Jay Chou

Jay Chou (born 18 January 1979)^[3] is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor and director.^[4]
In 2000, Chou released his debut album, titled Jay (2000), under the record company Alfa Music. Since then his music has gained recognition throughout Asia, most notably in regions such as Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan and in the Asian communities of Western countries such as the United States and Australia. He has sold more than 30 million albums and has received numerous awards for his musical work. Chou has also written songs for other artists whilst working on his albums.^[5] In 2003, he was the cover story of Time magazine (Asia version),^[6] titled New King of Asian Pop, acknowledging his influence on popular culture. He has since held six world tours, performing in cities around the world to more than 10 million people.^[6]

Chou debuted his acting career in the film Initial D (2005), and has since ventured into many movie projects. He made his Hollywood debut in 2011 with The Green Hornet, starring alongside Seth Rogen and Christoph Waltz. Chou also manages his own record and management company JVR Music.^[7]

Early Life
Jay Chou grew up in Linkou, Taipei County in Taiwan. Both his parents are ex-secondary school teachers: his mother, Yeh Hui-Mei (Chinese: 葉惠美; pinyin: Yè Huìměi), taught fine arts, while his father, Chou Yao-Chung (Chinese: 周耀中; pinyin: Zhōu Yàozhōng), is a biomedical researcher. His mother noticed his sensitivity to music and took him to piano lessons at the age of four.^[8] During his childhood, he was fascinated with capturing sounds and songs with his tape recorder, which he carried everywhere with him. In the third grade, he became interested in music theory and also started cello lessons. He is an only child and loved to play piano, imitate TV actors, and perform magic tricks. His favorite composer was, and still is to this day, Chopin. His parents divorced when he was 13, which caused him to become reclusive and introverted. Although he had friends, he often preferred to be alone, listening to music, contemplating and daydreaming. At Tamkang Senior High School, he majored in piano and minored in cello. He showed talent for improvisation, became fond of pop music and began to write songs.^[6][9]
Chou was conscripted for mandatory military service after graduating from high school with inadequate grades for university. However, a sports injury triggered by an unexplainable and severe back pain eventually led to the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis, a hereditary spine inflammation disease; and he was thus exempted from military service.^[10][11] Meanwhile, he found himself a job as a waiter.