Eason Chan

Chan was born in Hong Kong on 27 July 1974. Chan went to England to study when he was 12. He attended St. Joseph's kindergarten and St. Joseph's College Primary School in Hong Kong, Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire, England and later Kingston University, studying architecture. He also trained in vocals at the Royal Academy of Music, where he received Grade-8 vocal certifications. Chan returned to Hong Kong before the completion of his degree to participate in the 1995 New Talent Singing Awards Competition, winning first place on July 16, 1995. Hong Kong-based record label Capital Artists signed a contract with him, ending his future career as an architect while launching a career in music.Chan has been praised by critics and fellow musicians alike as one of the top singers of his generation. Since the very beginning of his career, he has been one of the favourites to lead the new generation of Cantopop. He has been described as a breath of fresh air in the HK music scene. In the 2000s, Chan emerged as the leading male singer of his generation, fulfilling his role as an innovator and a leader in the HK music scene, winning prestigious awards one after another. Chan won many major music awards in Hong Kong, eg. Most Popular Male Singer award in the Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation twice, in 2006 and 2007. His Cantonese album "U87", named after his favourite microphone and released in 2005, was labeled by Time magazine as one of the five Asian albums worth buying. "U87" was the top selling non-concert, non-collection category album in Hong Kong in 2005. He was Hong Kong's highest selling male artist in 2002, 2003 and 2007. He has been one of Hong Kong's top selling artists every year since 2000. His concert DVD "Get a Life" was the highest selling album of 2006. Chan has also been successful in his work in the Mandopop scene. He has won numerous awards in both mainland China and Taiwan, most notably Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards. He is the second non-Taiwanese singer, after Jacky Cheung, to win Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards. He won "Best Male Mandarin Singer" third, in 2003, 2015 and 2018, "Album of the Year" twice in 2003 and 2018, and "Best Mandarin Album" in 2009. His album "Admit It" was nominated for Golden Melody Awards' Best Male Singer; although it was ultimately won by Gary Chaw. Next year, he was again nominated for Golden Melody Awards' Best Male Singer, for his work in Mandarin album "Don't Want To Let Go", although the award went to Jay Chou. However, Chan won Album of The Year for "Don't Want To Let Go". Chan has won a number of Asian music awards as well. He won his first Asia Pacific's Most Popular Singer Award in 2007, and again in 2008. Chan has been named by Chinese critics as the next God of Songs (歌神) after Jacky Cheung. However, Eason has more than once clarified that he wishes to build his own name instead, and not just be the successor of Jacky Cheung. Chan and Cheung sung a duet together, titled 天下太平, on the album "Perfect Match", released in April 2006. Chan and Cheung collaborated on other occasions as well. Chan played several instruments in his live concerts, including the piano, the guitar, the harmonica, and the accordion. Chan is also a songwriter. In 2009, Chan performed in "PAX Musica 2009" in Tokyo. He sang seven songs, including a Japanese song by Koji Tamaki called "Mr. Lonely". This was his first time performing in Japan publicly. Japanese Musician Ikurō Fujiwara praised Chan for his charisma on stage and expressed hope to collaborate with Chan in the future. Chan planned to promote his musical works in Japan in 2010. In 2011, Chan released a new Cantonese album titled "Stranger Under My Skin" on 22 February. Released in November, Chan's Mandarin album titled "?" features a piano performance by his seven-year-old daughter. Chan released the "...3mm" Cantonese album on 10 August 2012 followed by a remix version of the album, titled "...3mm Remix" releasing on 8 November 2012. It was an album by Eric Kwok and Jerald Chan in composing music, including the number one songs "Finish" (完) and "Heavy taste" (重口味). At the same time, Chan opened his own music production company, EAS Music. In 2014, Chan received Honorary Doctor of Arts degree for accomplishments in the Cantonese music industry from Kingston University, where he studied architecture before entering the entertainment industry. In 2015, Chan released a Cantonese album "Preparing" 《準備中》, which contained the number one song "Unconditional" (無條件). Chan received multiple awards for the work. In 2017, Chan released a Mandarin album, "C'mon In~ ", which was awarded at the 29th Golden Melody Awards for Album of the Year and Best Male Mandarin Singer. Besides holding the record for winning Best Male Mandarin Singer (tying the record of Taiwanese singer Johnny Yin), he also became the Hong Kong singer with the most awards for that category. In 2018, Chan released album "L.O.V.E." (mainly in Cantonese), which was successful in Taiwan's 30th Golden Melody Awards, winning nominations to three major awards: Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Producer of the Year, Album. Ultimately, the album's producer, Carl Wong, won the "Producer of the Year, Album" award. This was the first time in the history of the Golden Melody Awards that a Cantonese album won this award. Chan’s Mandarin single "Warrior of the Darkness"(Lonely Warrior 孤勇者), released in November 2021, was super hit and skyrocketed to become a phenomenon in the Mandarin music market. On top of Mandopop fans, it was exceptionally popular among the kids. With less than two years since its release, the song has garnered over 8.4 billion streams, making it the biggest digital song in UMG China’s history. More than 28 years after Chan's debut, he kept releasing new album, "Chin Up!", and going on his "Fear and Dreams" world tour in 2023. “Homo Sapiens”, a Cantonese song from "Chin Up!", was awarded at the 34th Golden Melody Awards for Best Lyrics. This was the first time that a Cantonese song won this award.