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Jay Chou grew up in the small town of Linkou, Taiwan. Both his parents were secondary school teachers: his mother Ye Hui Mei (traditional Chinese: 葉惠美; pinyin: Yè Huìměi) taught fine arts while his father Zhou Yao Zhong (Chinese: 周耀中; pinyin: Zhōu Yàozhōng) was a biology instructor. His mother noticed his sensitivity to music and took him to piano lessons at the age of four. During his childhood, he was fascinated with capturing sounds and songs with his tape recorder, something he carried everywhere with him. In the third grade, he became interested in music theory and also started cello lessons. As an only child, he enjoyed being the family's center of attention; he loved to play piano, imitate TV actors, and perform magic tricks. His parents divorced when he was 14; as a result, he became reclusive and introverted. Although he had friends, he often preferred to be alone listening to music, contemplating and daydreaming. At Dan Jiang 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.

Chou graduated from high school with inadequate grades for university, so he prepared for military service, which was compulsory for all Taiwanese men at the age of 18. 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; as a result, he was exempted from conscription. Meanwhile, he found himself a job as a waiter. Without his knowing, his friend had entered both their names in a talent show called Super New Talent King. Chou played the piano accompaniment for his friend, whose singing was described as "lousy". Although they did not win, the show's host Jacky Wu—an influential character in Taiwan's entertainment business—happened to glance at Chou's music score and was impressed with its complexity. Wu hired him as a contract composer and paired him with the novice lyricist Vincent Fang (Chinese: 方文山; pinyin: Fāng Wénshān).

Over the next two years he wrote songs for Chinese pop artists, and also learned recording and sound mixing; his dedication was apparent as he even slept in the music studio. Wu's music studio was later sold to Alfa Music, and the new manager Yang Jun Rong asked him to release his own album. Chou already had an arsenal of songs he wrote for others but had been rejected, so among those he chose 10 for his debut CD Jay that was released in 2000. The album established his reputation as a musically gifted singer-songwriter whose style is a fusion of R&B, rap, classical music, and yet distinctly Chinese. His fame spread quickly not only in Chinese-speaking regions, but in non-Chinese countries as well throughout Southeast Asia. Since 2000, Chou has released one album per year, each selling several million copies (see Discography), and has been recognized with hundreds of awards. In 2003, he was the cover story of Time magazine (Asia version),acknowledging his influence on popular culture. He has held three world tours, "The One" (2002), "Incomparable" (2004) and "Jay Chou The World Tours" (2007-2008) performing in cities such as Taipei, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Las Vegas, and Vancouver. Unlike most singers, Chou has an enormous amount of creative control over his music. He is not only the songwriter but also the producer in all of his albums; since 2005 he is also the music director and also directs his own music videos.

While continuing to release an album yearly, he also entered the movie business with his debut role as the lead actor in Initial D, for which he won Best Newcomer at the Golden Horse Awards in 2005.The following year, Chou was cast as a supporting character in the worldwide release of Curse of the Golden Flower, starring international Chinese stars Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li, giving Chou his brief but formal introduction to North American audiences. In February 2007, he finally fulfilled his childhood dream of being a director in Secret, in which he also played the main character. In March 2007, his eight-year contract with Alfa Music ended. Chou, his manager Yang Jun Rong, and lyricist Vincent Fang co-founded a new record company, JVR Music (which is an acronym for Jay, Vincent, Jun Rong) through which Chou will continue his music career and fulfill his goal of fostering new singing talent. The latest magazine refers that Jay Chou has a new album, Virgo and American Pie.



Musical style
Chou's compositions are loosely categorized as pop music. While many of his works fall into contemporary R&B, rap, and rock genres, the term "Chou Style" (traditional Chinese: 周氏風格; pinyin: zhōu shì fēnggé) has been popularized to describe his trademark cross-cultural music and his insistence on singing with relaxed enunciation. Taipei Times once described the meaning of "Chou Style": "In what has become the archetypal Chou style, Taiwan's favorite song blends pop, rap, blues and a smorgasbord of esthetic elements of world music to create his dream-like never-never land ..." He regularly fuses traditional Chinese instruments and styles with R&B or rock to form a new genre called "Zhongguo feng" (traditional Chinese: 中國風; pinyin: Zhōngguó fēng), some of which are written in the Pentatonic Scale as opposed to the normal seven-note scale (Diatonic Scale) to accentuate an oriental style. Besides his own culture, he also incorporated Spanish guitar in "Red Imitation" (traditional Chinese: 紅模仿; pinyin: hóng mófǎng), American techno/electronica in "Herbalist's Manual" (traditional Chinese: 本草綱目; pinyin: Běncǎo Gāngmù), rap with subtle classical music undertones in "Reverse Scales" (traditional Chinese: 逆鱗; pinyin: nìlín), and Bossanova style in "Rosemary" (traditional Chinese: 迷迭香; pinyin: mídiéxiāng), to name a few. Sound effects from everyday life are frequently woven into his music, such as bouncing ping pong balls, touch tone phone dialing, helicopter blades, dripping rain, and radio static noise (concrete music). His formal musical training is evident by the use of classical textures in his compositions. For example, counterpoint was used in "Perfection" (traditional Chinese: 完美主義; pinyin: wánměizhǔyì) and "Sorry" (traditional Chinese: 對不起; pinyin: duìbuqǐ), while polyphony can be found in "The Wound That Ends War" (traditional Chinese: 止戰之殤; pinyin: zhǐ zhàn zhī shāng) and "Twilight's Chapter Seven" (traditional Chinese: 夜的第七章; pinyin: yè de dì-qī zhāng).

Chou's albums have been noted for the lack of change compared to his earlier works, yet he firmly stated that he will not alter his style: "They say I've been standing still ... but this is the music I want, and I don't see what I want by moving ahead." To demonstrate his point, he named his 2006 album Still Fantasy after his 2001 album Fantasy. His use of relaxed enunciation has been criticized as "mumbling"which he also insisted will not change; however, recently he has adopted clearer pronunciation for certain songs, such as "Faraway" (traditional Chinese: 千里之外; pinyin: qiānlǐ zhīwài) and "Chrysanthemum Terrace" (traditional Chinese: 菊花臺; simplified Chinese: 菊花台; pinyin: júhuā tái).


Lyrics
Strictly speaking, Chou is more often a singer-composer than a lyricist. Several "regulars" write the lyrics for most of his music, but the content and style is unified with his own personality and image, covering a diverse range of topics and ideas. Vincent Fang accounts for more than half of the lyrics in his albums, helping to establish an important element in Chou's music: the use of meaningful, imagery- and emotionally-rich lyrics, sometimes written in the form of ancient Chinese poetry with reference to Chinese history or folklore. In addition to writing romantic hits,[d] he also touches on war, the Bible, sports, and martial arts. Vivian Hsu is a singer herself and has helped with Chou's earlier hits,[f] while Huang Jun Lang (traditional Chinese: 黃俊郎; simplified Chinese: 黄俊郎; pinyin: Huáng Jùnláng) is noted for his work surrounding unusual themes (such as a detective story and chess game). Chou himself has written lyrics for many love ballads,but has also discussed societal ills such as drug addiction in "Coward" (Chinese: 懦夫; pinyin: nuòfū) and loss of the rural countryside to urbanization in "Terrace fields" (Chinese: 梯田; pinyin: tītián). Domestic violence discussed in "Dad, I am back" (traditional Chinese: 爸,我回來了; simplified Chinese: 爸,我回来了; pinyin: bà, wǒ huílai le) received a great deal of commotion since he was the first to bring up this taboo subject in Chinese music, which helped solidify his status as a pioneer and a unique pop singer capable of approaching serious issues. In the songs "Maternal grandmother" (Chinese: 外婆; pinyin: wàipó) and "Listen to your mother" (traditional Chinese: 聽媽媽的話; simplified Chinese: 听妈妈的话; pinyin: tīng māma de huà), he voiced his high regard for family values. He addressed personal issues about his failure to enter university in "Split" (Chinese: 分裂; pinyin: fēnliè), his resentment towards the paparazzi in "Besieged From All Sides" (Chinese: 四面楚歌; pinyin: sìmiànchǔgē), and preached the importance of individuality in "Popular Imitation" (traditional Chinese: 紅模仿; simplified Chinese: 红模仿; pinyin: hóng mófǎng). "Rice Aroma" (Chinese: 稻香; pinyin: dào xiāng), a song from his 9th album Capricorn encourages people not to give up their dreams even when facing difficulties in life.


Collaborations
Chou began as a songwriter for other singers and continued this area of work even after he debuted his own career in singing. He has composed frequently for Jolin Tsai, Landy Wen, and occasionally for other Taiwanese singers such as Coco Lee, S.H.E, Vivian Hsu, Lee-Hom Wang, Will Liu, Valen Hsu, and Hong Kong pop stars Edmond Leung, Gigi Leung, Jordan Chan, Edison Chen, Karen Mok, Leo Ku, Eason Chan, and Joey Yung. He has also written for singers outside of his generation—over one dozen songs for his mentor Jacky Wu, later also for Taiwanese singer Jody Chiang (Chinese: 江惠; pinyin: Jiāng Huì), and Hong Kong singers Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Lui Fong (traditional Chinese: 呂方; simplified Chinese: 吕方; pinyin: Lǚ Fāng), Aaron Kwok, and Kenny Bee. He initiated the band Nan Quan Mama in 2004, selecting band members and overseeing their album production. The group has been noted for sounding too similar to their mentor; as a result, Chou has reduced his involvement in the band, but continues to help increase their exposure to mass audiences by inviting them as guests performers for his own concerts and music videos. He has performed live duets with Landy Wen, Jolin Tsai, and former girlfriend news anchor Patty Hou, but only two studio recordings have been formally placed in his own albums: "Coral Sea" (Chinese: 珊瑚海; pinyin: shānhú hǎi) in 2005 with Lara Veronin (of Nan Quan Mama) and "Faraway" (Chinese: 千里之外; pinyin: qiānlǐ zhīwài) in 2006 with Fei Yu-Ching, who began his career in the 1970s. Besides working with singers, Chou's longest-running collaboration is with lyricist Vincent Fang, as they both started their careers in the music field in 1998. The compilation album Partners (traditional Chinese: 拍檔; simplified Chinese: 拍档; pinyin: pāidàng) featured 12 songs, each consisting of Chou's musical and Fang's lyrical compositions. Fang has written the words to than more 40 of Chou's songs, acted as the chief editor of his book Grandeur de D Major (traditional Chinese: D調的華麗; simplified Chinese: D调的华丽; pinyin: D diào de huálì), and together are now business partners (with Chou's manager JR Yang) for the record company JVR Music.



Public image
Despite living under continual media scrutiny, Chou's public image has changed little over the years as he emphasizes individuality as his "personal philosophy". In his music, this is also evident as he fuses Chinese and Western styles and explores topics unconventional for a pop singer, which have been described as "authentic" and "revolutionary". The media describes a hard-working perfectionist with clear self-directionwho is occasionally regarded as competitive and a "control freak". His nickname "President Chou" (Chinese: 周董; pinyin: Zhōu dǒng) is used by both the press and fans to underscore his domineering personality and impact on Asian music, but also points at his musical talent since the Chinese word for president is a homonym of knowledge. He uses the word "diao" (Chinese: 屌; pinyin: diǎo), which was originally slang for penis, stands for "outrageous" or "cool". Outside of music, Chou is reported as shy, quiet,modest, and views filial piety as "the most important thing". In-line with his aim to present a positive image, he is a non-smoker, non-drinker, and does not go to nightclubs. Government officials and educators in Asia have awarded him for his exemplary behaviour, designated him a spokesperson in the youth-empowerment project "Young Voice" in 2005 and an anti-depression campaign in 2007. His lyrics for two songs has been incorporated into the school syllabus to inspire motivational and filial attitudes. In November 2007, Chou was criticized for attending the funeral of Taiwanese gang leader Chen Chi-li to console Chen's son Chen Chuhe, whom Chou met while filming Kung Fu Dunk.


Accolades
From the launch of his music career in 2000, Chou has won more than 350 singer, singer-songwriter, and producer awards in Asia. The highly coveted Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan awarded "Best Album" for his debut CD Jay (2000) in 2001, and five awards (including "Best Album", "Best Composer", and "Best Producer") in the following year for the album Fantasy (2001). However, failure to win "Best Album" for three consecutive years has left him disheartened with award ceremonies. Golden Melody Awards gave no awards to Chou in 2005, and not even a nomination in the following year (except for lyrics to "Hair Like Snow" (traditional Chinese: 髮如雪; simplified Chinese: 发如雪; pinyin: fā rú xuě) and arrangement of "Blue Storm" (traditional Chinese: 藍色風暴; simplified Chinese: 蓝色风暴; pinyin: lánsè fēngbào), which lost). Apart from angering fans, various news agencies commented on the organization’s credibility.They have been accused of producing awardees lists intended to maximize shock value by disfavoring Chou and others such as Lee-Hom Wang and Jolin Tsai, who have been treated similarly as they became increasingly popular. Although he continues to win more than 20 awards per year from various organizations in Asia, Chou has stated he will rely more on album sales as an indicator of his music's quality and popularity. In 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008, he was awarded Best-Selling Artist in China by World Music Awards for the albums Common Jasmin Orange, Still Fantasy and On the Run.


Response to the news media and paparazzi
As with other stars, Chou has expressed a strong dislike of the paparazzi. In the early years of his career, unwanted attention by the media was usually dealt with by avoidance. In-line with his quiet nature, he frequently wore baseball caps and hoods while lowering his head and evading eye contact during interviews. In recent years however, he has been less passive about the invasion of his privacy. To discourage the paparazzi from taking unsolicited pictures, Chou is known to photograph the paparazzi that follow him. He openly calls the paparazzi "dogs" and tabloids "dog magazines", as shown in his lyrics for "Besieged From All Sides" (Chinese: 四面楚歌; pinyin: sìmiànchǔgē). Chou has been reported to be romantically linked to an array of female celebrities, such as Jolin Tsai, Vivian Hsu, and Hebe Tian from S.H.E. Although each relationship (with the exception of Patty Hou) has been denied by Chou, these reports have given him a "player" image. The media and Taiwanese government has also accused Chou of evading compulsory military service by feigning to suffer from ankylosing spondylitis. Later that year he was acquitted after providing the relevant medical records and letters from the army confirming a lawful exemption from draft dated before the start of his music career.

Despite constant harassment and stalking by the media, he does acknowledge that not all media attention is unwelcome. Coverage by international journals and news agencies such as Time, The Guardian, and Reuters help ascertain his influence on mainstream culture. An editorial written by Kerry Brown of Chatham House named Chou as one of the 50 most influential figures in mainland China, one of only three singers on a list dominated by politicians and corporate owners.


Fanbase
It is difficult to estimate the size and global spread of Chou's fanbase. The Mandarin-speaking population of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and mainland China make up the majority of his fans. Despite rampant piracy issues in this region, particularly in mainland China, every album Chou has released so far has surpassed 2 million sales. According to Baidu, the most popular internet search engine in mainland China, Chou is the number one searched male artist in 2002, 05, 06 and 07.

In Hong Kong, he has been the best-selling Mandarin artist for the past 4 years. According to a 2004 survey in five Chinese urban centers for children ages 9 to 14, 1 in 6 named Chou as their favorite idol;he was also reported as the favorite singer of youths aged 8 to 25 in a study conducted in seven Asian countries (2006). He has a solid fanbase throughout Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. In Singapore, Chou was the second most searched celebrity behind Britney Spears in the music category.

Currently, Chou remains largely unknown outside of Asia, except in cities with large Chinese immigrant populations such as Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Sydney, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. He has held concerts in major venues such as the MGM Grand (Las Vegas—December 25, 2002), Shrine Auditorium (Los Angeles—December 18, 2004), and Galen Center (Los Angeles—December 24, 2007). His intention to increase his prominence in the Western world beyond Chinese audiences is clear. In 2006, Chou composed and sang the theme song for Fearless, a movie released in major theatres in most English-speaking countries, though the impact to his fame has been minimal. His role in Curse of the Golden Flower (limited release) marks his acting debut in North America. Despite having a supporting but important role in the story's plot, the North American version of the official posters only featured a view of his back, greatly contrasting the Asian versions where his face and name were clear and placed between the leading actor and actress. Although Chou is still far from being well-known to English audiences, this movie has brought him international exposure.

--Taken from Wikipedia