Eric Chou
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Eric Chou Hsing-che (; born June 22, 1995) is a Taiwanese singer and songwriter. He has been dubbed by the Taiwanese media as "king of the lovelorn people". He debuted in August 2014 with the self-composed smash hit " The Distance of Love", which is the ending theme of the 2014 Taiwanese drama ''The Way We Were''. It reached 100 million views on YouTube, making Chou the youngest
Mandopop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; later influences came from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkien pop ...
artist to reach the feat at that time. His debut studio album, '' My Way to Love'', was released in December of that year. In 2016, Chou released the single " How Have You Been?" from his second studio album '' What Love Has Taught Us'' (2016), which became a major hit in Greater China and the third most-viewed music video by a Chinese artist on YouTube, with over 250 million views. His following album, '' The Chaos After You'', (2017) featured the singles " Unbreakable Love" and "The Chaos After You", with the latter earning him the Artist of the Year award at the KKBox Music Awards. His first extended play (EP) and fourth studio album, ''
Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...
'' (2019), produced the hit single " What's Wrong".


Life and career


1995–2014: Early life and career beginnings

Eric Chou was born in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
on June 22, 1995. He has two brothers—younger brother Jimmy/James, and older brother Alex ( 周予天) who is also active as a singer-songwriter. At a young age, he learned chess to improve his character, and even won a championship. When he was nine, his uncle brought him to watch
Jay Chou Jay Chou Chieh-lun ( zh, s=周杰伦, t=周杰倫, first=t, p=Zhōu Jiélún; born 18 January 1979) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actor, director, and businessman. Regarded as one of the most influential artists in the Chinese-speaking worl ...
's concert rehearsal. "When I heard him sing ‘Hair Like Snow’, that was the moment I was determined to become a singer-songwriter like him," Chou said. At the age of twelve, he moved with his family to
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
in the United States, where he attended
Fay School Fay School, founded in 1866 by the Fay sisters, is an independent, coeducational day and boarding school located in Southborough, Massachusetts. History Founding and early years Fay School was founded in 1866 by sisters Eliza Burnett Fay ...
and
Northfield Mount Hermon School Northfield Mount Hermon School (abbreviated as NMH), is a co-educational college-preparatory school in Gill, Massachusetts. It educates boarding and day students in grades 9–12, as well as post-graduate students. It is a member of the Eight ...
. Chou recalled not being able to sit still when he first started learning the piano and had to be forced by his mother. However, playing the piano had become his outlet to express his emotions and started to play more during his spare time when he was in the US. His inspiration for songwriting comes from movies, his friends and personal experiences. During his time in Boston, he wrote the song, "The Distance of Love" (), inspired by his failed attempt to impress a girl he liked from high school. "I thought I'd really get into music to make myself appear more charming, and that was actually the initial motivation," Chou said. At eighteen, Chou returned to Taiwan due to his parents' work in Shanghai. Chou was talent scouted by Taiwanese actor Edison Huang ( 黃懷晨) who heard from a friend that his son "can sing", and was asked to perform at his wedding with actress
Queenie Tai Queenie Tai () is a Taiwanese actress. Filmography Film Television series Personal life On 30 June 2012, Tai married . References External links * * 1982 births 21st-century Taiwanese actresses Actresses from Taipei Living pe ...
when he was seventeen. He performed the song "The Distance of Love" which will eventually be chosen two years after as the ending theme of the Taiwanese drama ''The Way We Were'' where Tai also appeared. He also made his acting debut in the same drama by making a cameo as a singer.


2014–2016: Debut album and ''What Love Has Taught Us''

In August 2014, Chou released "The Distance of Love" as his first single under
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 ...
. The song will eventually appear in his debut studio album '' My Way to Love'' which was released on December 24. The album went on to top 18 charts upon its release. He won the TV Theme Song Award for "The Distance of Love" at the Hito Music Awards in 2015. In 2016, Chou served as a composer for the Chinese television series ''
Magical Space-Time ''Magical Space-Time'' is a 2016 Chinese television series directed by Fu-Hsiang Hsu (許富翔). Filming for the series started on 20 January 2016 in Beijing and ended on 27 March 2016. It first aired in China on the Hunan Broadcasting System (HB ...
''. He wrote three songs including "I Love You So" which was performed by his brother Alex Chou, "Fleeting Happiness" by Taiwanese singer
A-Lin Lisang Pacidal Koyouan (; born 20 September 1983), better known by her stage name A-Lin, is a Taiwanese singer and songwriter of Amis descent. She made her debut in February 2006 under Avex Taiwan with the studio album ''Lovelorn, Not Guilty ...
, and "Back to the Day" by Chou himself, and was used for the opening, ending, and theme song of the drama respectively. He also had his first leading role in a micro drama for a ramen brand and released the theme song, "I Loved You". On August 5, 2016, Chou released his second studio album, '' What Love Has Taught Us''. It contained his hit single "How Have You Been?" which topped the KKBOX Mandarin Weekly Singles Chart for 30 consecutive weeks, and its music video reaching 185 million views as of July 2022. The song earned him the title "king of the lovelorn people". The album achieved success, and a solo concert, "This Is Love", has been announced to promote the album. Tickets for the Taipei show in November sold out within two minutes. The concert kicked off in Singapore on October, followed by Taipei in November, and then in Malaysia. Chou also performed for ''Rock On! 2017'', the largest countdown party in Singapore on December 31, 2016.


2017–2018: Second concert tour and ''The Chaos After You''

In 2017, Chou performed at the 12th KKBOX Music Awards where he received the Artist of the Year award, the youngest singer to do so. In February 2017, he held his Valentine's concert in Macau where he performed his new song "Unbreakable Love", as well as a cover of
Hebe Tien Hebe Tien Fu-chen (; born 30 March 1983) is a Taiwanese singer and actress. She rose to fame in the early 2000s as a member of Taiwanese girl group S.H.E. The release of her debut album, '' To Hebe'' (2010), established her as a solo artist. T ...
's "A Little Happiness". On May 21, 2017, Chou performed in his sold-out concert in Taipei where he also announced that he's already working on his new album. In August 2017, he announced the ticket-selling for his second concert tour "22 TWENTY TWO" in Taipei and the tickets sold out within 6 minutes. A second date has been added and tickets also sold out within an hour. Chou wrapped up his concert tour "This Is Love" on October and commenced with his second concert tour "22 TWENTY TWO" in November, where he premiered his new song "Without Her" which will eventually appear on his new album. On December 15, 2017, Chou released his third studio album, '' The Chaos After You''. The album contains ten songs, including the title track of the same name. He capped off the year by performing at Taoyuan New Year's Eve countdown party. In 2018, Chou won two awards at the
Hito Music Awards The Hito Music Awards ( zh, t=Hito流行音樂獎) is an annual Mandopop music awards show, presented by Hit FM in Taiwan. Unlike the Golden Melody Awards, which are awarded on the basis of votes by members of the jury, the Hito Music Awards are ...
including the friDay Digital Song Award for his song "The Chaos After You." In August 2018, he participated in the Tencent competition ''Chao Yin Idols'' where participants work with different artists to create a new musical style. During the competition, he co-wrote the song, "What's Wrong", with Chinese singer and actor Wu Jiacheng. The live version which they performed with Chinese singer
Su Yunying Su Yunying (; born 8 April 1991), also known as Sue Su, is a Chinese singer-songwriter of Li ethnicity. Su was born and raised in Sanya, Hainan. Su rose to prominence in 2015 on Sing My Song, performing her own written debut song called "Ye ...
was released digitally on Chinese streaming platforms on the same month. In November 2018, Chou appeared as the male lead in
IQIYI iQIYI (, pronounced in English as ), formerly Qiyi (), is a Chinese subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Baidu. Headquartered in Beijing, iQIYI primarily produces and distributes films and television series. i ...
web drama, ''The Elfin's Golden Castle.'' In December 2018, Chou released the single, "Nobody But Me", along with its music video.


2019–present: ''Freedom'' and ''When We Were Young''

On January 10, 2019, Chou released his first EP, ''
Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...
'', which consists of five tracks. It included the songs, "What's Wrong" and "Nobody But Me" which was released the previous year. At the 15th KKBOX Music Awards, Chou performed a medley of his songs, including "At Least I Remember" from his new EP. On May 11, 2019, Chou kicked off his concert tour "How Have You Been". It was his first time to perform in
Taipei Arena The Taipei Arena () is a multi-purpose stadium in the capital Taipei, Taiwan, and it is operated by the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC). Built in 2005, the large multi-purpose stadium can accommodate major international sport event ...
in front of 11,000 fans. Tickets were reportedly sold out in two minutes. The concert also commenced in
Kaohsiung Arena The Kaohsiung Arena () is an indoor sporting arena located in Zuoying District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It is used to host indoor sporting events. It was used as a host to some of the indoor sporting events during the 2009 World Games. Name Loca ...
in August. In October 2019, Chou released his song "Forever Beautiful" in support for a breast cancer campaign. In December 2019, Chou re-released a deluxe version of his EP ''Freedom'' as his fourth studio album which included the original five songs, and additional four new songs. Additionally, the music video for his song "What's Wrong" was hailed by YouTube to be the most viewed Mandopop music video, as well as the top 2 popular singer in Taiwan behind
Jay Chou Jay Chou Chieh-lun ( zh, s=周杰伦, t=周杰倫, first=t, p=Zhōu Jiélún; born 18 January 1979) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actor, director, and businessman. Regarded as one of the most influential artists in the Chinese-speaking worl ...
and above
Jolin Tsai Jolin Tsai I-lin ( zh, c=蔡依林, p=Cài Yīlín; born September 15, 1980), also romanized as Jolin Cai, is a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese singer, songwriter, and actress. Recognized as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of C-Pop ...
throughout 2019. Chou was also featured on G.E.M.'s song "Don't Force It". On January 7, 2020, Chou released his fifth studio album, ''When We Were Young''. The album consists of eleven tracks, including "I'm Happy". On August 8, Chou became the first singer to hold a concert at Taipei Arena since the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
started as part of his "How Have You Been Tour". The show was sold at full capacity, attracting 10,000 concertgoers. To raise funds for the COVID-19 pandemic, Eric Chou donated all proceeds from a new remake of "Forever Beautiful", sung together with other Asian Sony artists.


Personal life

In January 2019, Chou announced that he has been in a relationship with Sanlih news anchor Dacie Chao (born ) since March 2018, after previously denying the rumors. The couple broke up in October 2020 and reunited in 2021. Chou announced their engagement in October 2022 and revealed that he had proposed to Chao in Europe on a hotel balcony in March that year. In March 2023, Chou announced that he and Dacie are expecting their first child together. In August 2023, Chou announced the birth of their daughter. In January 2025, the couple announced the birth of their first son.


Discography

* '' My Way to Love'' (2014) * '' What Love Has Taught Us'' (2016) * '' The Chaos After You'' (2017) * ''
Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...
'' (2019) * ''When We Were Young'' (2020) * ''Almost'' (2024)


Filmography


Film


Television series


Television show


Concerts


Concert tours

* This Is Love (2016–2017) * 22 Twenty Two (2017–2018) * How Have You Been Tour (2019–2020) * Odyssey Journey World Tour (2022–2025)


Awards and nominations


Notes


References


External links


Eric Chou
at
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 ...
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chou, Eric 1995 births Living people 21st-century Taiwanese male singers 21st-century Taiwanese singer-songwriters Taiwanese male singer-songwriters Mandopop singers Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni Fay School alumni