Faye Wong

Faye Wong (Chinese: 王菲; pinyin: Wáng Fēi; born on 8 August 1969) is a Chinese-Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress. Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong (Chinese: 王靖雯). Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong at the age of 18. Debuted with the Cantonese album Shirley Wong (1989), she came to public attention by combining alternative music with mainstream Chinese pop. Since 1994, she has recorded mostly in her native Mandarin.

One of the biggest pop stars in the Chinese-speaking world, Wong has also gained followings in Japan and Southeast Asia. In the West she is perhaps best known for starring in Wong Kar-wai's films Chungking Express (1994) and 2046 (2004). While she has collaborated with international acts such as Cocteau Twins, Wong has recorded only a few songs in English, including "Eyes on Me" (1999), the theme song of the video game Final Fantasy VIII (1999). Upon her second marriage in 2005, she withdrew from the limelight, though sporadically returned to the stage.

Wong is known to be a "diva with few words" in public, and has gained a reputation for her "cool" personality. In Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture, Jeroen de Kloet characterised her as "singer, actress, mother, celebrity, royalty, sex symbol and diva all at the same time". In 2000, she was recognised by Guinness World Records as the best selling Cantopop female artist, having sold an estimated 9.7 million copies of her albums by March 2000.