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| Birth Name(s) : Fei Wang |
Date of Birth: August 8, 1969 |
| Status:
Married
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Partner:
Dou Wei |
| Profession:
Musician |
Official Site
Go to the Faye Wong Official Homepage |
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Full Faye Wong Biography
| Faye Wong is one of the biggest pop singers in Asia and separated from her husband Dou Wei in 1999. She is also in the much-anticipated eighth installment of the infamous Final Fantasy video game series. |
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Additional Faye Wong Biography
Faye Wong (Chinese: 王菲; pinyin: Wáng Fēi) (born August 8, 1969 in Beijing) is a Chinese singer, songwriter, actress and model. She is an icon popular in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and to some extent in the West.
Born in Beijing, People's Republic of China, she was originally named Xia Lin (Chinese: 夏琳; pinyin: Xia Lin), adopting her mother's maiden name because the Wang family was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. At the age of 15, several years after the turmoil ended, her name was changed to Wang Fei (王菲). She inherited a talent for music from her mother, who was a soprano, and recorded several low-cost albums in high school, covering the songs of Teresa Teng, her personal idol.
The cover for Coming Home prominently shows the name "Faye", and from then on she changed her stage name back to "Wong Fei" (王菲). In 1992-93 she also starred in TVB shows such as Files of Justice II (壹號皇庭II) and Legendary Ranger (原振俠).
In December, she released her Cantonese album Di-Dar which mixes an alternative yodelling style with a touch of Indian and Middle Eastern flavor. This album was a success, partly because it was so different from the mainstream Cantopop music, but—ironically—a couple of very traditional romantic songs topped the charts.
1996 saw the release of what many would consider her boldest and most artistically coherent effort to date, Restless (浮躁), alternately referred to as Impatience. This was her last album with Cinepoly, and Wong felt she could take more artistic risks. The album contains mainly her own compositions, with an aesthetic inspired by the Cocteau Twins, who penned two original songs for the album, "Fracture" (分裂) and "Repressing Happiness" (掃興). As Wong had covered their work in 1994, she had established a remote working relationship with them—even laying down vocals for a special duet version of "Serpentskirt" on the Asian release of the group's 1996 album, Milk And Kisses.
Her first album with EMI was Faye Wong (1997) (王菲), released in autumn 1997. Critics expecting another artistic breakthrough after 1996's Restlessness found – much to their dismay – a much more inoffensive and commercially oriented musical album. Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins wrote two original compositions for the album, but only one, "The Amusement Park" (娛樂場), was used. This release included an acoustic cover of the Cocteau Twins' "Rilkean Heart", renamed "Nostalgia" (懷念).
Scenic Tour (唱遊) was released in October, and contained four songs composed by Faye: the opening track "Emotional Life", "Face", "A Little Clever" and "Tong" (both written for her daughter, the latter produced by Dou Wei). Amongst other songs were "Give Up Halfway" (sung both in Mandarin and Cantonese), which was one of the more commercially successful tracks from the album, along with the successful ballad "Red Bean" (紅豆).
In addition, she began filming for 2046 in August, a project she would pursue on and off in the next few years, when she would have an opening in her schedule.
The new millennium saw a ground-breaking shift in Wong's musical career with the album Fable (寓言). The prominent feature of this album is its segregated and distinguishable halves – songs in the first half of the album running in an almost continuous manner and in a format that is akin to a song-cycle, and the second half of discrete, chart-friendly numbers. The album itself derives its artistic merits from the first half, notable for its unique thematic and continuous sequencing of songs unprecedented in the Chinese music industry. The theme itself is ambiguous and the lyrics subject to multiple interpretations, though it is quite certain that the theme of Fable forms the main thematic reference, derived from the motivic elements of the prince and princess in fables and fairytales of European origins. Elements of spirituality, metaphysics and Buddhism hold an important place in the lyrics as well, penned by Lin Xi who has by then, been unanimously identified as Faye’s lyricist par excellence. Musically the arrangements display influences of drum and bass, electronica, east-west collage and lush string orchestral infusions.
While she was under contract with EMI and later Sony, she performed in the ensemble movie 2046 which had been in production since 1999 and finally wrapped in 2004. She performed at fund-raising concerts to benefit various charities, including ones that helped those who suffered from AIDS and SARS. She sang on tracks with other celebrities such as Tony Leung, Anita Mui, and Aaron Kwok. She also starred in a Japanese TV serial, Usokoi, and the film Leaving Me Loving You with Leon Lai. Meanwhile, her former record companies released several more compilations and boxed sets of her records.
Relying on photos and other sources, the paparazzi press reported Faye began dating and became subsequently engaged to Mainland TV actor Li Yapeng. It remained a mere rumor until their wedding in 2005. Around the time of her wedding, her manager confirmed that she might retire from the entertainment circle.
(i) I Will Marry You Tomorrow (Emil Chau); (ii) One Thousand Words, Ten Thousand Phrases (Teresa Teng) |
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Faye Wong Quote(s)
| Right. For me, music is an image. Lyrics aren't important. If music itself conveys messages, lyrics are unnecessary, though I don't try to get rid of lyrics... If right words don't occur to me, there's no need to put lyrics. |
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