Priscilla Chan
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| Priscilla Chan 陳慧嫻 |
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 Cover of album Sound + Vision Deluxe
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| Background information | ||
| Born | July 28, 1965 (age 41) | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer | |
Priscilla Chan Wai-han (陳慧嫻 born July 28, 1965) is a female singer in Hong Kong.
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[edit] Background
Priscilla has one younger sister, one younger brother, both parents, and a dog named gucci&humphrey. Before retirement, her father was a senior officer of Hong Kong Immigration Service. She currently lives in Happy Valley, Hong Kong, with eight cats. Her favorite artistes are Michael Douglas and The Carpenters. She attended one of the best secondary schools in Hong Kong (瑪利諾書院). As one of the very active students, she entered singing contests often as a teenager and got discovered by a recording company. Today, she is known for her love songs, and many of them become classics.
[edit] Music career
Priscilla started her life as a professional singer when she was 18 in 1983. Her first song was titled "Forgotten Promise" (逝去的諾言), which is recorded in an album "Girl Magazine" (少女雜誌) that also featuring two other new comers. The song propelled Priscilla's career; thus, she released her own first album "The Feelings of a Story" (故事的感覺) in 1984. The next year, she released "Priscilla," which included the hit "Flower Shop" (花店). In 1986, the album "Revolt" (反叛) had several classics and push Priscilla to new heights. Song included "Dancing Street" (跳舞街), "Loving Accident" (痴情意外), "Love Me Once Again," "Revolt" (反叛), and "Hugging with Tears" (與淚抱擁). Priscilla had a rough 1987, but she rebounded nicely in 1988 with the album 嫻情 1988, and the song "Silly Girl" (傻女, a Cantonese rework version of the Spanish song "La Loca") that first confirmed her status as a serious contender in the golden age of Cantopop.
Priscilla chose to retire in 1989 in order to pursue her degree in psychology at the Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, a promise to her parents that she kept. In her supposed-to-be last album, (永遠是你的朋友) "Always Be Your Friend," the everlasting hit "Thousands of Songs" (千千闕歌) placed her up there among the super pop stars like Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui and Alan Tam. The album also recorded hits like "Night Flight" (夜機) and "Dancing Boy."
During her academic career, she returned to Hong Kong and recorded three albums from 1992-1994 during the summer vacations. The song "Snowfall" (飄雪) was very popular for karaoke at the time; other hits included "Red Tea Shop" (紅茶館), "Come Back!" (歸來吧!), and "Jealousy."
By 1995, Priscilla has returned to the music industry in full force. Her initial return brought her back to the top of the pop chart with two albums: "Welcome Back" and "I'm Not Lonely" (我不寂寞). In fact, "Welcome Back" topped the sales chart for six weeks! It contained songs like "It's Always Raining Tonight" (今天夜裡總下雨), "Missing You" (留戀), "Missing Love and Dust" (戀戀風塵), "I'm Lonely" (我寂寞), and "Flow" (飄). Her concerts in 1996 and 1997 with Hong Kong Philharmonic Symphony in Hong Kong showed her popularity remained very high. However, her fame started to fall in 1998 with the signing of a new recording company, Cinepoly. Over the next three years, she found life difficult to contend with the new generation of Cantopop stars. In 2000, after the last album with Cinepoly named "Good For You" (為你好), she retreated the music scene until 2003 when she made a come-back with an album named "Loving Knot" (情意結) and a series of concert in Hong Kong. However, due to lower than expected sales of the album, mostly because of illegal online downloading and piracy, she decided to retreat once again and was scathing in her verbal attack on the trend of Cantopop audiences whom she claims was only interested in admiring the entertainers' image and not appreciating their music.[1] However, she has reiterated her desire to continue singing despite the poor response of her last album.[2]
Her personal life was also closely scrutinized by the Hong Kong press, who even went to great lengths to search the garbage of her family's (parents and younger sister) home. She simply was not the press' favorite as the Hong Kong tabloids often report negative news of hers for no apparent reason. Since 2003, she has not been particularly active, preferring to appear on TVB or Mainland television programmes and singing in benefit concerts or overseas concerts.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Girls Magazine 少女雜誌 (1984)
- Thousand Years Lover 千年戀人 (Japanese album) (1984)
- The Feelings of a Story 故事的感覺 (1984)
- Priscilla (1985)
- Revolt 反叛 (1986)
- Transform 變變變 (1987)
- Remix + Best of (Remix + 精選) (1987)
- Priscilla's Love 嫻情 (1988)
- Silly Girl 傻女 (Mandarin album) (1988)
- The Color of Autum 秋色 (1988)
- Always Be Your Friend 永遠是你的朋友 (1989)
- When I'll See You Again Live in Concert 幾時再見演唱會 (1989)
- Get Up and Dance (1990)
- Come Back! 归来吧! (1992)
- I'm Always On Your Side 你身邊永是我 (1993)
- Who's My Lover Today 今天的愛人是誰 (1994)
- Welcome Back (1995)
- I'm Not Lonely 我不寂寞 (1995)
- Satisfy 心滿意足 (1996)
- Max Factor Priscilla Chan Live in Concert 96 雪映美白96'演唱會 (1996)
- Problematic Woman 問題女人 (1996)
- My Heart's About to Fly Away 心就要飛了 (Mandarin Album) (1997)
- Musical Encounters with Priscilla and Philharmonic 港樂奇妙旅程 (1997)
- In Love for 2000 Hours 愛戀二千小時 (1998)
- This is Love 正視愛 (1999)
- This is Love 正視愛 (Mandarin Album) (1999)
- Music is Live (1999)
- Good For You 為你好 (2000)
- Loving Knot 情意結 (2003)
- Priscilla Chan Real Concert 2003 陳慧嫻「珍」演唱會2003 (2003)
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Priscilla Chan to Finish 20 Years on Sad Note
- ^ Priscilla Chan: Today's Fans Don't Know How to Listen to Music
