Jason Chan (singer)

Early life and career beginnings

Chan was born in Hong Kong and moved to Canada when he was seven years old with his mother after his parents divorced. He has a younger sister.^[3] Chan attended Markville Secondary School in Markham, Ontario, and studied social work in university briefly.^[4] He returned to Hong Kong in 2005 and worked in customer service at an IT firm . After his friend sent his demo and recordings from a singing competition in Canada to Sony Music Hong Kong (then known as Sony BMG), he was offered a contract and signed with the label.^[5]

2006-2007: Debut and First Experience

In 2006 he debuted with the single "Stubborn" 固執. Singles from his debut studio album First Experience was met with success. 永久保存 was released in 2007, becoming Chan's first number one on RTHK and included in First Experience Reloaded. First Experience was certified gold by IFPI. Chan swept newcomer awards in 2007, including Best New Male Artist at the Metro Radio Hit Music Awards, Best Selling New Male Artist at the IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Award, Most Popular Male Newcomer Silver prize at the Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation, and Best Prospect Award Gold prize at the 30th RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards.

2008-2009: Change, Close Up, Can't Be Half, Put On

On May 30, 2008 he issued his second album, Change. Its first single "I Miss You", featuring Fiona Fung peaked at number one on RTHK, and placed number two on the other three major stations (Ultimate 903, Metro Radio, and TVB). "Which Star are You From" 你來自那顆星 was released to radio stations as the second single, peaking at number two on TVB and Metro Radio. "Logic and Feelings" 理智與感情 featuring Taiwanese singer Rainie Yang was released as the third single; it topped the 988FM chart in Malaysia. Chan made his film debut in the movie Love is Elsewhere.

Close Up is Chan's first extended play, and was released on May 13, 2009. Two singles were released from the EP, "I will be Loving You", and "You Lie I Lie", with both songs reaching number one on the Ultimate Song Chart, and charted in the top five of the other local charts. Chan released full-length album Can't Be Half on December 18, completing the year with singles "Half Dating" and "No Wrong Done", both penned by Lin Xi, to moderate chart success. Chan won Outstanding Artiste (Hong Kong) at the 9th Global Chinese Music Awards.^[6]

In 2010, 人外有人 from Can't Be Half was released to radio stations to moderate, success, peaking at number four on RTHK. Put On was released on October 15, 2010. Singles "Don't Fear Losing" 别怕失去 and "One Extra Love" 多此一爱 were released in support of the album. "Don't Fear Losing" reached number one on the Ultimate Song Chart.

Being managed by Song Music, Chan became a victim of the royalties controversy between the Hong Kong Recording Industry Alliance (HKRIA) and TVB, unable to make appearances on TVB's programmes, and no songs of his charted on the Jade Solid Gold Chart from late 2009 to 2014.

2011-2014: Quinquennium, Lost and Found, The Next Moment, and Tales

Chan released his first greatest hits compilation Quinquennium on June 23, 2011, marking his fifth year in the industry. Four new songs were recorded for the compilation album: "Unlimited" 無限 (with labelmate Phil Lam), "Dignity" 尊嚴 , "Praise Myself" 讚讚自己, and "Looking From Afar" 望遠方, the Cantonese theme song for Korean drama Yi San. Chan played a supporting role in the film Lan Kwai Fong.

Lost and Found was released on March 23, 2012.

Released on March 15, 2013, The Next Moment was Chan's sixth studio album. Singles "Let the Bullets Fly", "Contradict", "People Around" were released as singles. Chan wrote six of the songs on the album, taking a much higher degree of creative control.^[7] A deluxe edition was issued May 23, adding three music videos and footage from his Jason Chan & Friends The Next Moment mini-concert.

Tales was released November 26, 2013. In support of the album Chan headlined his first major concert, Tales Live 2013, at the Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre Star Hall on November 29, 2013. The concert was released as a DVD+CD March 31, 2014 as TALES Live 2013/14.^[8]

2015-present: Escape, 10th anniversary and widespread recognition

His 2015 studio album Escape was released in June and spawned his first all-kill single "A Look and a Smile" 回眸一笑. The second plug, "Missing You" 別來無恙, written by Phil Lam, topped three radio stations, but did not chart on Ultimate 903. On June 23, he headlined a show Escape Live Session at the MacPherson Stadium to promote the album.

In February 2016 Chan starred in the musical Ever After directed by Edmond Tong, alongside Evelyn Choi. The musical was slotted for eight shows. An original soundtrack was released in support of the musical, containing three original tracks.^[9] The lead track "Ever After" was sent to radio stations, eventually reaching number one on all major stations. "Ever After" also won Chan awards at year-end award shows. On June 5, Chan co-headlined concert KKBOX LIVE Jason Chan x Phil Lam Sing Together (陳柏宇 X 林奕匡 《一起唱》音樂會) at the Convention and Exhibition Centre. Chan returned to the charts with "The Last Episode", a jazz-oriented song. It reached number one on JSG, RTHK, and Metro Radio, and number two on Ultimate 903.

Commemorating the 10th anniversary of his career in the music industry, Chan released his second greatest hits album The Players. The album contained five new tracks and seven new versions of his greatest hits. "Without You I am Nothing" 沒有你，我什麼都不是 became Chan's second all-kill in the year. On November 25–27, he hosted his anniversary concert The Players Live in Concert at the Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre. A limited vinyl edition of The Players was released in March 2017.

Chan returned to the charts with single "The Walking Dead", his first collaboration with prolific lyricist Wyman Wong. Though not as acclaimed, the song managed to top the Ultimate Song Chart and the Metro Radio pop chart. On November 24, 2017 he released his tenth studio album I. Chan held his first Hong Kong Coliseum concert titled Speechless on December 2 and 3.

On January 1, 2018 at the 2017 Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation, Chan was voted as My Favorite Male Singer, his first time winning the award. He again won Ultimate's Best Male Singer Silver Prize.