Jolin Tsai facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jolin Tsai
蔡依林
Tsai in 2024
Born	Tsai I-ling (1980-09-15) September 15, 1980 (age 44) Hsinchuang, Taipei, Taiwan (now Xinzhuang, New Taipei, Taiwan)
Education	Fu Jen Catholic University
Occupation	Singer songwriter actress dancer record producer author businesswoman
Years active	1999–present
Works	Albums songs singles concerts videos films
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Origin	Taipei, Taiwan
Genres	Pop dance
Instruments	Vocals
Labels	Universal EMI Gold Typhoon Warner Sony
Chinese name
Chinese	蔡依林
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Cài Yīlín Wade–Giles Ts'ai4 I1-lin2 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Chhoà I-lîm

Jolin Tsai (born September 15, 1980) is a famous Taiwanese singer, songwriter, and actress. People know her as the "Queen of C-Pop" because she is one of the most important people in pop music in the Chinese-speaking world. Jolin is always trying new things with her music and looks. This has made her a leader in making dance-pop music popular in Greater China. She has a lot of control over her career. Her songs often talk about important social topics. Her work has been very successful and praised by critics.

Jolin was born in Hsinchuang, Taiwan. She became famous in 1998 after winning a singing contest by MTV Mandarin. Her first album, 1019 (1999), sold many copies. This made her a popular teen idol for young people. With her album Magic (2003), Jolin started making more dance music. She became even more known for dance-pop with Dancing Diva (2006).

In 2009, Jolin started her own company, Eternal. This gave her more control over her music. Her album Myself (2010) focused on themes like girl power and helping minority groups. Her next album, Muse (2012), mixed popular sounds with independent music. Play (2014) helped Chinese dance music become known around the world. Her album Ugly Beauty (2018) explored ideas about beauty standards and feelings.

Jolin Tsai has sold over 25 million records. This makes her the best-selling Taiwanese female singer since 2000. Since Magic (2003), each of her studio albums has been the top-selling album by a female artist in Taiwan for that year. Four of her albums were even the best-selling albums overall in Taiwan. She has won seven Golden Melody Awards, which is more than any other dance-pop artist. Jolin has often been on the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list. She was named the number one Chinese female singer three times. Her wealth was more than NT$2 billion in 2014. She has been the highest-paid Taiwanese female singer 16 times between 2003 and 2022.

Jolin Tsai's Early Life and Career

Growing Up and Starting Out (1980–1998)

Jolin Tsai was born on September 15, 1980, in Hsinchuang City, Taiwan. She has an older sister. Her grandmother was from the Papora people, an indigenous group. Jolin went to Hsinchuang Elementary School and Junior High, then Chingmei Girls' High School. In high school, she formed a band called Twister. She entered singing contests to help her get into university. She won her high school's singing contest and came in second in a national high school singing contest.

In May 1998, Jolin did very well in an MTV Mandarin singing competition. She sang English songs and won! This led to her signing with Universal Music Taiwan in March 1999. Universal Music gave her six months of training. She took dance classes to improve her stage presence. She also learned makeup and speech training for interviews. She even got to see live shows in Ireland and the United States. In June 1999, she got into Fu Jen Catholic University to study English literature.

First Albums and Growing Fame (1999–2002)

On July 16, 1999, Jolin released her first song, "Living with the World". Soon after, on September 10, 1999, her first album, 1019, came out. It had different music styles like pop, hip-hop, R&B, and world music. Critics liked the album. They said it was good to have a "girl-next-door" singer in Taiwan. The album sold over 400,000 copies in Taiwan.

On April 26, 2000, Jolin released her second album, Don't Stop. This album also mixed different styles, adding rock and reggae. Critics noticed her singing had gotten stronger. The album sold over 500,000 copies. It was the second best-selling album by a female artist in Taiwan that year. She also released a photo book called Nineteen Years, which sold over 60,000 copies.

Jolin's third album, Show Your Love, came out on December 22, 2000. It had even more music styles and showed her singing had matured. Critics thought it was one of her best albums with Universal Music. It sold over 260,000 copies in Taiwan. In 2001, the music video for "Fall in Love with a Street" won an MTV Video Music Award for International Viewer's Choice.

On June 28, 2001, Jolin sang the Mandarin theme song "Where the Dream Takes You" for the Disney movie Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Her fourth album, Lucky Number, came out on July 7, 2001. It mixed pop, R&B, disco, and hip-hop. Even though she had problems with her management company, the album sold over 150,000 copies. In 2002, Jolin was featured on the cover of Businessweek for Mandopop.

New Music and Big Success (2002–2005)

On July 23, 2002, Jolin signed with Sony Music Taiwan. On August 2, 2002, she released her book, The Masque of the Princess, the Spirit of Knight, which sold over 50,000 copies.

On March 7, 2003, Jolin released her fifth album, Magic. It had many styles like pop, disco, funk, ballads, hip-hop, and Britpop. Magic got good reviews and helped define her musical style, with dance-pop becoming very important. The album sold over 360,000 copies in Taiwan and 1.5 million copies across Asia. It was the best-selling album by a female artist in Taiwan that year. The song "Prague Square" won an award for Best Music Arranger.

On March 9, 2003, Jolin starred in the TV show Hi Working Girl. She also sang songs for the Hong Kong film Why Me, Sweetie?!. On June 14, 2003, Jolin graduated from Fu Jen Catholic University with a degree in English literature. Later, she released the theme song "Mirage" for the film Warriors of Heaven and Earth. She also translated Madonna's book The English Roses and five more of Madonna's books.

On February 27, 2004, Jolin released her sixth album, Castle. This album included hip-hop, Latin, chanson, heavy metal, and Britpop. Critics liked it, and it sold over 300,000 copies in Taiwan and 1.5 million copies in Asia. It was the best-selling album by a female artist in Taiwan that year.

On August 7, 2004, Jolin started her first concert tour, J1 World Tour, in Shanghai, China. The tour had eight shows in seven cities. On November 12, 2004, she released a collection album called J9. On February 8, 2005, she performed "36 Tricks of Love" at the CCTV New Year's Gala. On March 9, 2005, Jolin published her book, Jolin's English Diary Book, which sold over 120,000 copies.

Her seventh album, J-Game, came out on April 25, 2005. It mixed pop, hip-hop, electronic, disco, and Chinese traditional music. J-Game sold over 260,000 copies in Taiwan and 1.2 million copies in Asia. It was the best-selling album by a female artist in Taiwan that year. On September 23, 2005, Jolin released the live concert video J1 Live Concert. She also sang "Destined Guy" with Show Lo. On December 30, 2005, she published her book, Jolin's Party, which sold over 150,000 copies.

Dance-Pop Queen (2006–2008)

Tsai at MTV Asia Awards 2006

On February 16, 2006, Jolin signed with EMI Taiwan. On May 5, 2006, Sony Music released her greatest hits album, J-Top, which sold over 100,000 copies in Taiwan.

On May 12, 2006, Jolin released her eighth album, Dancing Diva. It mixed pop and electronic music with dance tracks. Critics loved the album, and it made Jolin a top dance-pop artist in Chinese music. Dancing Diva sold over 300,000 copies in Taiwan and 2.5 million copies across Asia. It was the best-selling album of the year in Taiwan. Jolin won awards for Best Female Mandarin Singer and Favorite Female Singer/Group for this album.

On September 15, 2006, Jolin started her second concert tour, Dancing Forever World Tour. It had 28 shows in 20 cities and brought in about NT$1 billion. On September 29, 2006, she released Dancing Forever, which included the song "Marry Me Today". This song won the Golden Melody Award for Song of the Year. On February 17, 2007, Jolin performed "Marry Me Today" with David Tao at the CCTV New Year's Gala. On June 8, 2007, she released the live concert video If You Think You Can, You Can!, which sold over 120,000 copies.

On September 21, 2007, Jolin released her ninth album, Agent J. This album came with a movie of the same name. The album sold over 200,000 copies in Taiwan and 3 million copies in Asia. It was the best-selling album in Taiwan that year.

On November 21, 2007, Jolin worked with Kylie Minogue on the song "In My Arms". In July 2008, she received the Butterfly Award from Taiwan's Ministry of Labor for her work in entertainment. On October 31, 2008, she released her cover album Love Exercise, which featured her singing ten English songs. It was the best-selling Western-language album in Taiwan that year.

New Beginnings and More Hits (2008–2018)

On December 16, 2008, Jolin signed with Warner Music Taiwan. Her tenth album, Butterfly, was released on March 27, 2009. It sold over 130,000 copies in Taiwan and 1 million copies across Asia. It was the best-selling album of the year in Taiwan. On March 28, 2009, Jolin started her Butterfly Campus Tour.

On October 9, 2009, she released the live concert video Love & Live. On October 15, 2009, Jolin started her own company, Eternal. This company handles her artist management, music, and concerts. On April 27, 2010, she released "Heartbeat of Taiwan" for the Taiwan Pavilion at Expo 2010.

Jolin's eleventh album, Myself, came out on August 13, 2010. It was mostly dance music with a party theme. It sold over 65,000 copies in Taiwan. It was the best-selling album by a female artist that year. Jolin started her Myself World Tour on December 24, 2010. The tour had 35 shows and made about NT$1.5 billion. On July 12, 2011, she published her book Living Slim, which sold over 120,000 copies.

On September 14, 2012, Jolin released her twelfth album, Muse. It mixed pop music with pop art, combining popular and independent styles. It got good reviews and sold over 95,000 copies in Taiwan. It was the best-selling album by a female artist that year. The song "The Great Artist" won Song of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards.

On January 16, 2013, Jolin represented Taiwanese artists at MIDEM in France. On October 19, 2013, she released the live concert video Myself World Tour. She also sang songs for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the Chinese film Tiny Times 3. Jolin was a judge on the TV show Rising Star in 2014.

Tsai performing in 2015

On November 15, 2014, she released her thirteenth album, Play. This album was very different and had many themes. Critics loved it and said it raised the bar for Chinese dance music. Play sold over 85,000 copies in Taiwan. It was the best-selling album by a female artist that year. The album won Best Mandarin Album and Best Vocal Recording Album at the Golden Melody Awards.

On May 22, 2015, Jolin started her fourth concert tour, Play World Tour. It had 34 shows and brought in about NT$1.5 billion. On December 2, 2015, she won the Mnet Asian Music Award for Best Asian Artist.

Jolin voiced Judy Hopps in the Taiwanese Mandarin version of the Disney film Zootopia in 2016. She worked with Alesso on "I Wanna Know" and with Starr Chen on "Ego-Holic". She also sang theme songs for Mother's Day, a project with Hardwell, and the film On Happiness Road. In 2018, she released "Stand Up" for the film Monster Hunt 2. On January 30, 2018, Jolin released the live concert video Play World Tour. She also released "The Player" for the video game Dungeon & Fighter.

Recent Work and Impact (2018–present)

On December 26, 2018, Jolin released her fourteenth album, Ugly Beauty. It mixed pop with reggae, electronic, and hip-hop. The album talked about breaking beauty standards and understanding inner feelings. Critics praised the album for its ideas and good quality. Ugly Beauty was the best-selling album of 2019 in Taiwan. It has sold over 850,000 digital copies in China, making it the best-selling digital album by a female artist from Hong Kong or Taiwan ever. Jolin also became the female artist from Hong Kong or Taiwan with the highest digital sales of all time. The album won Album of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards, and "Womxnly" won Song of the Year.

On January 21, 2019, Jolin became a dance mentor on the TV show Youth with You. She released "Happy New Year Do Re Mi" with Liu Yuning and TikTok influencers. On November 1, 2019, she released "Gravity" with Karry Wang. Jolin started her fifth concert tour, Ugly Beauty World Tour, on December 30, 2019. The tour had 63 shows across 27 cities. On April 3, 2020, she released "Fight as One" with Eason Chan. She also released songs for the TV show The Wolf in 2020.

On March 21, 2021, Jolin released "Stars Align" with R3hab. She then released "Equal in the Darkness" with Steve Aoki and Max Schneider. On December 9, 2022, she released "Untitled" for the Taiwanese film Marry My Dead Body. This song was nominated for a Golden Horse Award for Best Original Film Song. On October 31, 2023, she released "Someday, Somewhere" for the web series At the Moment. On November 20, 2023, she released the 40th anniversary theme song "Oh La La La" for McDonald's Taiwan.

Jolin Tsai's Artistry

Musical Inspirations

Jolin's yoga act during her J1 World Tour (2004–06) was inspired by Madonna's Re-Invention World Tour (2004). Jolin also used voguing dance style, made popular by Madonna, in her music video for "Honey Trap" (2010).

Jolin Tsai has said that Madonna, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Destiny's Child have greatly influenced her. In 1998, she won an MTV Mandarin singing contest by performing songs by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. She said, "I've been listening to music since I was a child. Western music was very popular then. I liked Whitney Houston and often recorded myself imitating her." She also admired Destiny's Child for their singing and dancing.

Jolin became a fan of Madonna after seeing her perform. She wants to "lead trends in music, stage, dance, and fashion" like Madonna. Jolin believes that "when making popular music, we should lead people to accept new styles and new elements." She has also mentioned Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, and Lady Gaga as inspirations.

Music Style

Jolin Tsai uses many different music styles and ideas in her career. She said, "I try to interpret and express them with my own colors." Her main music style is dance-pop. She believes "every singer must establish their own identity." Jolin feels that "Maybe I don't have many representative ballad works, but dance music is what I am best at."

Her first album 1019 (1999) had ballads, R&B, and hip-hop. Her 2000 album, Don't Stop, added rock and reggae, and started to feature dance songs. Her next two albums, Show Your Love (2000) and Lucky Number (2001), used R&B, hip-hop, and disco.

Jolin's 2003 album, Magic, combined disco, funk, hip-hop, rock, and R&B. This album marked her move towards mostly dance music. Her 2004 album, Castle, built on these styles. It had songs with heavy metal and chanson elements. Many dance songs on her album J-Game (2005) were influenced by electronic music. It also had a song with Chinese traditional music.

Dancing Diva (2006) is mainly a pop and electronic album. Its title song is known for its unique sound. Agent J (2007) showed Eurodance and continued to use disco and hip-hop. It also included a swing song.

Her 2009 album, Butterfly, experimented with synth-pop. Myself (2010) mainly used house music, but also had R&B and urban pop. Muse (2012) is a pop record that mixed popular and independent music styles. It had songs influenced by trance, progressive house, and techno.

Play (2014) was largely influenced by electronic dance music styles like trap and dubstep. One song mixed noise rock and alternative dance, while another included opera. Ugly Beauty (2018) mixed reggae, electronic, and hip-hop. Some songs had gothic rock or soul music influences.

Jolin's Voice and Singing

Jolin Tsai has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. When she first started, some people said her singing was weak. However, many people have praised her unique voice and how much she has improved. Sohu Entertainment felt that her singing got much better over the years.

Jolin has been nominated for Golden Melody Award for Best Female Mandarin Singer four times and won in 2006 for Dancing Diva. Some wondered if her voice was strong enough to win. But the head judge of the 18th Golden Melody Awards praised her singing and performance in Dancing Diva. They said it showed she had become a true vocalist.

In 2015, her album Play got many nominations, but she wasn't nominated for Best Female Mandarin Singer. A judge said there was too much pitch correction in the album. Jolin's manager said this wasn't true. DJ Casey Cheng said that using pitch correction is fine because "records are designed to produce unique sounds."

In 2017, Jolin sang at the 54th Golden Horse Awards. She was off-key during one song. She admitted her mistake, showing her honesty.

Music Videos

Jolin is often involved in making her music videos. They are known for being creative and beautiful, and also popular. Apple Music says Jolin is "always on the cutting edge of fashion, and her music videos are full of varied costumes, sometimes colorful and sometimes avant-garde, very dazzling."

Jolin's music videos have won awards in Taiwan and other countries. Videos for songs like "Honey Trap," "The Great Artist," "Play," and "Ugly Beauty" have been nominated for or won awards. The video for "Play" won a Red Dot Design Award. Time magazine called the video for "Play" "might be 2014's best pop music video."

Jolin Tsai's Legacy and Impact

Jolin Tsai is known as the "Queen of C-pop". She is a very important person in C-pop music, known for her music, style, dancing, and strength. In the early 2000s, Taiwanese artists like Jay Chou and Jolin were very popular in Chinese-speaking areas.

Jolin has also done a lot for social issues. She has used her music to support same-sex couples and different LGBTQ lifestyles. She promotes self-love and understanding differences, making her an important figure in Asia's LGBTQ community. Jolin uses her platform to speak up for gender equality and help minority groups. In a 2019 survey, Jolin ranked first for fashion styles and second for gender issues and life attitudes among influential women.

Jolin is seen as the person who made dance-pop popular in Greater China. QQ Music critic Mimimao said Jolin is "undoubtedly the biggest contributor to the development of electronic dance music in the C-pop music industry." They said her new ideas put her "far ahead" of others. Fan Jung-ching of Bloomberg Businessweek Taiwan called her a "Great Chinese Dance Music Artist." Apple Music said songs like "Play" and "Ugly Beauty" not only criticized society but also set "new visual and creative standards for Mandopop".

Jolin's work has influenced many other artists, including Cyndi Wang, Rainie Yang, A-Lin, Lala Hsu, Eve Ai, Shi Shi, Emma Wu, Yao Yao, and By2.

Other Ventures

Brand Endorsements

Taiwan Beer's advertisement featuring Tsai in Taipei

Jolin Tsai has worked with many well-known international brands. These include Adidas, Bulgari, Gap, McDonald's, Mercedes Benz, Pepsi, Puma, Samsung, Swarovski, Toyota, Uber Eats, and Valentino.

She has also created special products with some brands. In 2018, Pony launched sneakers designed by Jolin. In 2019, Gap released T-shirts and hoodies that she designed, inspired by her album Ugly Beauty.

Jolin's Own Products

In September 2007, Jolin and her sister started a nail polish brand called Oops! Jealous. Jolin helped create the colors and styles. The brand was sold online and later in stores like Watsons. It stopped in 2014.

In February 2009, Jolin launched a fashion brand called Seventy Two Changes in New York City. It was sold in stores like Nordstrom. The brand also opened a store in Shanghai, China. Jolin was the designer, but she left the brand in 2011 due to different ideas among the owners.

On October 20, 2015, Jolin started a fondant cake fan page called Your Majesty on Facebook. She then started a company for fondant cakes, taking custom orders. By 2018, her cake business had four cake chefs.

Achievements and Awards

Jolin Tsai has been nominated for 16 Golden Melody Awards. She has won seven of these awards. She won Album of the Year for Ugly Beauty (2018). She also won three Song of the Year awards for "Marry Me Today", "The Great Artist", and "Womxnly". She won Best Mandarin Album for Play (2014) and Best Female Mandarin Singer for Dancing Diva (2006). Jolin holds a Guinness World Record for the most Golden Melody Awards for Song of the Year. Her album Play received ten nominations, which is one of the most in history.

Jolin has won many other Chinese music awards. These include the Beijing Pop Music Awards, China Music Awards, and Hito Music Awards. She has won eight Hito Music Awards for Best Female Singer. She also won ten KKBox Music Awards for Top Ten Singers of the Year. In 2010, she was named one of the Top Ten Influential Hong Kong/Taiwan Music Figures of the Decade.

Internationally, Jolin has won several big awards. She won an MTV Video Music Award for International Viewer's Choice in 2001. She also won the MTV Asia Award for The Style Award in 2006 and the MAMA Award for Best Asian Artist – Mandarin in 2015. In 2008, she received the Butterfly Award from Taiwan's Ministry of Labor. In 2023, her song "Untitled" was nominated for a Golden Horse Award for Best Original Film Song.

Jolin has had many number one songs in Taiwan. She has had five number one songs on Taiwan's Hit FM Top 100 Singles of the Year chart. Each of her studio albums, starting with Magic (2003), has been the best-selling album by a female artist in Taiwan for that year. Four of her albums—Dancing Diva (2006), Agent J (2007), Butterfly (2009), and Ugly Beauty (2018)—were the overall best-selling albums in Taiwan in their release years.

Discography

Filmography

• Six Friends (2001)
• Come to My Place (2002)
• In Love (2002)
• Hi Working Girl (2003)
• Agent J (2007)
• Zootopia (2016)

Concert Tours

• J1 World Tour (2004–2006)
• Dancing Forever World Tour (2006–2009)
• Myself World Tour (2010–2013)
• Play World Tour (2015–2016)
• Ugly Beauty World Tour (2019–2024)

Businesses Jolin Started

• Oops! Jealous (2007–2014)
• Seventy Two Changes (2009–2011)
• Eternal Music Production Co., Ltd. (2009)
• Your Majesty (2015)

See also

In Spanish: Jolin Tsai para niños

• Forbes China Celebrity 100
• Honorific nicknames in popular music
• List of best-selling albums in Taiwan
• List of dance-pop artists