Jay Chou ( traditional Chinese: 周杰倫, simplified Chinese: 周杰伦, pinyin: Zhōu Jiélún, Born on January 18, 1979) is a popular Taiwanese musician specializing in R&B and rap. He is known for his innovative usage of combining both Western and Chinese music styles to produce a fresh sound that is quite unlike what is produced in mainstream Taiwanese pop, and also unique lyrics which touch on various issues.
Jay Chou was born on January 18, 1979 in Taipei, Taiwan. He was raised by his mother and was quiet and secluded during his childhood. Showing interest in music, he began learning to play piano at the age of 3. By age 16, he was writing songs for popular artists of that time. At age 18 Jay Chou decided to take a few of his songs that weren't accepted by other artists and sing them himself, thus debuting his first self titled CD.
Jay first entered the music industry when he appeared in a talent show with his friend, where he accompanied as the pianist. Their performance was not exceptional, but the producer saw the line notes written by Jay, so he decided to take a chance on him. Due to Jay's looks not being good enough for the producer's liking, he was initially hired to write music for others, including Vivian Hsu and Jolin Tsai. Many of his songs became popular, though most people were not aware that they were his creations.
In 2000, it was decided that Jay should be given his chance to produce an album of his own. He released his first album Jay, which much to everyone's surprise became an instant hit. It gained great attention among the international Chinese-speaking community (including Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, etc). When his second album Fantasy was released he was already among one of the top pop stars in the Chinese-speaking community. His most critically and financially successful album as of yet is his third, Eight Dimensions.