Jacky Cheung Hok-yau

Biography

Jacky Cheung Hok-yau is a Hong Kong singer, actor and musician, known as the "God of Songs" in Chinese society. His parents migrated to Hong Kong in 1949 during the refugee wave, with his father being a sailor from Tianjin and his mother from Zhejiang. He grew up in Hong Kong and studied at several schools before working in various jobs including the Trade Development Council and Cathay Pacific Airlines. Cheung won the 18-District Amateur Singing Contest in 1984 among over 50,000 contestants, launching his artistic career. He signed with Polgram Records and released his debut album Smile in 1985, which achieved massive sales. He became one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong music in 1992 and entered the peak of his singing career. Billboard magazine named him the most popular singer in Asia in 1994, and his record sales surpassed Madonna's in 1995. He was inducted into Universal Records' Hall of Fame of 1990s superstars in the United States, and was listed by Time magazine among the 50 most influential people in Asia. He has over 70 number-one songs in Hong Kong and three albums that sold over a million copies in Taiwan. In acting, he participated in over 70 films and won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Mong Kok Story in 1989, then the Best Supporting Actor award at the Taiwan Film Awards for Swordsman in 1990, and also won Best Actor at the Indian International Film Festival for July Rhapsody in 2002. In addition to his artistic career, he was active in charitable work and was selected among Hong Kong's Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 1998 and the World's Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 1999.