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JACKY CHEUNG HOK-YAU
Born in Hong Kong on July 10, 1961, Cheung began his career as a reservation clerk for Cathay Pacific airlines. In 1984, urged by his friends and family, he entered a local singing contest, the 18th District Amateur Singing Competition, and won. "Smile", his debut single with Polygram records (whom he has stayed with for over a decade) sold more that 200,000 copies. This figure may not seem a lot compared to the West, but you have to realise that in 1980s Hong Kong, it had a population of just 6 million residents. It definitely wasn't bad for a newcomer in a highly competitive market dominated by the likes of Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung. However, the next few years proved to be the most dismal in his glittering career. Sales of his albums were poor, despite his very good singing voice. Like most new singers, Cheung participated in the obligatory TV dramas and serials organised by TVB, whom Cheung had signed a contract with. He appeared with other famous names at the time and dabbled with other media products before inevitably signing on to make films. His film career never quite took off and he starred in a string of mediocre and average films during the late 80s. But he wasn't a bad actor by any means, just that he never had the right material to express himself theatrically. However, he did win the Best Supporting Actor in the Hong Kong Films Awards with the movie "As Tears Goes By" in 1988, and another Best Supporting Actor of the Golden Horse Award with the movie "Swordsman" in 1990. Due to poor album sales, Cheung did have a rather bad time during the late 80s. He turned to drinking heavily, and was criticised by both the media and the public for his continuing downfall. Spurred on by their comments, he completely revamped his lifestyle, and made an extra effort to be a highly productive member of the music industry. He rebounded from poor sales to score Hong Kong's biggest record to date - his 1993's "Kiss and Goodbye", which moved 3 million units (not including sales of pirate copies). His album, "You and Me", released in the same year proved to be equally as successful and he suddenly found himself on top. Although Leon Lai had the biggest fan club in South East Asia, Jacky was admired across the world, and the one singer most Chinese people would want to see in concert. Jacky continues to expand his audience overseas, regularly releasing Mandarin albums to appeal to his Taiwanese and Mainland China fans. In 1995, he staged his first ever world tour, with concerts held in Europe, Australia, Canada, US, and of course in Asia, with sell-out crowds. I was lucky to be at his 1995 concert held at the Nynex Arena in Manchester, UK. It was the first Cantopop concert I have ever been to, and my expectations were high. Indeed, I was not disappointed; Jacky was superb and the atmosphere was simply unbelievable. Thousands of Chinese people, young and old, made the trek to Manchester to see Jacky perform. It was a strange sight to see old folk attend a pop concert aimed primarily at the young, but this was no ordinary pop star - this was Jacky Cheung, the world's biggest Chinese performer. No one wanted to miss that special night and literally hundreds of takeaways and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom were shut on that Monday night. The audience was also brilliant, probably their first glimpse of a Cantopop concert, and thousands of youngsters screamed themselves hoarse - me included. His concerts (a more appropriate word would be 'shows') are huge affairs, one man musicals heavy on extravagance and the theatrical. In this respect, it seems to make sense that it attracts the older generation, because Hong Kong concerts tend to be like Western musicals, a world apart from the rock n roll concerts performed by Western artists. To say that Hong Kong artists have a love for Western musicals is like saying do cats like milk, and it is ever more pronounced when Jacky produced his own musical to match those of the West. His "Snow - Wolf - Lake" was a massive success when it was opened in 1997, and when the musical finished its runs, the Hong Kong public demanded that it be re-opened with more shows because a lot of people wasn't able to get the tickets first time round. Jacky gave in to his fans, and the original run of 29 shows was increased to 38, then increased again to 43 when demand for tickets far exceeded the estimation. Needless to say, Jacky was burnt out from the shows, and fans were concerned about his health after seeing him lose a lot of weight. He had to cancel one show because he fell ill, but the others ran smoothly without any hiccups. After he got married to May Law on February 15, 1996,
he has lessened his albums to just a couple a year, clearly enjoying the
break from many years of hectic schedules. With the birth of his daughter,
Jacky all but retired from the industry, but his love for singing means
that he continues to make albums, and appear in mini-concerts, although
his throat problem means that there is a possibility that he could not
perform in future concerts. At past the age of 40, Jacky seems content
to let the current breed of young upstarts battle to take his place as
the King of Cantopop. Profile English Name: Jacky Cheung
Selected Filmography 1995 High Risk |
Jacky
Cheung Hok Yau is among the most popular artists in the world, with over
a hundred platinum discs to his name, and millions of fans around the
globe. One of the Heaven Kings, he is regarded as the most talented of
this group, and in all of Hong Kong.