Wakin Chau


Wakin Chau, better known by his stage name Emil Chau during the 1980s and 1990s, is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese singer and actor, popular throughout Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China, and parts of Southeast Asia. As of 2007, he has released more than 40 albums.

Early life

Wakin Chau was born in Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong, the fourth son out of seven children. His parents are owners of a rice store. He is a native Cantonese speaker of Chaoshanese descent from Chaoyang, Swatow, Guangdong, mainland China. He began learning the guitar when he was about 13 years old. In 1979, he left for Taipei to major in mathematics at National Taiwan University. While at college, he sang and played folk songs in local coffee shops, learning to sing in Mandarin.

Music career

Hoping to establish a career as a recording artist, Chau sought contacts in the music industry, but after an initial lack of success, eventually signed on as an assistant producer at Rock Records, where he wrote pop songs for other artists. He was later encouraged by Chyi Yu to perform jingles for commercial advertisements. One of his jingles for a car commercial was heard by his boss at Rock, who recognised his voice and gave him a chance to record a Mandarin album, released on Rock Records in 1985.
From 1985, under the name Emil Chau, he has released more than 40 albums in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. His platinum albums, including You Make Me Happy and Sad, The Flowery Heart, Music Brings Us Together and Emil & Friends have won awards in Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Chau reverted to using his given name Wakin in 1999.
In 2008, Chau formed the four-member supergroup Superband, along with Jonathan Lee, Chang Chen-yue and Lo Ta-yu, which became a highly successful touring act. They disbanded and resumed their solo careers in 2010.

Other activities

Chau has also appeared in some films, and on TV and radio programs in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. Alongside his singing career, he is a restaurateur and is active in international charitable causes, such as kidney dialysis charities in Singapore, the January 2002 "Take a Deep Breath" concert in Taipei to raise money for local health-care organisations, Beijing's 4th Grand Charity Drive for Children in 2005, and Jackie Chan's all-star concerts in Las Vegas.

Personal life

Chau married Constance Woods, an American woman, in 1986. They met in Taiwan because her father was a Fulbright scholar there.

Discography

Mandarin studio albums

  • 最後圓舞曲 The Last Waltz
  • 心的方向 Direction of the Heart
  • 我付出我的真愛 我實現我的夢 I Gave My Love I Realized My Dream
  • 期待更多 付出更多 The More You Give the More You Expect
  • 最真的夢 The Truest Dream
  • 不願一個人 I Don't Want to Be Alone
  • 讓我歡喜讓我憂 You Make Me Happy and Sad
  • 花·心 The Flowery Heart
  • 風雨無阻 Nothing Will Stop Me From Loving You
  • 我願意去等 I Am Willing to Go Soon
  • 愛相隨 Love Follows Us
  • 愛的光 Light of Love
  • 朋友 Emil & Friends
  • 有故事的人 Story Teller
  • 現在 Now
  • 忘憂草 Day Lilies
  • 一起吃苦的幸福 Love Hotel
  • 雨人 Wakin in the Rain
  • 花旦 Diva
  • 江湖 Jiang Hu
  • 少年 The Younger Me

    Cantonese studio albums

  • 有弦相聚 Music Brings Us Together
  • 弦途有你 You Stand By Me
  • 弦弦全全 Completely
  • 生·生活 Living With Emil Chau
  • 世界由你我開始 The World Begins With Us

    English studio albums

  • Sad Without You
  • Blue Bird
  • I Remember
  • Songs of Birds
  • My Oh My

    Collaborations

  • "Beijing Welcomes You" with various artists
  • "I Love You Suddenly" with Della Ding - Autumn's Concerto ending theme

    Filmography

  • 1987: Osmanthus Alley
  • 1987: The Game They Called Sex - Tung Tzu-Chi
  • 1993: Once a Cop - Martin Lee
  • 1994: Right Here Waiting - Alex Chow
  • 1995: Rumble in the Bronx - Ice Cream Man
  • 1995: Just Married - Kong Chi Wa
  • 1995: I Want To Go on Living - Man Chi-Yeung
  • 1995: Faithfully Yours - Pao Wing-Cheung
  • 1996: Who's the Woman, Who's the Man?
  • 1997: Mr. Nice Guy - Ice Cream Man
  • 1997: All's Well, Ends Well 1997 - Long
  • 1997:
  • 1997: Walk In
  • 1997: Spicy Love Soup - Neighbor
  • 1999: Gorgeous - L.W. Lo
  • 1999: Purple Storm - Ma Li
  • 2001: Headlines - Sorrow Chan
  • 2003: Homerun - Policeman
  • 2003: The Pawnshop No. 8
  • 2012: The Late Night Stop
  • 2018: Cats and Peachtopia - The Piano Cat