Joey Yung

Joey Yung (traditional Chinese: 容祖兒; born 16 June 1980) is a Hong Kong singer and actress signed to Emperor Entertainment Group. Since her musical debut in 1999, Yung has won numerous awards, including the prestigious JSG 'Most Popular Female Singer' and 'Ultimate Best Female Singer – Gold' awards a record-breaking nine times, thus emerging as one of the foremost Cantonese singers of all time. She was ranked 63rd on the 2014 Forbes China Celebrity 100, making her the most influential Hong Kong-based female singer that year. In 2014, she reportedly earned HK$80 million (US$10.3 million).

Early life and career

Joey Yung was born on 16 June 1980 in Hong Kong. She attended Ma On Shan Lutheran Primary School, where she was sixth-grade classmates with Wong Cho-lam. Hong Kong actress Priscilla Wong also attended the same school.

At the age of fifteen, Yung competed in the Big Echo Karaoke Singing Contest, and was subsequently signed by Go East Entertainment Co., Ltd. As an artist under Go East, she recorded the song "The First Time I Want to be Drunk" as a theme song for a film, but did not gain much recognition and left the company shortly after.

She continued to attend school while working as a clerk and helping her mother to manage a fashion boutique. Later, an ex-colleague from Go East introduced her to Pony Canyon. However, not long after she joined the company, Pony Canyon withdrew its business in Hong Kong and her musical career was again cut short.

1998–2000: Debut and Who Will Love Me

In 1998, Yung signed with the Hong Kong record label Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG), where her talent was recognised. In 1999 she was sent abroad for training and began to receive singing lessons from Teresa Carpio and the late Roman Tam, who she accompanied on concert tours to gain experience as a performer. By that point, she had graduated from the Bachelor program at the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education with a diploma in Tourism.

On 30 September 1999, she released her debut EP, EP 1 Joey. It sold 130,000 copies in Hong Kong and remained on the IFPI Album Charts for 23 weeks, breaking the record for the most consecutive weeks on the chart, previously held by Jacky Cheung's 1992 album 真情流露.

In February 2000, Yung's apartment in Happy Valley was destroyed in a fire. That year, she made her first film appearance in Winner Takes All, and her first television drama appearance in The Green Hope. She also released her second EP, titled EP 2 Don't Miss, and her first studio album, Who Will Love Me. At the same time, she fronted campaigns for several brands including Four Seas, the Red Cross, and Netvigator, and held her first concert, Joey Yung's See You Everywhere Live Concert, at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

2001–2002: All Summer Holiday, Solemn on Stage, Honestly, Something About You, One Person's Love Song, and compilation albums

In 2001, Yung released her first compilation album Love Joey, which became the Best Selling Album of the Year, followed by two Cantonese albums, All Summer Holiday and Solemn on Stage. In November she held her second live concert and first concert series, H20+ Solemn on Stage Joey Yung Live in Concert 2001 at the Hong Kong Coliseum. She launched her singing career in Taiwan with the release of her first Mandarin album Honestly.

In 2002, she travelled abroad for two months to undergo dancing lessons and other training, returning to Hong Kong to release the Cantonese album Something About You. She then became the spokesperson of Nissin and Nikon. On 11 October, she released the Mandarin album One Person's Love Song, and at the end of the year, she released her second compilation album, Love Joey 2.

2003: My Pride, Lonely Portrait, award recognition and world tour

In 2003, Yung's became well known for the song "My Pride (我的驕傲)" (the theme song of the TV commercial for Banyan Garden developed by Cheung Kong Holdings), released on 25 March on the album of the same name. That year, she became the spokesperson of a slimming parlor, losing weight and presenting a new image. She released the album Show Up! on 30 September and held her third concert Show Up! Live at the Hong Kong Coliseum. On 17 December, she released the Mandarin album Lonely Portrait (獨照). At end of the year, she dominated all the major Hong Kong music awards ceremonies, winning a handful of prestigious awards including the JSG 'Most Popular Female Singer' award (making her the second youngest singer in history to have won this prize, the youngest being Anita Mui) and the 'Gold Song- Gold' award (金曲金獎) at the JSG Best Ten Music Awards Presentation for "My Pride". She also won her first 'Best Female Singer- Gold' award at the CRHK Music Awards, becoming the award's youngest ever recipient, and the Media Award for the artist who had accumulated the most awards from the four music award ceremonies in Hong Kong. Following this, she began the Show Up World Tour, which included dates in Canada, Australia, the United States, Mainland China, Macau, and Malaysia.

Joey Yung concert in 2006

2004–2006: Nin9 2 5ive, Give Love a Break, Bi-Heart, Ten Most Wanted, and Jump Up – 9492

In 2004, Yung released her the studio album Nin9 2 5ive and her first photo album The Real Joey, Glamour in London. The photo album was well received by the public and sold out shortly after its release. Her second album in 2004, Give Love a Break, was also a commercial success, breaking the platinum mark with pre-orders alone. At the end of the year, Yung released a Cantonese cover of "Chihuahua" (a song previously released in English by DJ BoBo) as part of a Coca-Cola advertising campaign in Hong Kong. At the year-end music awards, she won over 20 awards and received the highest honour award again, the Media Award. It was estimated that for 2004, her income was HK$60 million, including her income from endorsements alone amounting to HK$10 million.

In 2005, Yung released her third compilation album, Love Joey 3, as well as a new Cantonese studio album, Bi-Heart. Her fourth major concert, Reflection of Joey's Live Concert, spanned eight days in October and November. The concert's theme song, "好事多為", was mixed and re-arranged in South Korea, resulting in the "好事多為 Reflection Mix". EEG was sponsored by Sony Ericsson for the theme song's music video. Following the success of the concert, its CD/VCD/DVD was certified triple platinum, selling 120,000 copies, and Yung's album sales surpassed five million worldwide, an impressive feat in the Cantopop industry (in which an average album will sell around 100,000 copies). However, Yung suffered from strained vocal cords and had to work for several days without talking in an effort to relax her vocal cords. She also spent several days receiving remedial acupuncture treatment in Nanjing, and took singing lessons under vocal coach Christine Samson, known for teaching corrective singing techniques to many Cantopop singers. That year, she purchased two connecting flats named named "The Legend" at Jardine's Lookout, Hong Kong, for HK$40 million.

On 27 February 2006, Yung released her tenth Cantonese studio album, Ten Most Wanted. According to Yung, the album was more experimental and had higher production values than her previous albums. She worked with Mavis Fan for two songs on the album; "Get Fit with Jane Fonda" and "Torn Tongue", both of which had lyrics by Yiu Fai Chow. On 21 July, she released a Mandarin album, Jump Up – 9492.

2007–2009: Close Up, Little Little, Glow, A Time For Us, Very Busy, and tenth anniversary

At the end of 2006, Yung released the Cantonese album Close Up to commercial success, selling out at stores over Hong Kong as well as online CD stores. A second version of the album was released on 26 January 2007, containing a bonus DVD with music videos for the songs "Unexpected Splendid Meeting (華麗邂逅)" and "Joyful Release (心花怒放)". Around the same time, Yung held a concert organised by Neway with appearances from other artists such as Anthony Wong, at17, Hins Cheung, Yumiko Cheng, Vincent Wong, and Sun Boy'z.

In 2007, she became Hong Kong's ambassador of the World Vision 30 Hour Famine campaign and visited Kenya in March. On 5 July, she released her fifth Mandarin album, Little Little, with the title track produced by Jay Chou. It became her best selling Mandarin album yet. On 7 July, she performed at the Live Earth concert in Shanghai. On 7 November, she released another album, Glow.

In early 2008, Yung released her fourth compilation album Love Joey 4, and held her fifth concert titled StarLight Live over ten days at the Hong Kong Coliseum. During the concert she performed "The Power Medley", a 20-minute intense dance medley of her fast-tempo tracks. The concert's success led to a four-night extension. In February, Yung travelled to New York City with the hope of improving her dancing skills. That year she sang a number of official songs for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and began a world tour shortly afterwards with shows in Malaysia, Canada, the United States, Mainland China, Singapore, and Macau.

The year 2009 marked the tenth anniversary of Yung's career with EEG. To celebrate the occasion, two albums (A Time For Us and Very Busy) and a documentary were released and a mini-concert (Perfect Ten Live at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre's Grand Theatre, where Yung won her first major singing contest in 1995) was held on 4 October, with tickets for the two shows selling out within seven minutes. The "Perfect Ten Live Boxset" was released in two versions in December: the normal version included two concert DVDs, the Perfect 10 documentary, and a photo album; while deluxe version contained two more CDs from Perfect Ten Live and more photos. Towards the end of the year, Yung performed at the concert Music Is Live with Eason Chan, and won the Media Award for the third time (having previously won the award in 2003 and 2004).

2010–2012: Joey and Joey and Moment

On 29 January 2010, the 10th Anniversary EP titled Joey Ten was released together with the Joey Ten Boxset. The EP consisted of 10 different covers (9 for Version 1 and 1 for Version 2) and five songs. The Joey Ten Boxset included a photo album, stickers, a thank you card from Yung, a Chofy bookmark, a comic book, a Chofy USB, a DVD and the new EP. Three songs were promoted from the EP and all charted at number one on three or more charts. In March, Yung concluded her StarLight Tour with two final shows in Sydney and Melbourne. On 20 August, she released another EP, Airport, and in November she began her Number6 concert, which was her sixth major solo concert held at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

In 2011, Yung took a break for the first time since 2002 and travelled around the world. She stated that she would be focusing on the Mandarin-language market for the immediate future, recording a new Mandarin album and carrying out promotions in Taiwan and Mainland China. On 26 April 2011, Yung became the first Chinese female singer to perform at London's Royal Albert Hall and the third Chinese singer overall, after Eason Chan in 2010 and her mentor Roman Tam in 1979. This was her first concert in Europe. On 23 September 2011, Yung released her 21st studio album, Joey & Joey. From the album, the song "13:00 (13點)" took the number one spot on three of the four major Hong Kong music charts, and the songs "Forest of Flowers (花千樹)" and "Wallpaper (牆紙)" were number ones on all four charts. Joey & Joey became the highest-selling local album of the year. Yung also starred in the film Diva, produced by Chapman To, who hoped that the film would showcase Yung's potential as an actress.

During the first half of 2012, she continued to tour with her Number6 concert in Macau, Reno, Atlantic City, and Toronto. In July, she released her seventh Mandarin album Moment, from which she promoted the songs "Right Time (正好)", "Smoke and Mirrors (霧裏看花)", and "Greater Vigor (加大力度)". That year, she sang the theme song "Serial Drama (連續劇)" for the TVB show The Hippocratic Crush, and received a total of fourteen awards at the four major awards ceremonies.

2013–present: Little Day

In May 2013, Yung released her first single of the year, "View in a New Light (另眼相看)". On 29 June, she performed the last date of her Number6 world tour in Resorts Word Sentosa in Singapore. On 15 August, she released the album Little Day, which went 4x Platinum. She followed the album up with two compilation albums, the Hopelessly Romantic Collection (released 3 December) and the All Delicious Collection (released 20 December).

Between December 2013 and October 2015 she performed with the Ageas Joey Yung in Concert 1314 tour, beginning at the Hong Kong Coliseum and going on to hold dates in China, Malaysia, and the United States. In 2015, Yung performed in concert with Hacken Lee, and in April she released the EP Me, re-do.

In 2016, Yung appeared alongside Hacken Lee on Chinese television series I Am a Singer.

• Who Will Love Me (2000)
• All Summer Holiday (2001)
• Solemn on Stage (2001)
• Honestly (2001)
• Something About You (2002)
• A Private Love Song (2002)
• My Pride (2003)
• Show Up! (2003)
• Lonely Portrait (2003)
• Nin9 2 5ive (2004)
• Give Love a Break (2004)
• Bi-Heart (2005)
• Ten Most Wanted (2006)
• Jump Up – 9492 (2006)
• Close Up (2006)
• Little Little (2007)
• Glow (2007)
• In Motion (2008)
• A Time for Us (2009)
• Very Busy (2009)
• Joey & Joey (2011)
• Moment (2012)
• Little Day (2013)

Solo concert series

• Joey Yung Live 2000 (~H2O+容祖兒美麗在望慈善演唱會)

• Joey Yung Live in Concert 2001 (~H2O + 容祖兒隆重登場演唱會2001)

• Neway Joey Yung Live Show Up (容祖兒演唱會2003)

• Sony Ericsson Reflection of Joey's Live (容祖兒演唱會2005)

• JOHNNIE WALKER KEEP WALKING StarLight Joey Yung Live (StarLight 容祖兒演唱會08)

• Joey Yung Perfect 10 Live 2009 (容祖兒Perfect 10 黃金十年演唱會)

• NOKIA Joey Yung Concert Number 6 2010 (諾基亞Nokia容祖兒演唱會第六回 2010)

• Ageas Joey Yung in Concert 1314 (富通保險1314容祖兒演唱會)

Other concerts