Wakin Chau (; born 22 December 1960), better known by his stage name Emil Chau during the 1980s and 1990s, is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

-born Taiwanese singer and actor, popular throughout Taiwan, Hong Kong,

Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, and parts of Southeast Asia (

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

). As of 2007, he has released more than 40 albums.

Early life

Wakin Chau was born in a rice store owned by his family at

Sai Ying Pun Sai Ying Pun is an area in Sai Wan, on Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It is administratively part of the Central and Western District. Etymology In Cantonese, ''Sai'' ( zh, t=西, labels=no) means "west" and ''Ying Pun'' ( zh, t=營盤, l ...

in Hong Kong, the fourth son out of seven children and is a native Cantonese speaker of Chaoshanese descent from Chaoyang,

Swatow Shantou, alternately romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 2020 census (5,391,028 in 2010) and an administrative a ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

, mainland China. He began learning the guitar when he was about 13 years old. In 1979, he left for

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

to major in mathematics at

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

. While at college he sang and played folk songs in local coffee shops, learning to sing in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Music career

Hoping to establish a career as a recording artist, Chau sought contacts in the music industry, but after a lack of success, eventually signed on as an assistant producer at

Rock Records The Rock Records Co., Ltd. () commonly known as Rock Records (), is a record label based in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in the 1980s as the Rock Music Publishing (滾石有聲出版社; ) by Tuan Chung-tan and Tuan Chung-i, It is the largest record ...

, where he wrote pop songs for other artists. He was later encouraged by

Chyi Yu Chyi Yu or Qi Yu (; born 17 October 1957) is a Taiwanese singer best known for her 1979 hit "The Olive Tree" (). She won the 9th Golden Melody Award for Best Female Vocalist Mandarin. She is the elder sister of singer-songwriter Chyi Chin. S ...

to perform jingles for commercial advertisements. One of his jingles for a car commercial was heard by his boss at Rock, who recognised his voice and gave him a chance to record a

album, released on

in 1987. From 1985, under the name Emil Chau, he has released more than 40 albums in

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

and English. His platinum albums, including ''You Make Me Happy and Sad'' (), ''The Flowery Heart'' (), ''Music Brings Us Together'' () and ''Emil & Friends'' () have won awards in Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Chau reverted to using his given name Wakin in 1999. Chau formed the four-member supergroup

Superband ''SuperBand'' () is a spin-off of ''Project SuperStar'', a popular singing talent-search competition in Singapore. Contestants are bands of 2 to 6 people. To mark the opening of the first season, a special SuperBand Big Jam where all the 18 band ...

, along with Jonathan Lee,

Chang Chen-yue Ayal Komod (born 2 May 1974), better known by his stage name A-Yue or Chang Chen-yue (), is an aboriginal Taiwanese rock and Hip-Hop musician, songwriter, singer and guitarist, and the frontman of his band, Free Night, also known as Free9. He ...

and

Lo Ta-yu Lo Ta-yu (; born 20 July 1954), also known as Luo Dayou and Law Tai-yau, is a Taiwanese singer and songwriter. During the 1980s, Lo became one of the most influential Mandopop singer-songwriters with his melodic lyrics and love songs, and his ...

. They disbanded and resumed their solo careers in 2010.

Other activities

Chau has also appeared in some films, and on TV and radio programs in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. Alongside his singing career, he is a restaurateur and is active in international charitable causes, such as kidney dialysis charities in Singapore, the January 2002 "Take a Deep Breath" concert in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

to raise money for local health-care organisations, Beijing's 4th Grand Charity Drive for Children in 2005, and

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...

's all-star concerts in Las Vegas.

Discography

Mandarin studio albums

* The Last Waltz (Feb 1985) * Direction of the Heart (Jul 1987) * I Gave My Love I Realized My Dream (Aug 1988) * The More You Give the More You Expect (Jan 1989) * The Truest Dream (Nov 1989) * I Don't Want to Be Alone (Dec 1990) * You Make Me Happy and Sad (Nov 1991) * The Flowery Heart (Apr 1993) * Nothing Will Stop Me From Loving You (Jun 1994) * I Am Willing to Go Soon (Feb 1995) * Love Follows Us (Jul 1995) * Light of Love (Feb 1996) * Emil & Friends (Apr 1997) * Story Teller (Aug 1998) * Now (Nov 1999) * Day Lilies (Oct 2001) * Love Hotel (Jul 2003) * Wakin in the Rain (Mar 2006) * Diva (May 2011) * Jiang Hu (Dec 2013) * The Younger Me (Dec 2019)

Cantonese studio albums

* Music Brings Us Together (Oct 1994) * You Stand By Me (Apr 1995) * Completely (Dec 1995) * Living With Emil Chau (Dec 1996) * The World Begins With Us (Oct 1997)

English studio albums

*Sad Without You (Sep 1988) *Blue Bird (Feb 1991) *I Remember (May 1992) *Songs of Birds (Aug 1993) *My Oh My (Feb 2001)

Collaborations

* "

Beijing Welcomes You ''Beijing Welcomes You'' () is a feature song for the 100-day countdown to the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, Beijing, China. The song comprises one hundred famous artists and entertainers from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore ...

" (2008) with various artists (only

Sony Music Taiwan Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

) * "I Love You Suddenly" (2009) with

Della Ding Ding Dang ( zh, t=丁噹, s=丁当; born Wu Xian on 17 April 1982), also known as Della, is a Taiwan-based Chinese singer who is known for her wide vocal range and emotive soundtracks for numerous television series. Early life and education ...

- ''

Autumn's Concerto Autumn's Concerto () is a 2009 Taiwanese Drama (modern genre), drama series starring Ady An, Ann Hsu, and Vanness Wu of F4 (band), F4. It was produced by Sanlih E-Television and directed by Chen Wei-ling (director), Chen Wei-ling. The series was ...

'' ending theme

Filmography

*1987: '' Osmanthus Alley'' () *1987: '' The Game They Called Sex'' () - Tung Tzu-Chi *1993: '' Once a Cop'' (aka. ''Project S'') - Martin Lee *1994: ''

Right Here Waiting "Right Here Waiting" is a song by American singer and songwriter Richard Marx. It was released on June 29, 1989, as the second single from his second album, '' Repeat Offender'' (1989). The song was a global hit, topping charts in many countries ...

'' () - Alex Chow *1995: ''

Rumble in the Bronx ''Rumble in the Bronx'' () is a 1995 action comedy film directed by Stanley Tong, and starring Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, and Françoise Yip. The film is set in the Bronx area of New York City, but was filmed in and around Vancouver, Canada. A ...

'' - Ice Cream Man *1995: ''

Just Married ''Just Married'' is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, written by Sam Harper, and stars Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy as a young newlywed couple from different social classes who take their honeymoon to Europe, where obs ...

'' () - Kong Chi Wa *1995: '' I Want To Go on Living'' () - Man Chi-Yeung *1995: '' Faithfully Yours'' () - Pao Wing-Cheung *1996: '' Who's the Woman, Who's the Man?'' (金枝玉葉2) *1997: '' Mr. Nice Guy'' - Ice Cream Man *1997: '' All's Well, Ends Well 1997'' - Long *1997: () *1997: '' Walk In'' () *1997: ''

Spicy Love Soup ''Spicy Love Soup'' () is a 1997 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yang and written by Zhang, Liu Fendou, Cai Shangjun, and Diao Yi'nan based on a story by Zhang and Peter Loehr. ''Spicy Love Soup'' was produced by Loehr's Imar Film Company, Xi ...

'' () - Neighbor *1999: ''

Gorgeous Gorgeous may refer to: Animals * Gorgeous barb, a species of cyprinid fish native to Africa * Gorgeous bushshrike, a bird in the family Malaconotidae * Gorgeous prawn goby, a species of goby native to tropical reefs of the Indian Ocean to the we ...

'' () - L.W. Lo *1999: '' Purple Storm'' () - Ma Li *2001: ''

Headlines The headline is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th century when incre ...

'' () - Sorrow Chan *2003: '' Homerun'' - Policeman *2003: '' The Pawnshop No. 8'' () (TV Series) *2012: ''The Late Night Stop'' () (TV Series) *2018: '' Cats and Peachtopia'' () - The Piano Cat

References

External links

Wakin.com
(Big5-code; his personal website in Taiwan)
True Blue Emil's Page
(Hong Kong, Big5-code)
Sunny Stars Ferry — Wakin Chau
(China, GB-code)
Every Wakin's Moment
(Singapore, English & GB-code) * (English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chau, Wakin 1960 births Hong Kong male singers People from Shantou Cantopop singers English-language singers from Hong Kong People from Chaoyang District, Shantou Hong Kong Mandopop singer-songwriters Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong emigrants to Taiwan Taiwanese people of Hong Kong descent Chaoshanese people Living people National Taiwan University alumni Superband (band) members