Eason Chan Yik-Shun (陈奕迅)is a prominent male singer in Hong Kong's music industry. Undoubtedly one of the most dominant male singers in the post-1997 era of Hong Kong music industry, Eason Chan has been praised by Time magazine as a front runner in the next generation of Cantopop.

Biography

Chan is the son of Chan Kau-tai, a former civil servant. Chan was sent to the United Kingdom for study at the age of 12. He attended Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire, England and later Kingston University majoring in architecture. Chan returned to Hong Kong before completion of his degree to participate in the 1995 New Talent Singing Competition and won the first place. Immediately after his victory, Capital Artists signed a contract with him, ending his future career as an architect while launching his successful career in music.

In 2003, Chan's father, who was the Housing Department's chief building services engineer, came under investigation of the Independent Commission Against Corruption for taking bribes. In early 2004, he was found guilty, sentenced for seven years of jail and fined HK$2.6 million for accepting more than HK$3 million of bribes.

Chan married his longtime girlfriend Hilary Tsui in 2006. His daughter Constance Chan was born on October 4, 2004. Constance Chan's name was given by Eason's good friend and the famous songwriter Wyman Wong. Chan gave up smoking after the birth of his daughter. He was reported to have done it for both Constance and protecting his voice. However, in 2007, he admitted in his concert that he has resumed smoking due to the stress from his ongoing world tours.

Career

Eason Chan is a frequent winner of Asia's music awards. He is the second non-Taiwanese singer after Jacky Cheung to win Taiwan's Golden Melody Award. He won "Best Male Singer" in 2003 and "Best Album" twice in 2003 and 2009. He has won the prestigious Hong Kong's Most Popular Male Singer Award twice, in the year 2006 and 2007. He also won his first Asia Pacific's Most Popular Singer Award in 2007, and again in 2008. His album U87 (The name of the album came from his favorite microphone), released in 2005, has been recommended by Time Magazine as one of the five best Asian albums worth buying. U87 also won the top sale of album (non-concert, non-collection category) 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 for all years starting from 2000. His concert DVD Get a Life was the highest selling album of 2006.

Eason 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, Eason has been one of the favorites to lead the new generation of Cantopop. He has been described as a breath of fresh air in the HK music scene. Over the last ten years, Eason 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. Eason Chan has also been successful in his work in the Mandopop scene. He has won numerous awards in both Mainland and Taiwan, most notably Taiwan's Golden Melody Award. "Admit It" was a another notable work of Eason Chan, which led to a nomination for Golden Melody Award's Best Male Singer; the award was ultimately won by Gary Chaw.

Eason 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. There is a duet called 天下太平 sung by Chan and Jacky Cheung in the album Perfect Match by Albert Leung，Ronald Ng (伍樂城) released in April 2006. Chan and Cheung have collaborated on other occasions as well. They sang a duet of Cheung's 頭髮亂了 in a fundraising campaign for SARS victims in 2003.

Chan not only sings but also plays a variety of musical instrument including piano, violin, accordion, guitar and drums. He frequently showcases his musical talent by incorporating instruments into his live performances. Chan is also a song-writer who has written many songs, some included in his albums.

Theme Concerts

Chan has held five major theme concerts at the famous Hong Kong Coliseum starting from 1999, a proof of his enduring popularity and his status as one of Hong Kong's most beloved singers. His first series of concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum, a total of four Eason's 99Big Live concerts, came four years after his debut in 1995. Even today, that amount of time is considered short for a singer to gain the general approval and public support needed to perform at such a prestigious venue. Two years later in 2001, Chan held a series of nine The Easy Ride concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum under the wing of his second record company, Music Plus. In 2003, he again held a series of seven The Third Encounter concerts with the support of Music Plus. In the spring of 2006, After a year of rest and another change of record company, Chan held his fourth theme concerts, a total of nine Get a Life concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum. A year later, Chan broke his own record while holding his fifth series of concerts named Eason's Moving On Stage. During October and November 2007, he completed a total of 16 hugely successful Chan's Moving On Stage1 concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Until January 2008, Chan has held 45 concerts at Hong Kong Coliseum.

Eason Chan began his Moving On Stage World Tour in Feb, 2008. The already completed stops include: Taiwan, US, Canada, Australia, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Malaysia, Macau, Singapore, Kunming, Tianjin, Chongqing, Beijing, Shenzhen, Los Angelas, San Francisco and Hangzhou. His next confirmed stop will be Guiyang , Beijing, Foshan and Guangzhou.

Musicals

On 18 August and 19 August 2005, Chan performed the musical Wrestling with God (人神鬥), the second programme of Love Music Tour 05 organised by Netvigator. He was the leading actor and producer. Stars featured in the show included famous comedian Jim Chim (詹瑞文), Cantopop singer Wilfred Lau (劉浩龍), Taiwanese talented singer Mavis Fan (范曉萱), Best Supporting Actress Winner of the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards Josie Ho (何超儀), pop duo at17 and Soler. The story was about the competition among different angels (played by the featured stars) to protect the only man alive in the world (played by Eason Chan). The secret guest, veteran singer George Lam (林子祥), played Chan's late father. The audience were impressed by the performers, who told the story through song and dance.

Charity's work

Eason Chan has been ORBIS International's Sight Ambassador in HK since 2006. He has traveled to India and Sichuan, China, visiting kids and elders with visual impairment, in an effort to raise funds for Orbis. Eason has also been an active participant in HK's fundraising campaigns such as the 2003 fundraiser for SARS victims and the 2008 fundraiser for Sichuan Earthquake victims.

On 7 July 2007 Eason performed at the Chinese leg of Live Earth in Shanghai.

Controversy

Eason was reported commenting on an aspect of Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki's performance after she had finished her Hong Kong concert on 7 April 2007. He remarked that Ayumi Hamasaki might have been lip-syncing in her concert; this statement enraged many of her fans as lip-syncing is highly frowned upon in Asia. They threatened to not buy Eason's CD and wanted him to apologize for his words. Soon after, Grasshopper, a respected Hong Kong singing group, backed Eason's comments. Eason's label, Cinepoly Records, is not commenting on this incident. Hamasaki's record label and reporters came quick to her defense, stating that she did not lipsynch whatsoever and that the sound system was specially flown in from Japan which was the reason for the high quality of sound.

Filmography

Eason Chan is a notable actor who has starred in multiple box office hits. Chan started to act in films in 1997. He has starred or co-starred in over 20 films so far. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor by Hong Kong's Golden Film Awards in 2000 for his role in Lavender. In 2005, He was nominated for Best Actor by Hong Kong's Golden Bauhinia Awards for his work in Crazy N' The City.In 2008, He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor by Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards for his work in Trivial Matters.