薛之谦

Mandopop superstar, television fixture, and cultural icon Joker Xue was born July 17, 1983 in Shanghai. He first established himself on the national scene with an appearance on the singing competition program My Show in 2005. He was quickly snapped up by Shangtang Entertainment who issued his self-titled debut LP in 2006. His mix of R&B beats with tales of love gone right and wrong proved to be a hit and garnered him the Most Popular New Artist Award at the Global Chinese Music Awards. His 2007 follow-up, How Are You, solidified his talent, earning multiple nominations at the Beijing Pop Awards. 2008’s Love You Deeply cemented him as a cultural icon. Shangtang suffered financial troubles, so Xue opened non-music businesses, and then had a musical rebirth in 2013 with An Unexpected Journey, a well-reviewed and popular album, and the first he made after Shangtang dissolved. His fame grew throughout the end of the decade with 2016’s Beginner, especially the song “Actor”, 2017’s The Crossing, and 2018’s Skyscraper His international fame was made clear on his 2018 World Tour when he became the first Chinese artist to play London’s Wembley Arena. In 2020 he released the single “Joker”.