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] 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.^[4]

2008–2009: Close Up, Can't Be Half

Close Up is Chan's first extended play, and was released on 13 May 2009. Two singles were released from the EP, "I will be Loving You", and "You Lie I Lie" (你瞞我瞞), 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 18 December, 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.^[5]

2011–2014: The Next Moment and Tales

Released on 15 March 2013, The Next Moment was Chan's sixth studio album. Singles "Let the Bullets Fly" (讓子彈飛), "Contradict", "People Around" were released as singles. Chan wrote six of the songs on the album, taking a much higher degree of creative control.^[6] A deluxe edition was issued 23 May, adding three music videos and footage from his Jason Chan & Friends The Next Moment mini-concert.

Tales was released 26 November 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 29 November 2013. The concert was released as a DVD+CD 31 March 2014 as TALES Live 2013/14.^[7]

2015–2023: Escape, 10th anniversary and widespread recognition

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.^[8] 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 5 June, Chan co-headlined concert "KKBOX LIVE Jason Chan x Phil Lam Sing Together"^[a] 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.

In March 2020, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Hong Kong Branch (WWF) once again invited Kay Tse and Jason Chan as ambassadors to promote sustainable living ^[9]

On 25 June 2021, Chan released 53FPS. The conceptual EP is noted for a change in arrangement from Chan's previous albums. The lead single "Such Thing As Emotions" (感情这回事) achieved commercial and critical success, topping three local radio stations and won Ultimate Song Chart Awards 2020 Top Ten Songs Number 8.^[10]

On 10 and 11 December 2021, Chan headlined his second Hong Kong Coliseum concert Fight For___Live.^[11]

On 15 January 2023, Chan was arranged by his company Sony Music Entertainment (Hong Kong) to perform on the famous Japanese channel "THE FIRST TAKE", becoming the first Hong Kong singer to be invited. Re-singing his classic song "You Hide, I Hide".^{[12][13][14][15]} As of January 30, 2023, the original music video on YouTube has over 18 million views.^[16]

On January 18, 2023, two days after Chan uploaded a clip of his singing performance on the famous Japanese channel "THE FIRST TAKE", Kengo mocked him for being "exaggerated by online media" and "difficult to distinguish between flattery and criticism", and was criticized again. Some people think that Kengou is jealous that Chan "stole" his friend James Ng Yip-kwan's Commercial Radio Music Awards.^[17][18]

Television shows