Cheer Chen

Cheer Chen
Chen performing during the Ego Acoustic Tour in Hong Kong, April 2017.
Background information
Chinese name 陳綺貞 (traditional)
Chinese name 陈绮贞 (simplified)
Pinyin Chén Qǐzhēn (Mandarin)
Born Chen Chi-chen
(1975-06-06) June 6, 1975
Taipei, Taiwan
Residence Taipei
Ethnicity Han
Alma mater National Chengchi University
Occupation Singer, songwriter
Years active 1997–present
Nationality Taiwan
Genre(s) Indie, rock, folk
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar, piano
Voice type(s) Mezzo-soprano
Label(s) Magic Stone, Rock, Team Ear
Website cheerego.com

Cheer Chen Chi-chen (Chinese: 陳綺貞; pinyin: Chén Qǐzhēn; born 6 June 1975) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter.

Early life

Chen was born on 6 June 1975 in Taipei. She has a younger brother.

When she was very young, her parents divorced. The two children were raised only by their mother. Although the three suffered longtime ill-being, her mother still supported her hobby in music.[1]

Chen is the alumni of Taipei Municipal Jingmei Girls' Senior High School (臺北市立景美女子高級中學) and National Chengchi University (國立政治大學).[2][3]

Chen's song Little School Song (Chinese: 小小校歌) is generally regared as the unofficial theme song of Taipei Municipal Jingmei Girls' Senior High School. [4]

Career

Graduated from Taiwan National Chengchi University (Bachelor of Philosophy), Chen played in an underground band (Sunscreen 防曬油) as lead singer and guitarist back in the 1990s before she was attached to Rock Records. Once in a pub show, Chen was noticed and praised by rock music giant Wu Bai.[5] In 1997 she joined Magicstone, a subsidiary label under Rock Records and her debut album Think Twice was released in July 1998. Since 2003 she published her own music independently and now she is under Teamear Music

She is reported as being concerned with environmental issues. She has been frequently involved in community and public welfare activities.[6]Being the first female singer-composer to perform on the stage of Taipei Arena, she used to remind people to pursue their ambitions boldly and to always dream for a better tomorrow. She said, "Perhaps there are people feeling themselves fragile, insignificant and vulnerable, but they might be the sun that shines for the others, just as the heat of the Sun though unapproachable yet it guards the mother earth from afar even at night; life might not be smooth sailing for everyone in all stages, but we should always embrace hopes for a better tomorrow."[7][The Epoch USA Inc. 1]

Chen has also appeared on stage several times with the famous Taiwanese band Mayday. She sang a duet with Ashin (陳信宏), lead vocalist of the band, in the upbeat love song Eloping To The Moon(私奔到月球). Ashin has also claimed that in Taipei, the only artist that puts on a better show than Mayday is Cheer Chen. Ashin further acknowledged Cheer's intellectual lyrics in his blog, "I think that Cheer is a fantastic lyricist, her lyrics appear to be a soft knife that looks harmless but is actually sharp."[8][9][10]

Most of Chen's songs are in Mandarin Chinese, and occasionally in other languages such as English. She writes most of her own music and lyrics. Her first recording Demo 1 was released in September 1997. To date she has published 6 studio albums, 4 demo CDs, 6 singles, 2 compilations, 5 DVDs, and a book of photography(lomography) collection.[11] She usually appears with her Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar.

Chen has produced several recordings independently since she left Rock Records in 2003. In 2004 & 2005, she was featured in two seasons of Lee The Blues Jeans advertisement with Stanley Huang. The advert song she composed Live in Silence (靜靜的生活) was then rearranged and republished in her fourth album Peripeteia. In 2009, she became the spokesperson for Nikon Coolpix S620, and in 2010 for Nikon D5000 & Nikon D3100. In 2010 she was also featured in an Adidas Originals advert along with many other worldwide celebrities including Hyori Lee, David Beckham and Oasis. In May 2011, she became the spokesperson for Sokenbicha herbal drink for the Taiwanese market.

In 2006, Chen's fourth album Peripeteia won the Best Music Album Producer award (Tiger Chung) and Best Music Video award at the 17th Golden Melody Awards.[12] During that same year, she was also nominated for Best Female Singer and Best Album of the Year. In 2010 she was nominated for the Best Song Writer (The Edge 魚).[13]

In 2009, Chen released her fifth album Immortal, recorded unorthodoxly in the wardrobe of her own chamber instead of a proper studio. This album was mastered by Grammy Award winner Bernie Grundman and was awarded one of the Top 10 Selling Mandarin Albums of the Year at the 2009 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards.[14] Back from later 2008, Chen started holding her concert tour, with the same theme as the new album Immortal. The tour continues around Taiwan, China Mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, and she held a concert for the very first time in Melbourne on March 11, 2011.

Since 2012, she formed a band together with Tiger Chung and Chien-Chi Chen called "The Verse" (previously an electronic duo named "The Voice") featuring downbeat/downtempo and French electronic style of experimental music.

In November 2016, Chen performed at Clockenflap in Hong Kong.

Personal life

Chen has been in a relationship with music producer Tiger (鐘成虎).[15][16]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Track listing
Think Twice
讓我想一想
Track listing
  1. 讓我想一想 Think Twice
  2. 微涼的你 September
  3. 會不會 Will You
  4. 情歌 Love Song
  5. 和你在一起 With You
  6. 嫉妒 Jealous
  7. 孤島 Island
  8. 孩子 Miss Children
  9. 天使 Devil
  10. 漫漫長夜 Longly Longly Night
Lonely Without You
還是會寂寞
Track listing
  1. 越洋電話
  2. 我的驕傲無可救藥
  3. 還是會寂寞
  4. 下午三點
  5. 溫室花朵
  6. 午餐的約會
  7. 等待
  8. 慢歌3
  9. 告訴我
  10. 慢歌1
  11. 靈感
Groupies
吉他手
Track listing
  1. 我親愛的偏執狂
  2. 太聰明
  3. 小步舞曲
  4. 1234567
  5. 隨便說說
  6. 躺在你的衣櫃 - Guitar
  7. A Practice
  8. 吉他手
  9. 黑眼圈
  10. 就算全世界與我為敵
  11. 小塵埃
  12. 不應該
  13. 躺在你的衣櫃 - Piano
Peripeteia
華麗的冒險
Track listing
  1. 旅行的意義 Travel's Meaningful
  2. 腐朽 Decay
  3. Sentimental Kills
  4. 華麗的冒險 Adventure
  5. 太多 Too Much
  6. 花的姿態 Flower gesture
  7. Self
  8. 80%完美的日子 80% Perfect Days
  9. 表面的和平 Surface
  10. 靜靜的生活 Quie Life
  11. 最初的起點 Initial start point
Immortal
太陽
Track listing
  1. 手的預言
  2. 狂戀
  3. 太陽
  4. 魚
  5. 距離
  6. 倔強愛情的勝利
  7. 失敗者的飛翔
  8. 下個星期去英國
  9. 另一種平靜
  10. 煙火
  11. 一首歌，讓你帶回去
Songs of Transience
時間的歌
Track listing
  1. 時間的歌 （Song of Transience）
  2. 漣漪 （Ripple）
  3. 柏拉圖式的愛情 （Prototype）
  4. Peace and Revolution
  5. 雨水一盒 （A Box Full of Rain）
  6. 秋天蒙太奇 （Autumn Montage）
  7. 流浪者之歌 （Gypsy In Memory）
  8. 倒數 （Count Down）
  9. 沙漏 （View with a Grain of Sand）
  10. 普魯斯特行動　（Proustification）
  11. 別送我回家 （Walk Home）
  12. 家 （Home）

Verse discography

  1. 52 Hertz 52赫茲 (January 23, 2013)

Demo CDs

  1. Demo1 (September 1997)
  2. Demo2 - Cheer's Walkman (March 2000)
  3. Demo3 (November 9, 2001)
  4. Demo4 (December 12, 2011)

Singles

  1. Track 1 - "Sentimental Kills" (November 15, 2003)
  2. Track 2 - "Travel with Sound" ("旅行的意義") (March 24, 2004)
  3. Track 3 - "After 17" (December 31, 2004), also included a track composed for Jing-mei Girls' Senior High School - 小小校歌
  4. Track 4 - "Pussy" (February 8, 2007)
  5. Track 5 - "Fly for You" ("失敗者的飛翔") (July 13, 2008)
  6. Track 6 - "Ephemera" ("蜉蝣") (October 5, 2011)
  7. Track 7 - "The Long Goodbye" ("偶然與巧合") (December 1, 2014)

Compilation albums

  1. Cheer Chen - Princess From East '01 (June 21, 2001)
  2. Rock Records HK Golden Decade Classics - The Best of Cheer Chen (October 2002)
  3. Cheer 1998-2005 (March 2005)

DVDs

  1. Sixteen Days Cheer's Frame-001 (October 2005)
  2. Cheer's Flowers Concert Classic Memoirs + 2 CDs (May 2007)
  3. Cheer Looks: Cheer's Adventurous Image Diary - Cheer's Frame-002 (September 2007)
  4. Immortal Tour (May 2010)
  5. A Piece Of Summer II World Tour (September 2012)

Unreleased songs

  1. Solitude (孤獨) Partially included as a hidden track after the last song(#10) in the first official album Think Twice Taiwan version
  2. A Practice (每天都是一種練習) Partially included as a short track(#7) in the third official album Groupies
  3. Monsoon (季風) Lyrics by Tiger Chung

Published works

  1. 《不厭其煩》(Bú Yàn Qí Fán) - collection of lomography with short notes (November 5, 2001)
  2. LIVE.LIFE 《現場·生活》 2006 Calendar (December 2005)
  3. Placeless Place 《不在他方》(Bú Zài Tā Fāng) - a collection of essays written by Cheer published together with a newly released single "Chance or Coincidence / 偶然與巧合" (December 1, 2014)

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 陈绮贞解读：从独立到文艺的华丽蜕变 Retrieved in 2016-08-27
  2. ↑ 陈绮贞创作展在即 22年前高中制服将展出 Retrieved in 2016-08-27
  3. ↑ 陈绮贞首次翻唱张雨生 感恩张父水蜜桃 Retrieved 2017-01-02
  4. ↑ 小小校歌 景美岁月 Retrieved 2017-01-02
  5. ↑ 陈绮贞曾在地下通道卖唱 被伍佰称赞“像幅画” Retrieved in 2016-08-30
  6. ↑ "The Ambassadors for World Vision 22nd 30-Hour-Famine". Central Daily News Taiwan. 13 May 2011.
  7. ↑ 也許有人覺得自己脆弱、渺小而不堪一擊，但自己也可能是別人心中的太陽，就如太陽熱度雖然讓人無法接近，卻在夜晚遠遠守護大地；每個人的生命階段不一定順遂，但還是要對明天抱持美好希望。
  8. ↑ 因為我覺得 綺貞的歌詞寫的非常棒，綺貞的歌詞是柔軟的刀子，看來無害但是鋒利。
  9. ↑ "Eloping to the Moon on Sina Blog". Mayday Ashin. blog.sina.com.tw.
  10. ↑ "Ashin on the lyrics to Eloping to the Moon".
  11. ↑ "::: cheerego.com :::". cheerego.com. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  12. ↑ "17th Golden Melody Award Nomination List". The Government Information Office of Taiwan R.O.C. Archived from the original on 2012-03-10.
  13. ↑ "21st Golden Melody Award Nomination List". The Government Information Office of Taiwan R.O.C. Archived from the original on 2012-03-10.
  14. ↑ IFPI Hong Kong 2009 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards winners list Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2011-04-19
  15. ↑ 陈绮贞和男友钟成虎亲昵互动 热恋11年仍不结婚 Retrieved 2016-08-30
  16. ↑ 陈绮贞和男友钟成虎穿情侣装 同台飙吉他琴声传情 Retrieved 2016-08-30
  1. ↑ "Cheer's Immortal Tour". The Epoch Times. 15 November 2008.
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