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Faye Wong Concert Tour 2011, Kuala Lumpur. Image by Brandon Lim-

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Faye Wong

Faye Wong a renowned musician was born in Beijing China on August 8, 1969, in a family of two with her being the second born after her elder brother Wang Yi. Her father, Wang Youlin was a mining engineer, and her mother, Xia Guiyin a housewife, however, she had enrolled as a music soprano in the Migrant Workers’ Group.

Her musical talent was recognized during her childhood, singing Chinese songs and improved as she started participating in various school functions which saw her interest in the field of music grow. By the time she joined high school, she began attracting the attention of various publishers.

1. She released her first Album in 1985

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Faye Wong released her first album, ‘Where the Wind Comes’, in 1985 in the form of a low-cost cassette. Her second album, ‘Magic Carillon’ (1985), followed, and thereafter ‘Remember Me (1985), ‘Teresa Teng’s Hometown Love’ (1986), ‘Dancing Queen’ (1987), and ‘Miss Charm — Wang Fei Collection’ (1987)

2. Faye Wong began her career at the age of eighteen years old

She moved from Beijing to Hong Kong to study literature and decided to embrace her potential by taking singing lessons after each school day. Two years later she gained popularity by singing Cantonese and Mandarin songs.

She was elusive but her unearthly voice and alternative style of music that infused Cantonese with mainstream Chinese pop influenced by Western music saw her rise as a promising singer. In 1989 her first studio album was released, which was self-titled after her “Shirley Wong” name.

It was changed after the audience was skeptical of her first name which meant “Queen” in English. Her first album would pull out one hit, “However That Day”. Subsequently, in the following year, the albums “Everything” and “You’re The Only One” hit the market.

Her popularity led her to be referred to as the “Diva of Asia”. In 2000, she was recognized by Guinness World Records as the best-selling Canto-Pop Female.

3. She was a singer as well as an actress

Wong is best known for her role in Chungking Express and 2046, both films directed by Wong Kar-wai. She stars as a quirky snack bar worker who catches the attention of a police officer and leads to the police officer breaking up with his flight attendant girlfriend in Chungking Express.

4. Faye Wong was married twice

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Wong Faye was married twice, first to Dou Wei, a Chinese musician, and rocker 1996 whom she divorced after three years. Later, she married Li Yapeng 2005, a mainland television actor. They divorced in 2013 and thereafter Wong withdrew from the limelight and re-emerged later.

5. Wong Left Hong Kong for New York to revive her personality

Faye Wong concert in Hong Kong. Image by lajabordidar-

At one point in her career, Wong Fey felt she had lost herself and decided to take some time off to revive her personality. Her dissatisfaction made her move to New York where she studied music and literature.

She would often wander the streets unnoticed and was highly inspired by bands outside of Asia. This period highly affected her future in musical sound and eventually shattered her R&B-only image. Writing music for her upcoming album, she decided to release one more album.

In 1992, Faye Wong’s career took a drastic change after she released the “Coming Home” album, which turned her career around to new heights, putting her at the top of the charts in the Cantopop scene.

6. She used her songs to send messages around

Her follow-on albums such as “Easily Hurt Woman”, became a huge success. Popular hits such as “Miss You Night And Day”, “Romantic Storm”, and her first professional studio English song “Kisses In The Wind” were contained in the album.

After some audiences doubted her success, she smashed the charts once again with her “No Regrets” album the following year. Proving to doubters that she is there to stay with the extremely popular title song, “No Regrets”.

She was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling Canto – pop female with an estimated 9.7 million of her 20 albums sold by March 2000.

7. She wears a red string around her right hand to symbolize her religion

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Faye, who is a vegetarian, is known to be a devout Buddhist and has recorded many Buddhist songs over the years. The red string that she always wears symbolizes Buddhism.

8. She Influenced her friends to convert to Buddhism

Her devotion to religion and her deeds influenced those around her, including close friend Carina Lau and boyfriend Nic, to become Buddhists

9. Faye Wong has a Dry Eye in her right eyeball.

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She can’t produce tears from it. This is why all of the cameras point to the left side of Faye Wong’s face when she cries. She has problems crying with her right eye and that is why the producer Wong Kar-Wai shot her crying scenes on the left side of her face.

However, there is one scene where the camera films the right side of her face on purpose. Even her crying scenes in 2046 (2004) are filmed from the left side of her face.

10. Her Last Album was recorded in 1996

Faye Wong performing in a concert. Photo by lajabordidar-

Wong Faye’s last album, ‘Be Perfunctory’, was released in 2015, 9 years later after being recorded in 1996, while she was under contract with Cinepoly and released separately. In 2015, Faye Wong’s fans purchased the publishing rights from the company and published the 10 tracks together in the album.