p r o f i l e

Faye Wong (¤ýµá) was born in Beijing, China in August 8, 1969. Her father was a factory engineer who had to work very often, and her mother was a soprano, always traveling on the road to perform, so her family seldom spent time together. But she had a god-mother that was her next door neighbor. Faye’s god-mother loved Faye as if she was her own. Without the familial love of her mother, Faye turned her natural dependencies and their related emotions toward her god-mother. When her god-mother’s daughter bore a baby, Faye’s mother thought it was best not to disturb her with her new grand-daughter.

Faye's first love arrived quietly. He was her good friend’s classmate. She doesn't remember how it happened. All of them were studying together, feelings accumulated. Faye noticed him looking at her. She also discovered that when she looked at him, her heart would pound rapidly, an indescribable, yet comfortable emotion. They were in love with each other. Soon they were dating, sneaking away on weekends to meet in secrecy because no one encouraged kids to talk about love then in China. Under that forbidden circumstance, they were still deeply in love. Their love ended after four months because she no longer had the same feelings for him. After high school, she was accepted to Fu-King University.

The day before registration, her father called and asked her to go to Hong Kong, which was the beginning of her future. At the age of 18, Faye went to Hong Kong. Faye gathered her strength and went to modeling class. She was living in Whampoa, Hong Kong and enjoyed going to Causeway Bay alone. After modeling school, Faye soon lost interested in modeling. So, her father introduced her to Di An Tsong to learn to sing. Faye enjoyed humming tunes and singing songs because it was relaxing. Faye’s singing was always more joyful and enthralling than anyone around her. Faye’s teachers cherished her, and involved her in many school events. In every singing and dancing show, Faye was sure to get the starring role, and wear the most colorful, most beautiful costumes. Being envied by hundreds of thousands of eyes, she would act with self-confidence. Clapping and cheering, and excitement filled her heart.

When the teacher introduced Faye to Chan Tsiau Bao, he was astonished by her voice, and encouraged her to sign a record contract. When her parents signed her first record contract with Cinepoly, she was only 19 years old, and there were many things she did not understand. Without any worries, she released her first album “The day with no patience," and stumbled into a golden record. People began to notice her. As Faye was reaching stardom, she decided to travel to America and study music, leaving her singing career behind. When she first arrived in America, she stayed at her aunt’s place just for a while. Then she went to New York, living in her own little apartment. To start off she signed up for some short-term classes for singing and dancing. Those American days made her more independent, more self-confident. Certainly it influenced her, changing her, not in a this-that fashion, but her social skills, enhancing her communication skills with people. Soon Faye decided to return to Hong Kong to release more records; her feelings were simply to complete the record contract. At the time, she did not drop out of school; instead, she wrote a letter to temporarily postpone her education. She was prepared to finish her contract, then return to school.

A very important album to her career, "Coming Home", was then released. Several songs in this album became big hits. Especially the song "Fragile Woman" (®e©ö¨ü¶Ëªº¤k¤H), which won many awards. This album confirmed Faye as an evocative singer who could master a wide musical range and this album's popularity made her a superstar. Unlike other ordinary singers in Hong Kong, Faye ignores the press. She is such a miracle because no singer in HK can survive without complying with the press. Amazingly, the public likes her better than ever. She also writes her own songs and performs in her own way. In her album "Impatience" (¯BÄ¼), there are five songs without lyrics, she hummed and scatted her way through them. Though it was not very acceptable to HK people, she just did it her way! In 1994, Faye released two songs, "Random Thinking" (J«ä¶Ã·Q) and "Knowing Oneself and Each Other" (ª¾¤vª¾©¼), which were covered from the songs of the ethereal Scottish trio Cocteau Twins. Cocteau Twins appreciated Faye's voice very much, so they invited her to contribute to one of their songs, "SerpentSkirt", on their album "Milk 'n Kisses". And the Cocteau Twins also produced two songs, "Fission" (¤Àµõ) and "Killjoy" (±½¿³) for Faye's album "Impatience" (¯BÄ¼). They composed another song "Amusement Park" (®T¼Ö³õ) in Faye's album "Faye Wong" (¤ýµá).

Faye is not only an excellent singer but also a great actress. In 1994 she starred in Wong Kar-wai's (¤ý®a½Ã) film "Chungking Express" («¼y´ËªL), for which she won a best actress award in Sweden. She has done so uniquely, through undeniable talent and a near complete rejection of all that is expected of a Chinese pop diva. In 1996, she went to Beijing and waited to give birth to her daughter - Dou Jingtong (Äu¹tµ£). In January 1997, little Jingtong was born and Faye was back to her career again. Sadly, Faye is now divorced but we hope her singing will continue still. Faye has won so many music awards in Asia since she became a singer, e.g. the "Most Popular Asian Female Artist Award '97", Most Popular Female Singer ³Ì¨üÅwªï¤kºq¤â '99 and Gold Song - Give Up Halfway ¥b³~¦Ó¼o '99, all by the Billboard Music Awards. Her latest album, "Only Love Strangers" (¥u·R¯¥Í¤H), looks to be one of this years highlights, in my opinion the best album since "Impatience".