Vanness Wu

Van Ness Wu
Wu at the Joyful Family Music Event in 2012
Background information
Chinese name	吳建豪 (traditional)
Pinyin	Wú Jiànháo (Mandarin)
Origin	Taiwan
Born	(1978-08-07) 7 August 1978 Santa Monica, California, United States
Occupation	singer actor dancer director producer model songwriter spokesperson
Genre(s)	Mandopop R&B Dance Taiwanese hip hop Chinese Hip-Hop J-pop
Voice type(s)	Lyric Tenor
Label(s)	Sony Music Taiwan Pony Canyon S.M. Entertainment Universal Music Taiwan
Years active	2000–present
Associated acts	F4 Kangta & Vanness
Spouse(s)	Arissa Cheo (m. Error: Invalid time.)
Website	Link

Vanness Wu (born August 7, 1978) is a Taiwanese-American actor, entertainer, singer, director, and producer. He is a member of the Taiwanese boyband F4 and the Korean Mandopop duo Kangta & Vanness.

Early and personal life

Wu was born in Santa Monica, California, and lived in Newport Beach in his mid-to-late teens. After graduating from Corona Del Mar High School, he worked as a telemarketer before moving to Taiwan at the early age of 21 to "search for more to life".

On November 15, 2013, Wu married his longtime girlfriend, Singaporean heiress and entrepreneur Arissa Cheo, in Los Angeles.^[1]

Career

Early life

Wu studied performance arts and acting classes in Hollywood, and became a polyglot fluent in Cantonese, Korean, Japanese, and Spanish, as well as English and Mandarin Chinese.

Early career with F4

Wu at the MTV Asia Aid in 2005.

Wu starred as Mei Zuo (美作), one of the F4 members, in the Taiwanese drama series Meteor Garden and its sequel, Meteor Garden II. At the conclusion of the series, they continued to perform together and released three studio albums as the boy band F4. In 2002, Wu became the second F4 member, after Vic Chou, to release his debut solo album, Body Will Sing. The track, "I Hate Myself" is listed at number 95 on Hit Fm Taiwan's Hit Fm Annual Top 100 Singles Chart for 2002.^[2] The album was awarded as one of the "Top 10 Selling Mandarin Albums of the Year" at the 2002 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards, presented by the Hong Kong branch of IFPI.^[3]

In 2003, he was featured on Beyoncé's single "Crazy in Love", featured on her album Dangerously In Love.

In 2004, Wu made his film debut in the Hong Kong film Star Runner and was nominated at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Newcomer.

In 2006, he collaborated with Korean singer Kangta, forming Kangta & Vanness. The duo released the album Scandal.

In 2008, Wu was announced as the opening act for Kanye West's "Glow In The Dark" concert in Shanghai.^[4]

Solo career success

Wu has appeared in several Taiwanese dramas as well as motion pictures. In 2009, he starred in Autumn's Concerto, one of the highest-rated Taiwanese idol drama. He also released his first Japanese single "Only", which entered Top 10 of the Oricon Chart, as well as another single "I don't wanna lose you".

In 2010, Wu became the executive producer for the television series Year Of The Rain.

Wu’s third Chinese solo album C'est La V was released July 2011 under Universal Music Taiwan. It features collaborations with international artistes such as Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic, as well as Bruno Mars and Justin Michael who wrote the track "Knockin".

Besides directing, producing, acting, and singing, Wu is also the creator/designer of his own jewelry line 3.V.O.7. He is also the creative director of Reebok (greater China division).

In 2012, Wu won the "Best Crossover Singer" at the 16th Chinese Global Music Charts.

In 2013, Wu joined Jiangsu TV's diving variety show Stars in Danger: The High Dive, and won the silver medal.

In January 2015, Wu was announced to be one of the judges of the talent show Asia's Got Talent, along with Indonesian-French singer Anggun, Canadian musician David Foster, and former Spice Girls member Melanie C, which aired from March to May on AXN Asia.^[5]

In July 2015, Wu returned to the Philippines after a decade of his first visit for the special show for the #LiveinLevis event sponsored by Levi's in line with the launch of the Women's Denim Collection for Fall 2015. Wu's performance was a way of thanking the brand's fans and style seekers.^[6][7]

In 2016, it was announced that Wu will star in his first Chinese television series The Princess Weiyoung alongside Tiffany Tang, as well as the science fiction film Pili Back.

Filmography

Television

Film

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Discography

Studio album

Singles

With Kangta & Vanness

• 2006 - Scandal - Kangta & Vanness Collaboration

Other collaborations

• Beyoncé – "Crazy in Love" (Asian releases only) [2004]
• Coco Lee – "Hip Hop Tonight" [2006]
• Brian Joo – "Everything to Me" [2010] - 3rd Wave Music - I WILL BE THERE Album - www.3rdwavemusic.org
• Sammi Cheng – "Forgiveness" (In both English and Chinese) [2010]
• Lee Junho – "Undefeated" [2012] (M/V)
• Avicii – "Levels" (Mandarin Version) [2013]
• David Foster, Anggun and Melanie C – "Let's Groove" (charity single for the victims of Nepal earthquake) [2015]
• Danson Tang, Selina Ren, Diamond Zhang, Madoka Yonezawa, Siwon, Yao Yao, Rainie Yang, Amber Kuo, Wayne Huang - "Blessing (Chinese edition)" [2015]

Endorsements

• Walkman
• Siemens 2118
• Legend Computers (China region)
• Mingle Shoes (China region)
• Lu Piao Shampoo (China region)
• Samuel & Kevin
• Bicowave & Bicogirl
• Pepsi - 2002~2005 (Taiwan, Hong Kong, China)
• Yamaha - 2003 (Southeast Asia)
• Hang Ten - 2012
• Hyundai - 2012
• G-Shock - 2014
• Casio - 2014
• Levi Strauss & Co. - 2014

See also

• History of the Chinese Americans in Los Angeles

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vanness Wu.

• Vanness Wu on Facebook
• Vanness Wu on IMDb