Stefanie Sun
| Stefanie Sun | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rehearsal at Kenting Peninsula Music Carnival, Taiwan (2010) | |||||||||
| Chinese name | 孫燕姿 (traditional) | ||||||||
| Chinese name | 孙燕姿 (simplified) | ||||||||
| Pinyin | Sūn Yànzī (Mandarin) | ||||||||
| Birth name | Sng Ee Tze | ||||||||
| Ancestry | Chinese | ||||||||
| Born |
23 July 1978 Singapore | ||||||||
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter | ||||||||
| Genre(s) | Mandopop | ||||||||
| Instrument(s) | Voice, Piano | ||||||||
| Voice type(s) | Mezzo-soprano, falsetto | ||||||||
| Label(s) |
Universal Music (2013–present) Wonderful Music (2011–2012) Capitol Music (2006–2008) Warner Music Taiwan (2000–2006) | ||||||||
| Years active | 2000–present | ||||||||
| Associated acts | see Collaborations | ||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Nadim Van Der Ros (m. 2011) | ||||||||
|
Awards
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Sng Ee Tze (born 23 July 1978), better known as Stefanie Sun, and known to fans as 13姐 ("13th sister"), is a Taiwan based Singaporean singer-songwriter. She has sold over 30 million copies of her albums during the span of her career thus far.[1] She does the majority of her recording and conducts most of her publicity events in Taiwan, which comprises her largest audience. She also visits China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, U.S.A. and Singapore frequently for promotional rounds.
Biography
Sun has an older sister three years her senior Sng Yee-kia (simplified Chinese: 孙燕佳; traditional Chinese: 孫燕佳; pinyin: Sūn Yànjiā), and a younger sister six years her junior named Sng Ee-mei (simplified Chinese: 孙燕美; traditional Chinese: 孫燕美; pinyin: Sūn Yànměi).
Sun was educated at Nanyang Primary School, St. Margaret's Secondary School, Raffles Girls' School and went on to attend Saint Andrew's Junior College. She later attended Nanyang Technological University, where she obtained a degree in Marketing, and was said to stay at Hall 6 where she was known for her singing talent. Her voice talent was discovered by her music teacher Lee Wei Song.
In the Mandarin-speaking world, Sun is more popularly known by her Mandarin name, Sun Yan-zi or Sun Yanzi. Sun has sold over 10 million copies in Asia. With eleven albums to her name, she is arguably the most successful singer from Singapore, second to Kit Chan.[1] Sun is also known to be good friends with fellow Pop Princess of Taiwan, Jolin Tsai. They are often performing guests at each other's concerts.
On 8 May 2011, Sun married Nadim Van Der Ros, 34, a Dutch-Indonesian and senior executive at Aviva. They had met through a mutual friend and dated for five years, but their relationship was revealed only when she was spotted supporting him at Aviva Singapore's Ironman Triathlon in 2009. They had earlier secretly registered their marriage on 31 March 2011.[2][3][4] On 30 October 2012, Sun gave birth naturally to her first child, a baby boy weighing approximately 3.4 kg.[5][6][7]
Languages
Most of her songs are sung in Mandarin Chinese, with a few in English. Sun's ability to speak various dialects is reflected in the songs she sings. In the song "Cloudy Day" (天黑黑), she sang in both Mandarin and Hokkien. It is an adaptation of a traditional Hokkien folk song that included the first six words in the original Hokkien- Thiⁿ-bo͘ho͘h, beh bo̍hō͘ – in the chorus.[8]
The album Start contained 6 songs in English: covers of "Venus", "That I Will Be Good", "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough", "Silent All These Years", and "Hey Jude"; and the original song "Someone".
Music career
2000–2012
Her first album was released in June 2000, the self-titled Yan Zi (孙燕姿), published by Warner Music. "Yan Zi" album sold over 560 000 copies alone in Taiwan, and 3.8 million copies in Asia. This was a major success for Sun and the record company as a newcomer. This was followed in December of the same year as My Desired Happiness (我要的幸福), which sold over 800 000 copies in Taiwan alone, and 4 million copies in Asia.
Her third album was released in early 2001, titled "Kite" (風筝). This album had sold successfully with 900 000 copies in Taiwan; also over 4.1 million copies in Asia.[9]
January 2002 saw the release of Start (自選集), a collection of songs, many of which are cover versions. "Start" sold over 500 000 copies in Taiwan alone, and it also reached high commercial success in Asia with 3.5 million copies sold.
In 2002 and 2003 Sun sang the official theme songs for Singapore's National Day Parade: "We Will Get There" (一起走到) and "One United People" (全心全意). The former was included on the album Leave. Leave sold over 400 000 copies in Taiwan and 3.3 million copies in Asia.
In early 2003, she released her sixth album titled, "To Be Continued..." which was also met with commercial success. It managed to sell over 300 000 copies in Taiwan and over 2.8 million copies in Asia. Few months later, she released her seventh album, her first compilation album, with six new songs and fifteen of her old songs; the album sold over 900 000 copies in Taiwan alone, and 4.3 million copies in Asia. By the end of 2003, Sun had sold almost 26 million copies in Asia with just seven albums.
In late 2003, she decided to take a one-year hiatus from making music, believing that she needs to recover her lost sense of direction in her career. She returned in late 2004 with a new album titled Stefanie, intended to be a mirror of her debut album (self-titled as well, but in Chinese). This was to symbolise her return with a fresh attitude. This album was well received by the critics in the Chinese music industry. This album sold over 4 million copies in Asia; making it one of the most successful album from her.[citation needed]
She also started her own artiste management company, Make Music, during this sabbatical.[10]
A Perfect Day was released on 2005, almost one year later. Reviews of this new album have been mixed, but Sun had mentioned before that her priority is to make quality music, instead of over-commercialized products that sell well but have a lower level of artistic quality. Though this album did not reach the best commercial success, it had still managed to sell over 300 000 copies in Taiwan and 2.8 million copies in Asia.[citation needed]
In 2006, Sun was in the midst of a regional concert tour. She has staged four full-house concerts at the renowned Hong Kong Coliseum. The performances have received positive reviews from the media as well as overwhelming support from fans. Sun also returned to Singapore in a much-anticipated homecoming concert. Yet, not all is smooth-sailing for her. At the Golden Melody Award 2006 in Taiwan, whilst performing renditions of other male singers' songs, she went off-key and was heavily lambasted in the Chinese pop media, which reported that she has shattered her image of a pop diva with great singing skills. She attributed it to factors like not enough rest due to the incident at the airport and inadequate time for sufficient practice with a concert in Mainland China on the day right before the ceremony etc.[citation needed] She re-did the songs again at her concert at Taipei one month later to show her true skills and received very positive reviews for the rendition and the concert itself as well.
Sun's first album under the Capitol brand is entitled Against The Light (逆光) and has been released on 22 March 2007. Her decision to leave Warner after 9 albums was partly due to music executive Sam Chen, who now works at EMI. He had collaborated with Sun on 8 of her 9 albums.
On 26 February 2007, Sun returned from Cairo where she and her team were extorted by suspected local gangsters. Sun was in Egypt to shoot a music video for her new album. Two men disguised as government officials followed her and the crew and asked for money—at one point even showing a handgun. The crew tried calling the police, only for the two crooks to dismiss them with just a few words. The crew had to hand over a total of over 200,000 yuan in order to continue shooting. The extortion went on for four days. Finally, Sun and her team were able to leave the country with the help of the Singapore embassy. Upon returning home, the pop diva said nothing except that she was tired and needed some rest.[11][12]
Sun's 10th album, Against The Light, has been a major success in Asia. In Taiwan, it sold over 60,000 copies in the first 3 days it was released. In addition, over 500,000 copies were sold within a week in Mainland China.
In 2007, Sun sang the official theme song for ASEAN's 40th anniversary celebrations: Rise Again.[13]
In 2008 Sun took an offer to guest star in the movie "12 Lotus" (12莲花) acting as Guan Yin, who sings hokkien songs and reads a poem in Hokkien as well.[14] Sun also performed in the Love Amplified Concert, a concert held in Singapore to commemorate World AIDS Day 2008. The concert was held at Fort Canning Park, Singapore on 29 November 2008.
In May 2009, Sun starts her new world tour "The Answer is..." with her first stop being Taiwan. In this world tour, she works with William Chang, her concert image consultant. She also sang her new song "愚人的國度". Sun has no artist management deal currently.
In November 2009, Sun sings the theme song "木蘭情" for the featured film version of Mulan.
In May 2010, Sun released the single "Every Touching Moment" for Shanghai Expo 2010 with Tanya Chua, JJ Lin and A-do.
On 8 March 2011, Sun launched her comeback with a new album, named "It's Time" (是时候). It had been four years since her last album.[15] HMV and CD Rama in various locations in Singapore have reportedly sold out her first batch of CDs. However it had been reported that HMV charged an extra $5 for the CDs. Despite the hike in price it still remained top on the chart for 3 consecutive weeks since the release of the album.
In December 2012, Sun announced her plans to return with concert tour in 2013. She commented that "clever singers do not rush through a production" and that she is not in hurry to release a new album, and also joked that she is returning to the stage to earn "milk powder money" for her beloved son. Although an exact date has not been released yet, Stef’s manager mentioned that there will be no lesser than 12 stops for the tour this time round.[16]
2013–present
In early September 2013, Sun signed on to Universal Music at a press conference in Capella Singapore on Singapore's Sentosa Island.[17]
Collaborations
Sun collaborated with Japanese singer Mai Kuraki on the last track of Sun's album To Be Continued..., "My Story, Your Song". They collaborated again on Mai Kuraki's If I Believe album, released in July 2003, with the song, "Tonight, I Feel Close To You".
Sun also sang with fellow Singaporean singer, Tanya Chua, the song "Original Point (simplified Chinese: 原点; traditional Chinese: 原點; pinyin: yuándiǎn)" in Tanya's album, "Amphibian".
In the song "First Day", from the album A Perfect Day, she sings with the popular Taiwanese musicians MayDay (Chinese: 五月天; pinyin: Wǔyuè tiān) and F.I.R., forming a one time band called First Day (same as the title of the song they sing), with FIR coming from F.I.R., ST coming from the first two letters in Sun's English name Stefanie and Day coming from MayDay. Sun had previously worked with MayDay on a song from their album "Time Machine".
She collaborated with singers Wang Leehom, Jane Zhang, and Wang Feng to record the theme song of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games: Light the Passion, Share the Dream (simplified Chinese: 点燃激情，传递梦想; traditional Chinese: 點燃激情，傳遞夢想; pinyin: diǎnrán jīqíng，chuándì mèngxiǎng).
Discography
Studio
| # | English Title | Chinese Title | Released | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Yan Zi (album) | 孫燕姿 | 9 June 2000 | Warner Music Taiwan |
| 2nd | My Desired Happiness | 我要的幸福 | 9 December 2000 | Warner Music Taiwan |
| 3rd | Kite | 風筝 | 12 July 2001 | Warner Music Taiwan |
| 4th | Start | 自選集 | 3 January 2002 | Warner Music Taiwan |
| 5th | Leave | / | 21 May 2002 | Warner Music Taiwan |
| 6th | To Be Continued... | 未完成 | 10 January 2003 | Warner Music Taiwan |
| 7th | The Moment (New Song + Collection) (2CD) | 關鍵時刻 | 22 August 2003 | Warner Music Taiwan |
| 8th | Stefanie (album) | Stefanie | 29 October 2004 | Warner Music Taiwan |
| 9th | A Perfect Day | 完美的一天 | 7 October 2005 | Warner Music Taiwan |
| 10th | Against the Light | 逆光 | 22 March 2007 | EMI Taiwan |
| 11th | It's Time | 是時候 | 8 March 2011 | Wonderful Music |
Live concert albums
| # | English Title | Chinese Title | Released | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Yanzi 2000 Live Concert | 孫燕姿2000台北萬人演唱會 | 2001 | Warner Music Taiwan |
| 2nd | Yanzi Start Live Concert | 孫燕姿Start世界巡迴演唱會 | 2002 | Warner Music Taiwan |
Compilation album
| # | English Title | Chinese Title | Released | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | My Story, Your Song | 經典全紀錄 | 26 September 2006 | Warner Music Taiwan |
Awards and accolades
Sun is regarded as one of the most accomplished local artists in her native homeland, Singapore, partly linked with her central role in two National Day theme songs We Will Get There (一起走到) in 2002 and One United People (全心全意) in 2003.
She has won awards and other accolades for her music in the course of her career in Singapore, Taiwan, mainland China and Hong Kong.
Music related
| Year | Awards |
|---|---|
| 2000 |
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| 2001 |
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| 2002 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2004 |
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| 2005 |
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| 2006 |
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| 2007 |
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| 2008 |
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| 2011 |
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Non music related
- Her World Young Woman Achiever Award in 2001.[19]
- NTU outstanding young alumni award in 2005.[20]
- Singapore Youth Award (Arts and Culture) in 2007 for her outstanding achievements in the music scene, and her contributions to the local and international community.[21]
- Singapore Tourism Ambassador for Greater China in September 2010 by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).[22]
- Business China Young Achiever Award in 2011 for her recognised bilingual and bicultural role model for the young.[23][24]
Vocal teacher
Sun's vocal teacher, Nicole Lai passed away on the 6 September 2008; both were very good friends. Sun gave her a nickname Niguolai (你過來), that sounds like Nicole Lai. One of Lai's wishes in life was to have a CD album of her own. After her death, Sun sponsored Lai's CD album with the Mandarin song 'Freedom' that was both written and sung by Lai. Singapore's leading English newspaper publication Straits Times on 26 September 2008 reported news of Stefanie's sponsorship of Nicole's CD album.[25][26]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Diva – Stefanie Sun: Our Kate Moss". Divaasia.com. 6 February 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ↑ "Stefanie Sun wedding". todayonline. 8 May 2011.
- ↑ "Stefanie Sun wedding photos". YeinJee. 8 May 2011.
- ↑ "Stefanie Sun says ‘I do’". xinmsn. 13 April 2011.
- ↑ "Stefanie Sun has given birth to a boy, 3.4 kg". The Straits Times. 31 October 2012.
- ↑ "快訊 ／孫燕姿當媽了！ 兒子萬聖節前來搗蛋 (Chinese)". Yes Entertainment. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
- ↑ "孙燕姿喜得3.4公斤男婴 自然分娩母子平安 (Chinese)". qq.com. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
- ↑ "闽南童谣-天黑黑 (Chinese)". txwd.com. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
- ↑ "孙燕姿一改往日造型 清新典雅造型登封面". 四川在线. 2008-08-12. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
- ↑ "Stefanie Sun shines bright again". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
- ↑ "Stefanie Sun cancels Cairo video shoot after tour guide tiff". Channel News Asia. 27 February 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ↑ "Sun evacuated from Cairo shoot". Winson Teo. Channel News Asia. 28 February 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ↑ 13TH ASEAN SUMMIT
- ↑ "12 LOTUS (Singapore)".
- ↑ "Stefanie Sun says 'It's Time'". China.org.cn Arts. 03/02/2011.
- ↑ "Stefanie Sun to return with concert tour next year". 20 December 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- ↑ "Sun Yanzi signs to Universal Music". 4 September 2013.
- ↑ (Chinese) TVB8 2000 TVB8 Awards winners list Retrieved 2011-07-02
- ↑ "Honoured for sporting firsts". Asiaone.com. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
- ↑ http://www.ntu.edu.sg/corpcomms2/releases/17%20Dec%2005%20NTU%20Alumni%20Night-%20News%20Release.pdf
- ↑ "SYA Award Recipients". sya.sg. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
- ↑ "Stefanie Sun Appointed New Singapore Tourism Ambassador for Greater China". Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- ↑ "And the Business China Awards go to...". Asiaone.com. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
- ↑ "And the Business China Awards go to...". businesschina.org.sg. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
- ↑ "Fame comes too late for this singer". Asiaone.com. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ↑ "Breaking News". Straitstimes.com. 25 September 2008. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stefanie Sun. |
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| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Top Chinese Music Chart Awards | ||
| Preceded by Sandy Lam |
Best Female Aritist, Hong Kong & Taiwan 2002 |
Succeeded by Stefanie Sun |
| Preceded by Stefanie Sun |
Best Female Aritist, Hong Kong & Taiwan 2003 |
Succeeded by Faye Wong |
| Preceded by Faye Wong |
Best Female Aritist, Hong Kong & Taiwan 2005 |
Succeeded by Stefanie Sun |
| Preceded by Stefanie Sun |
Best Female Aritist, Hong Kong & Taiwan 2006 |
Succeeded by Fish Leong |