Advertisement
Cantopop
LifestyleEntertainment

Happy Birthday, Jacky Cheung: as Hong Kong singer and actor turns 62, his career highs, from an acting award on his movie debut to a Guinness World Record

  • At the age of 62, the ‘God of Songs’, as Hong Kong singer and actor Jacky Cheung Hok-yau is known, is about to embark on the next leg of his ‘60+ Concert Tour’
  • Highlights of his career include an acting prize for his debut film role, a record-breaking world tour, and being named ‘bestselling Asian artist in the world’

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Jacky Cheung Hok-yau on stage at Wembley Arena in 2018 in London, England,during his “Classic Tour”. As Cheung turns 62, we take a look back at the singer and actor’s career highlights. Photo: Getty Images
Nicole Tan

Named the world’s bestselling Chinese artist for two consecutive years and with numerous other accolades to his name, Jacky Cheung Hok-yau has earned his place as one of the “Four Heavenly Kings” of Cantopop.

Advertisement

The “God of Songs”, who has also starred in several movies, celebrates his 62nd birthday today, July 10. As he embarks on the next leg of his “Jacky Cheung 60+ Concert Tour”, we look at some of the highlights of the Hong Kong singer and actor’s Cheung’s career – one that has spanned close to four decades.

‘The Goodbye Kiss’

The baritone singer dominated the Cantopop and Mandopop music scenes in the 1990s, shooting to international fame with his 1993 album The Goodbye Kiss. Featuring 10 songs in Mandarin Chinese, the album made Cheung the first non-Taiwanese singer to win Taiwan’s Golden Melody Award for Song of the Year.
Cheung at Hong Kong Commercial Radio’s Ultimate Song Chart awards presentation in 1996 at the Hong Kong Stadium. Photo: SCMP
Cheung at Hong Kong Commercial Radio’s Ultimate Song Chart awards presentation in 1996 at the Hong Kong Stadium. Photo: SCMP

Four million copies of The Goodbye Kiss were sold in 1993. At the time, Sony Music Asia’s then-president, Richard Denekamp, said Cheung probably sells “more albums in China than any other artist signed outside the country”, according to Billboard.

The album’s title track has since been covered by musicians such as Taiwanese singer Jay Chou and China’s Hu Yanbin – formerly known as Anson Hu.
Cheung performing at a “30-hour charity famine”, a fundraising campaign in Hong Kong in the 1990s. Photo: SCMP
Cheung performing at a “30-hour charity famine”, a fundraising campaign in Hong Kong in the 1990s. Photo: SCMP

International recognition

Cheung was recognised in 1996 and 1997 as the bestselling Asian artist in the world by the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The Billboard Music Awards similarly named him the most popular singer in Asia in 1994.

A Guinness World Record

Advertisement