eighteen to five and decreased the company's dependence on superstars by spreading the repertoire across different genres and nurturing national and regional talent. By 1985, PolyGram was profitable once more. Its roster of labels by this time included: Polydor, Mercury, London, London/FFRR, Casablanca (until 1986, later to be reincarnated in 1994), RSO, De-Lite, Riva, Threshold (owned by The Moody Blues), Tin Pan Alley (under Polydor), and Atlanta Artists (founded by Cameo lead singer Larry Blackmon) all consolidated into PolyGram Records, Inc.

Total Experience Records (founded by Lonnie Simmons) was taken to RCA for distribution in 1984. Wing Records was reincarnated in 1987 and became a very popular label over the following years, spawning the careers of Tony! Toni! Tone! and former Miss America, Vanessa Williams; the label was discontinued in the mid-1990s. Fontana was revived in the U.S. in 1989, but only for a short while. Today, Fontana Distribution is an independent label distribution unit of Universal Music Group. Vertigo Records still remained a rare U.S. PolyGram label, as most of the music on Vertigo Records were from Europe.

In 1982, PolyGram purchased 20th Century Fox Records from 20th Century Fox, which was just recently brought out by oil magnate Marvin Davis, who was not interested in keeping the record company. The assets of the former 20th Century Fox Records were consolidated with the company's Casablanca label.

After an attempted 1983 merger with Warner Music failed, Philips bought 40% of PolyGram from Siemens, acquiring the remaining 10% in 1987.

The compact disc, invented by Philips and Sony, helped greatly in boosting the company's sales and market share. PolyGram's strength in classical music helped greatly, as many of the CD's early adopters were classical music lovers. Total US sales of CDs were 1 million in 1983, 334 million in 1990 and 943 million in 2000. Total UK sales were 300,000 in 1983, 51 million in 1990 and 202 million in 2000. The CD increased PolyGram's profit margin from 4-6% in the mid-1980s to 7-9% by the early 1990s. As well, videos were distributed by PolyGram Video.

In 1989, Philips floated 16% of PolyGram on the Amsterdam stock exchange, valuing the whole company at $5.6 billion. PolyGram embarked on a new program of acquisitions, including A&M and Island Records in 1989, Swedish company Polar Music which held the rights to the ABBA catalogue, Motown in 1993, Def Jam in 1994 and Rodven (Venezuela) in 1995.

In 1999, Philips sold PolyGram to Seagram and it was merged into Universal Music Group. The name survives via reissue of music under the Polydor Records label.

See also[link]

• List of record labels
• Working Title Films
• PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
• Chocolate City Records

References[link]

• The Making of a Music Multinational: The International Strategy of PolyGram, 1945-1988 by Dr Gerben Bakker, Dept. of Accounting, Finance and Management, University of Essex.

External links[link]

• PolyGram at last.fm.

v t e Philips Divisions and subsidiaries Current Philips Consumer Lifestyle Gaggia Saeco Philips Healthcare Philips AVENT Respironics Shenzhen Goldway Industrial Philips Lighting Philips Lumileds Lighting Company Corporate Technologies Former and defunct Liquavista Magnavox NXP Semiconductors Philips Analytical Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium PolyGram (Fontana Records Mercury Records Philips Classics Records Philips Records PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Vertigo Records) Joint ventures and shareholdings Current NXP Semiconductors (19.9%) Philips-Neusoft Medical Systems (51%) TCL Corporation (6.3%) Former and defunct ASML Holding Broadcast Television Systems Inc. LG Philips Display NEC Philips Unified Systems Philips Consumer Communications Brands, products and standards Current Ambilight Norelco Philips Cinema 21:9 TV Philips Entertaible Philips GoGear Philips Intimate Massagers Senseo ShoqBox Sonicare Streamium Trimension Video Content Protection System Defunct Philips Nino Philips Velo Philips :YES Philishave SpeechMagic Video 2000 People Cor Boonstra President and Chief Executive Officer Gerard Kleisterlee Co-founders Anton Philips and Gerard Philips Frits Philips Places High Tech Campus Eindhoven Philips Arena Philips Stadion Other Carousel HDMI Licensing Philips Sports Manager of the Year Phoebus cartel Category Commons

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Andy Lau 劉德華
Andy Lau being interviewed at the 29th Hong Kong International Film Festival (2005).
Chinese name	劉德華 (Traditional)
Chinese name	刘德华 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Liú Déhuá (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Lau4 Dak1 Waa4 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Xinhui, Guangdong
Born	(1961-09-27) 27 September 1961 (age 50)[1] Tai Po, Hong Kong
Other name(s)	Wah Zai (華仔) Lau Wah (劉華) Ngau Wah (牛華)
Occupation	Singer, actor, film producer, and presenter
Genre(s)	Cantopop, Mandopop
Instrument(s)	Singing
Label(s)	Capital Artist(1985) EMI(1986-1989, 2002-2004) Polygram(1990-1993) Warner Music(1993-1995) Music Impact(1995-2000) Multi-Talent(2000-2002) Ever Song (2004-2005) Focus Music (2005-2007) East Asia Music(2007-present)
Years active	1981 - present
Associated acts	Five Tiger Generals
Spouse(s)	Carol Chu 朱丽倩 (2008 - present)
Children	1 daughter
Official Website	www.andylau.com
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Film 1998 Made in Hong Kong 2011 Gallants 2012 A Simple Life Best Actor 2000 Running Out of Time 2004 Running on Karma 2012 A Simple Life Best Supporting Actor 2008 Protégé Best Original Film Song 2003 Infernal Affairs Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Actor 2001 A Fighter's Blues Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best Actor 2003 Running on Karma Golden Horse Awards Best Actor 2003 Infernal Affairs III 2011 A Simple Life Golden Rooster Awards Best Media Rooster for 2009 TVB Anniversary Awards My Most Memorable Male Leading Role 1999 The Return of the Condor Heroes Other awards Panasonic Awards 2007 1st Asian Film Awards 2007 Box Office Star of Asia Award

Andy Lau Tak-Wah MH, JP^[2] (born 27 September 1961) 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.^[3] In the 1990s, Lau was branded by the media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop (四大天王) along with Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung and Leon Lai.^[4]

Biography[link]

Andy Lau was born in Tai Po, Hong Kong, with origins in Xinhui, Guangdong. As a young boy Lau had to fetch water for his family up to eight times a day because their house was not equipped with plumbing.^[5] He later graduated from a Band One Secondary School, Ho Lap College in San Po Kong, Kowloon.^[6] He also practices Chinese calligraphy.^[7] Lau converted to Buddhism in the 1980s.^[8] He was raised in a nominally Buddhist household and is now a follower of the Lingyan Mountain Temple in Taiwan.^[9]

In 2008, Lau married Malaysian Chinese Carol Chu after 24 years of speculation over their relationship.^[10] The couple registered their marriage in Clark County, Nevada, in the United States.^[10] On 9 May 2012, Chu gave birth to his first child, a daughter.^[11]

Career[link]

Dramatic acting[link]

In 1981, Lau signed up for the artist training program offered by TVB, which is where his acting career began.^[1] The lead role which led to his initial popularity was in the 1982 TVB series The Emissary. In 1983, Lau's role as "Yang Guo" in the TVB series The Return of the Condor Heroes further increased his popularity. From then on, he would take on many of the lead roles in many of the TVB series.

In September 1983, TVB was looking to increase their ratings in competition with Korea and Japan for the best variety show. The station then created the show TVB All-star challenge (星光熠熠勁爭輝) featuring almost the entire lineup of the most popular actors and singers at the time.^[12] Lau along with Tony Leung, Michael Miu, Felix Wong, and Kent Tong were branded as "TVB's Five Tigers" (無線五虎將) due to their popularity on the show.^[12]

In the late 80s, Lau left TVB due to contract problems. TVB wanted to bind him to an exclusive five-year contract which Lau refused to sign, so TVB blacklisted him. He then focused on his film career.^[5]

Film acting[link]

Lau's wax figure at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong

In 1981, Lau made a guest appearance in one of Susanna Kwan's music video and caught the eye of the manager Teddy Robin.^[13] Teddy Robin then gave Lau a chance to play a small role in the movie Once Upon a Rainbow.^[13] This was the first step in Lau's film acting career.^[13] He was then given a role in Ann Hui's 1982 film, Boat People.^[1] Later in 1983 he had his first leading role in a Shaw Brothers film called On the Wrong Track.^[14]

One of his early leading roles included the more serious 1988 film The Truth (法內情). However, Lau is best known in movies for his (often) recurring roles as a "Heroic Gangster" such as Wong Kar-wai's 1988 film, As Tears Go By and Johnnie To's 1990 film, A Moment of Romance.

Though a respectable actor, Lau in the early days was known more for his good looks. The people he works with say he is an idol, but he has claimed to be an artist.^[3] Lau has proved his acting skills in many of his movies. His first major acting prize came with A Fighter's Blues, which was his first Golden Bauhinia Award for Best Actor.^[15] He would win the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor award that year for Running out of Time.^[16] In 2004, he won the prestigious Golden Horse Award for his performance in Infernal Affairs III, the sequel to the popular Infernal Affairs.^[17] Western audiences may also be familiar with his performance in the House of Flying Daggers.

In 2005, Lau was awarded "No.1 Box Office Actor 1985-2005" of Hong Kong, yielding a total box office of HKD 1,733,275,816 for shooting 108 films in the past 20 years.^[5][7] The aforementioned figure is as compared to the first runner-up Stephen Chow's (HKD 1,317,452,311) and second runner-up Jackie Chan's (HKD 894,090,962). "I've never imagine that it would be as much as 1.7 billion!" he told the reporters. For his contributions, a wax figure of Lau was unveiled on June 1, 2005 at the Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.^[18] In 2007, Lau was also awarded the "Nielsen Box Office Star of Asia" by the Nielsen Company (ACNielsen).^[2]

Film producer[link]

In 1991 Lau has set up his own film production company called Teamwork Motion Pictures Limited, which in 2002 was renamed to Focus Group Holdings Limited. His contributions in the film industry as well as his involvement in nurturing new talents in the Asian film industry led him to being awarded the "Asian Filmmaker of the Year" in the Pusan International Film Festival in 2006.^[2] Some of the films he produced include the award-winning Made in Hong Kong and the mainland digital film Crazy Stone.

Musical career[link]

Andy Lau in concert 2011

Lau released his first album "Only Know that I Still Love You" (只知道此刻愛你) under Capital Artists in 1985.^[5] However, his first album was not a big hit.^[5] Despite having a voice not traditionally associated with popular music, his hard work and perseverance resulted in him being one of the most successful singers. His singing career reached stellar status in 1990 with the release of the album entitled "Would It Be Possible" (可不可以), and his subsequent releases only solidified his status as a marketable singer.^[5] For that song, he would win his first 1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. He would then win at least one RTHK award category every year consecutively until the year 2007.

From Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards, he has won the “Most Popular Hong Kong Male Artist” award 7 times and the “Asia Pacific Most Popular Hong Kong Male Artist” award 15 times.^[5] He also entered into Guinness World Records for "Most Awards Won By A Cantopop Male Artist". By April 2000, he had already won a total unprecedented 292 awards.^[5]

Many of his songs quickly topped the music charts, not only in Hong Kong, but also in Taiwan, Mainland China, and in many different parts of Asia. Some of the most notable hits by Lau include "The Days We Spent Together" (一起走過的日子), "If You Are My Legend" (如果你是我的傳說), "The Tide" (潮水), "Forget Love Potion" (忘情水), "True Forever" (真永遠), "Chinese people" (中國人), "Love You Forever" (愛你一萬年), "You Are My Woman" (你是我的女人), "Secret Admiration" (暗裡著迷). Besides singing in Cantonese and Mandarin, he also sang in other languages, such as English, Japanese, Malay, and Taiwanese. One example of a Hokkien song was (世界第一等).^[19]

Since the early 1990s, Lau, along with Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai have been referred by the Chinese media as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王).^[4]

Lau sang alongside Jackie Chan during a part of the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony on August 24, 2008. In addition Lau, who has been supporting the disabled athletes in Hong Kong for more than a decade, was appointed as the Goodwill ambassador for the 2008 Summer Paralympics.^[20] He led other performers in singing and performing the song "Everyone is No.1" at the Beijing National Stadium just a few hours before the 2008 Paralympics opening ceremony began to show his support for the disabled athletes.^[21] He also sang the theme song "Flying with the Dream" with Han Hong during the Paralympics opening ceremony on September 6, 2008.^[20]

Appearance in other media[link]

Lau is alleged to have been featured as a non-player character (NPC) as a random pedestrian in a sandbox-style action video game called PROTOTYPE. On 6 July, the Hong Kong local newspapers Headline Daily and Sing Tao Daily reported on Lau's cameo.^[22]

Community[link]

In 1994, Lau established the "Andy Lau Charity Foundation" which helps people in need and promotes a wide range of youth education services.^[2] In 1999, he was awarded the "Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World", being the 3rd person from Hong Kong at that time to bestow this distinguished honor.^[2] In 2008, Lau took a main role in putting together the Artistes 512 Fund Raising Campaign for donation relief toward the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.^[23] It was one of the largest and most ambitious charity event ever assembled in the territory.

Lau has been noted for his active involvement in charity works throughout his 30 years of showbiz career and was honored "Justice of Peace" by the Hong Kong SAR government in 2008.^[24] In May 2010, he received the "World Outstanding Chinese" award and an "honorary doctorate" from the University of New Brunswick, Canada.^[25]

Incidents[link]

Yang Li-juan fan case[link]

Lau experienced unexpected notoriety with his encounter with a 29 year old fan from mainland China, Yang Li-juan (楊麗娟), who had idolized the star for 13 years.^[26] After her parents sold the family house to pay for a trip to Hong Kong, Yang finally met Lau on March 26, 2007.^[27] One day later, Yang's father committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea in Hong Kong, leaving a suicide note chiding Lau for not having taken his daughter more seriously.^[27]

Awards and nominations[link]

Hong Kong Film Awards

Won[link]

• 1998 Best Film for Made in Hong Kong (Producer)
• 2000 Best Actor for Running Out of Time
• 2003 Best Original Film Song for Infernal Affairs (Singer with Tony Leung ^{[disambiguation needed ]})
• 2004 Best Actor for Running on Karma
• 2008 Best Supporting Actor for Protégé
• 2011 Best Film for Gallants (Producer)
• 2012 Best Film for A Simple Life (Producer)
• 2012 Best Actor for A Simple Life

Nominations[link]

Best Actor[link]

• 1989 Best Actor Nomination for As Tears Go By
• 1992 Best Actor Nomination for Lee Rock
• 1996 Best Actor Nomination for Full Throttle
• 2001 Best Actor Nomination for A Fighter's Blues
• 2002 Best Actor Nomination for Love on a Diet
• 2003 Best Actor Nomination for Infernal Affairs
• 2006 Best Actor Nomination for Wait 'Til You're Older
• 2008 Best Actor Nomination for The Warlords

Best Original Film Song[link]

• 1992 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Casino Raiders II (Singer)
• 1995 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Heaven and Earth ^{[disambiguation needed ]} (Singer)
• 1996 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Full Throttle (Singer/Lyricist)
• 1998 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Island of Greed (Singer)
• 1999 Best Original Film Song Nomination for The Longest Summer (Singer)
• 1999 Best Original Film Song Nomination for A True Mob Story (Singer/Lyricist)
• 2002 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Shaolin Soccer (Singer/Lyricist)
• 2006 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Wait 'Til You're Older (Singer/Lyricist)
• 2008 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Brothers (Singer with Eason Chan/Lyricist)
• 2012 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Shaolin (Singer/Lyricist)

Other Nominations[link]

• 1983 Best New Performer Nomination for Boat People
• 1999 Best Film Nomination for The Longest Summer (Producer)
• 2007 Best Asian Film Nomination for Crazy Stone (Producer)

(11 Best Actor Nominations, 11 Best Original Film Song Nominations, 4 Best Film Nominations, 1 Best Supporting Actor Nomination, 1 Best New Performer Nomination, 1 Best Asia Film Nomination)

References[link]

External links[link]

	Hong Kong portal
	Biography portal
	Film portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andy Lau

• Andy Lau's Official Website (Chinese) (English)
• Andy Lau at the Internet Movie Database
• Andy World Club
• Andy Lau interview.

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Jacky Cheung 張學友
Jacky Cheung, January 2007
Chinese name	張學友 (Traditional)
Chinese name	张学友 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Zhāng Xúeyǒu (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Zoeng1 Hok6-jau5 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Tianjin, China[1]
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	(1961-07-10) 10 July 1961 (age 50)[2] Hong Kong
Other name(s)	God of songs[3]
Occupation	Singer Very occasional Songwriter Actor
Genre(s)	Cantopop, Mandopop, Operatic pop, Jazz, R&B
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar
Voice type(s)	Baritone,[4] Tenor,[5] occasional falsetto[6]
Years active	1985 – present
Spouse(s)	May Lo Mei-mei (羅美薇)
Official Website	www.jackycheung.hk
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actor 1989 As Tears Go By Best Original Film Song 2006 Perhaps Love Golden Horse Awards Best Supporting Actor 1990 The Swordsman Other awards World Music Awards Best-Selling Asian Artist 1995, 1996

Jacky Cheung (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王),^[7] with more than 60 million records sold as of 2000.^[8]

Biography[link]

Cheung is known for his baritone voice.^[9] On 15 February 1996 in London, he married Hong Kong actress May Lo Mei-mei, with whom he has two daughters.^[10] Cheung is also nicknamed "god of Songs" (歌神), but he is the second person to hold this title, after former Cantopop singer Sam Hui.^[3][11] In an interview with Ray Cordeiro (Uncle Ray), Cheung stated that the title was more appropriate for Hui than for him, since he actually wrote and popularized songs.^[12]

Career[link]

Music[link]

Jacky Cheung in concert, January 2008.

Cheung originally started working as a reservation officer for the Cathay Pacific airline.^[13] His music career started when he won the Amateur 18-Hong Kong district singing contest in 1984 with the song Fatherland (大地恩情).^[14] He ousted more than 10,000 other contestants.^[13] After winning the contest, he was signed by the then Polygram Records, now Universal Music Group.^[13] 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.^[15][16]

	"Half moon (月半彎)" noicon A transitional song from the golden age to the Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王) era by Jacky Cheung
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

In 1991 he released the song "Loving You More Every Day" (每天愛你多一些), a translated version of the Japanese Southern All Stars hit, Midsummer's Fruit (真夏の果実). The album True Love Expression (真情流露) in 1992, as well as the subsequent release, Love Sparks (愛火花) in 1992, achieved audited sales of over 400,000 copies in Hong Kong alone.^[17]

His subsequent albums included 1993 "Me and You" (我與你) and 1994 "Born to be wild" (餓狼傳說). In the 1994 Billboard Music Awards in the US, he was named the most popular singer in Asia.^[18] 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.^[19] Cheung was also elected as one of the world's Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 1999.^[18]

Amongst his hit songs, some of his most famous were Amour, "Just want to spend my life with you" (只想一生跟你走) and "Goodbye Kiss" (吻别). The album The Goodbye Kiss (吻别) 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.^[20] The 4 million sold worldwide allowed him to be the first Asian artist to get on PolyGram's annual Top 10 roster.^[21] 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 best singer of the four.^[22]

In 1995, Cheung staged his record-breaking 100-show world tour titled "Yau Hok Yau" (友學友), literally a pun of "friendship Jacky Cheung" reusing the same Chinese characters found in his name.^[23] The tour started with 34 shows from 8 April to 9 June at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Then the tour continued at Perth Brisbane Australia and returned to Taipei and mainland China.^[24] It then expanded to Madison Square Garden^[25] in the US, different parts of Europe, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Japan.^[24] 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.^[13][14]

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.^[18] In 2000 he was awarded by RTHK, the Golden Needle Award.^[26] 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, Cheung 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, breaking the previous record of 100, which was also set by Cheung previously.^[27]

Duets[link]

	"In Love With You" (1994) noicon Cheung's collaboration with Regine Velasquez is one of Cheung's best duets.
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Cheung not only performs solo but often in duets with female singers. A duet with fellow Asian Superstar 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 Zhu Fu ("Blessing") as a duet in a benefit concert for victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Other duet partners include:

• Priscilla Chan - "A Pair of Lonely Hearts" (一對寂寞的心)
• Faye Wong - "Love's Promise"
• Kelly Chen - "Waiting for Your Love"
• Anita Mui - "Love is Hard" （相愛很難）, (祝福)
• Shirley Kwan - ""Youngster No Love"" (年少無情)
• Coco Lee - (從頭到尾)
• Priscilla Chan - (愛和承諾), (接近)
• Sandy Lam - (日與夜)
• Vivian Chow - (留住秋色)
• Sarah Brightman - "There for Me"
• Reba McEntire - "For My Broken Heart"
• Regine Velasquez - "In Love With You"
• Cally Kwong - "Only Love Persists" (祇有情永在)
• Karen Tong - "Miss Each Other In the Wind & Rain" (相思風雨中)
• Vivian Lai - "Long Flow, Never Rests" (長流不息)
• He Ruhui - (似曾相識)
• Francesca Gao (高慧君) - (你最珍貴)
• Karen Tong - (情濃半生)
• Chen Jia Lu - (花與琴的流星(雪狼湖)) , (愛狼說(雪狼湖))

On stage musical[link]

In 1997 his work on the groundbreaking Cantonese broadway-style musical Snow.Wolf.Lake was enthusiastically received by both audiences and critics.^[7] 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.^[28] In November 2004, Cheung 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.^[28] The estimated budget for this revised production was HK$100 million and the show premiered on 24 December 2004 in Beijing.^[29]

Acting[link]

Cheung's hand print an autograph at the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong.

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).^[30][31] 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.^[32]

In the 2004 released and Wong Ching-po directed triads drama film, Jiang Hu, Cheung 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.^[33]

Ceremonies and spokesperson[link]

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.^[34] 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.^[35] He was introduced as "the most popular Asian performer in the world".

In 2010, Cheung, Jane Zhang, and K'naan sang a Mandarin version of "Wavin' Flag (The Celebration Mix)" for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Community[link]

In March 2009 he became the first Cantopop / Mandopop artist to contribute items to the Hard Rock franchise memorabilia collection.^[36] Items are to be exhibited at the Hard Rock hotel in Macau.^[36] A joint donation is also made to donate HK$600,000 to the Children's Cancer Foundation and ORBIS Macau.^[27] In September 2009, Cheung, as one of the super ambassadors of End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation (ECSAF) founded by Josephine Siao, attended the charity fund raising event for celebrating ECSAF’s 10th anniversary in Hong Kong.^[37]

Foreign domestic helper incident[link]

Cheung's maid was arrested for taking images of Cheung's children, in a case that sparked controversy among some domestic servants in Hong Kong. It was argued that Cheung overreacted and the sentence was disproportionate and the case was regarded by some as racial discrimination.^[38] The Philippines consulate soon announced that Cheung's family had employed 21 different maids in a three-year period and placed Cheung on a 'blacklist' that would prevent him from employing any Filipino maids in the future.^[39]

IFPI Awards (partial list)[link]

IFPI Gold Disc Award^[40]

• 1989 87'演唱會 Polygram
• 1990 絲絲記憶精選 Polygram

IFPI Platinum Disc Award

• 1985 Smile Polygram
• 1986 遙遠的她 Polygram
• 1987 相愛 Polygram
• 1987 Jacky Polygram
• 1988 昨夜夢魂中 Polygram
• 1990 給我親愛的 Polygram
• 1990 祇願一生愛一人 Polygram

IFPI Top 10 Sales Album

• 2003 Where is he 他在那裡 What's Music
• 2004 Black & White What's Music
• 2005 活出生命 Live 演唱會 What's Music

IFPI Top 10 Sales Artist

• 2005

IFPI Top Sales Album

• 2005 活出生命 Live 演唱會 What's Music

See also[link]

• Cinema of Hong Kong
• Music of Hong Kong

References[link]