Jolin Tsai facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jolin Tsai
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| 蔡依林 | |||||||||||||
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Tsai in 2018
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Tsai I-ling
September 15, 1980 Hsinchuang, Taipei County, Taiwan
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| Other names | Jolin Cai | ||||||||||||
| Education | Fu Jen Catholic University | ||||||||||||
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| Years active | 1999–present | ||||||||||||
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Works
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| Awards | Full list | ||||||||||||
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| Origin | Taipei, Taiwan | ||||||||||||
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| Instruments | Vocals | ||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 蔡依林 | ||||||||||||
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| Chinese | 蔡宜凌 | ||||||||||||
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Jolin Tsai (born September 15, 1980) is a famous singer, songwriter, and actress from Taiwan. She is often called the "Queen of C-Pop". Jolin is one of the most important people in pop culture in the Chinese-speaking world. She is known for always changing her music style and how she looks. This has made her a leader in popularizing dance-pop music in Greater China. Jolin Tsai is very involved in her career. Her work often talks about important topics in society. She 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), made her a teen idol. She was very popular with teenagers. With her album Magic (2003), Jolin started making more dance music. This style became even stronger with Dancing Diva (2006). This album was a big success and helped her win her first Golden Melody Award. It made her a top dance-pop artist in Chinese music. She has won many Golden Melody Awards for albums like Muse (2012), Play (2014), and Ugly Beauty (2018). She has won seven Golden Melody Awards, which is more than any other dance-pop artist in the award's history.
Jolin Tsai has sold over 25 million records. This makes her the best-selling female artist from Taiwan since 2000. Since Magic (2003), every one of her studio albums has been the best-selling album by a female artist in Taiwan for that year. Four of her albums were also the best-selling albums overall in the country. Jolin has often been on the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list. She was in the top 20 for six out of ten years since 2010. She was named the number one Chinese female singer three times. Her money was more than NT$2 billion in 2014. She has been the highest-paid Taiwanese female singer 16 times between 2003 and 2022.
Contents
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 on her mother's side was from the Papora, an Indigenous Taiwanese group. This means Jolin is one-quarter Papora.
She went to Hsinchuang Elementary School and then Hsinchuang Junior High School. Later, she attended Chingmei Girls' High School. In high school, she started a band called Twister with her friends. They entered many singing contests. They won the Chingmei Girls' High School Singing Competition. They also got second place in a national high school singing contest.
In May 1998, Jolin joined a singing competition. It was held by MTV Mandarin and Sony. She won the singing part of the contest. In March 1999, she signed with Universal. The company saw her as their most important new artist. They gave her six months of training. This included dance, makeup, and language lessons. She also traveled to Ireland and the United States to see live shows by international artists. In June 1999, she was accepted into the English Literature program at Fu Jen Catholic University. She was ranked first in the university's selection process.
First Albums and Growing Fame (1999–2002)
On July 16, 1999, Jolin released her first song, "Living with the World". On September 10, she released her first album, 1019. This album mixed pop, hip-hop, R&B, and world music. It sold over 400,000 copies in Taiwan.
Her second album, Don't Stop, came out on April 26, 2000. It included pop, hip-hop, rock, reggae, and R&B. This album sold over 500,000 copies in Taiwan. It was the sixth best-selling album of the year and the second best-selling by a female artist. It is still her best-selling album in Taiwan. On May 5, 2000, she released a photo book called Nineteen Years. It sold over 60,000 copies in Taiwan.
On December 22, 2000, she released her third album, Show Your Love. It sold over 260,000 copies in Taiwan. In September 2001, the music video for her song "Fall in Love with a Street" won an award at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.
On June 28, 2001, she sang the Chinese version of the theme song "Where the Dream Takes You" for the movie Atlantis: The Lost Empire. On July 7, 2001, she released her fourth album, Lucky Number. It mixed pop, R&B, disco, and hip-hop. Even though there were problems with her management company, the album sold over 150,000 copies in Taiwan. It was one of the top 20 best-selling albums of 2001. In February 2002, Jolin was on the cover of BusinessWeek magazine. She represented Mandopop music.
Becoming a Dance Music Star (2002–2005)
On July 23, 2002, Jolin signed with Sony. On August 2, 2002, she released her book The Masque of the Princess & the Spirit of Knight. It sold over 50,000 copies in Taiwan. On March 7, 2003, she released her fifth album, Magic. This album mixed pop, disco, funk, ballad, hip-hop, and British rock. It sold over 360,000 copies in Taiwan and 1.5 million copies across Asia. It was the second best-selling album of the year in Taiwan and the best-selling by a female artist. The album was nominated for Album of the Year. Jolin was nominated for Best Female Mandarin Singer.
On March 9, 2003, Jolin's TV show Hi Working Girl started on CTV. In April 2003, she sang theme songs for the movie Why Me, Sweetie?!. On June 14, 2003, she graduated from Fu Jen Catholic University with a degree in English Literature. In September 2003, she sang the theme song "Mirage" for the movie Warriors of Heaven and Earth. On September 15, 2003, she translated Madonna's children's book The English Roses into Chinese. She later translated five more of Madonna's books.
On February 27, 2004, Jolin released her sixth album, Castle. It combined pop, hip-hop, Latin, and rock. It sold over 300,000 copies in Taiwan and 1.5 million copies across Asia. It was the second best-selling album of the year in Taiwan and the best-selling by a female artist.
On August 7, 2004, Jolin started her first concert tour, the J1 World Tour. It began in Shanghai. The tour lasted almost two years and visited seven cities. On November 12, 2004, she released a collection album called J9. In February 2005, she performed on the CCTV New Year's Gala. In March 2005, she published her book Jolin's English Diary Book. It sold over 120,000 copies in Taiwan.
On April 25, 2005, she released her seventh album, J-Game. It included pop, hip-hop, electronic, disco, and Chinese traditional elements. It sold over 260,000 copies in Taiwan and 1.2 million copies in Asia. It was the second best-selling album of the year in Taiwan and the best-selling by a female artist. In September 2005, she released the live concert video J1 Live Concert. In December 2005, she published the book Jolin's Party. It sold over 150,000 copies in Taiwan.
Dancing Diva and Agent J Success (2006–2008)
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On February 16, 2006, Jolin signed with EMI. In May 2006, Sony released her greatest hits album J-Top. It sold over 100,000 copies in Taiwan. On May 12, 2006, she released her eighth album, Dancing Diva. This album was mainly pop and electronic music. It sold over 300,000 copies in Taiwan and over 2.5 million copies across Asia. It was the top-selling album of 2006 in Taiwan. The album was nominated for Best Mandarin Album. Jolin won Best Female Mandarin Singer and Favorite Female Singer/Group.
On September 15, 2006, she started her second concert tour, the Dancing Forever World Tour. It began in Hong Kong. The tour lasted two and a half years. It visited 20 cities and had 28 shows. About 500,000 people attended, and it made about NT$1 billion. In September 2006, she released the album Dancing Forever. It included the song "Marry Me Today", which won Song of the Year. In February 2007, Jolin performed on CCTV New Year's Gala. In June 2007, she released her live video album and documentary If You Think You Can, You Can!. It sold over 120,000 copies in Taiwan.
On September 21, 2007, Jolin released her ninth album, Agent J. This album came with a film of the same name. The album sold over 200,000 copies in Taiwan and over 3 million copies across Asia. It was the highest-selling album of 2007 in Taiwan.
In November 2007, Kylie Minogue released a song called "In My Arms" that featured Jolin. In October 2008, Jolin released her cover album Love Exercise. It had ten English songs. It sold over 30,000 copies in Taiwan and was the best-selling Western-language album of the year.
Continued Success with Butterfly, Myself, Muse, and Play (2008–2018)
On December 16, 2008, Jolin signed with Warner. On March 27, 2009, she released her tenth album, Butterfly. Pre-orders for the album were over 120,000 copies in Taiwan, setting a new record. The album sold over 130,000 copies in Taiwan and more than one million copies across Asia. It was Taiwan's best-selling album of 2009. In March 2009, Jolin started the Butterfly Campus Tour. However, she had to cancel some shows due to an old injury. In October 2009, she released the live video album Love & Live. In October 2009, she started her own company, Eternal. This company helps manage artists, produce music, and organize concerts. In April 2010, she sang the theme song "Heartbeat of Taiwan" for the Taiwan Pavilion at the Expo 2010.
On August 13, 2010, Jolin released her eleventh album, Myself. This album was mostly dance songs. It sold over 65,000 copies in Taiwan. It was the fourth best-selling album of the year in Taiwan and the top-selling album by a female artist. The music video for "Honey Trap" was nominated for Best Music Video. In December 2010, Jolin started her third concert tour, the Myself World Tour. It lasted over two years and had 35 shows in 31 cities. About 600,000 people attended, and it made about NT$1.5 billion. In July 2011, she published the book Living Slim. It sold over 120,000 copies in Taiwan.
On September 14, 2012, Jolin released her twelfth album, Muse. This album mixed pop music with pop art. It sold over 95,000 copies in Taiwan. It was the third best-selling album of the year and first among female artists in 2012. It was nominated for Best Mandarin Album. The song "The Great Artist" won Song of the Year.
In January 2013, Jolin represented Taiwan at Midem in France. In October 2013, she released the live video album Myself World Tour. In May 2014, she sang "Now Is the Time" for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In June 2013, she sang the theme song "Kaleidoscope" for the movie Tiny Times 3. In August 2013, she sang "Be Wonderful Together" for a Pepsi and Tmall campaign. From October 2013, she was a judge on the CCTV show Rising Star.
On November 15, 2014, Jolin released her thirteenth album, Play. It sold over 85,000 copies in Taiwan. It was fourth in annual sales and first among female artists in 2014. The album received ten nominations at the Golden Melody Awards. It won Best Mandarin Album. In May 2015, Jolin started her fourth concert tour, the Play World Tour. It lasted about one year and two months. It had 34 shows in 23 cities. About 600,000 people attended, and it made about NT$1.5 billion. In December 2015, she won the Best Asian Artist Mandarin award.
In February 2016, Jolin voiced the character Judy Hopps in the Taiwanese version of the movie Zootopia. In September 2016, Alesso released the song "I Wanna Know" with Jolin. In October 2016, Starr Chen released "Ego-Holic" featuring Jolin. In May 2017, Jolin sang "Give Love" for a Mother's Day campaign. In June 2017, Hardwell released "We Are One" with Jolin. In November 2017, Jolin sang the theme song "On Happiness Road" for the film of the same name. In December 2017, she sang "Stand Up" for the movie Monster Hunt 2. In January 2018, Jolin released the live video album Play World Tour. In June 2018, she sang the 10th anniversary theme song "The Player" for the video game Dungeon & Fighter.
Recent Works: Ugly Beauty and Pleasure (2018 - present)
On December 26, 2018, Jolin released her fourteenth album, Ugly Beauty. This album mixed pop, reggae, electronic, and hip-hop. It was the highest-selling album in Taiwan for 2019. By August 2023, its digital sales in Mainland China were over 850,000 copies. This set a record for digital sales among female artists from Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan. The album received eight nominations at the Golden Melody Awards. It won Album of the Year, and the song "Womxnly" won Song of the Year. From January 2019, Jolin was a dance mentor for the TV show Youth With You. In January 2019, she worked with Liu Yuning and TikTok influencers on the New Year song "Happy New Year Do Re Mi". In November 2019, she teamed up with Karry Wang to release "Gravity". In December 2019, Jolin started her fifth concert tour, the Ugly Beauty World Tour. It lasted about four years and seven months, with 63 shows in 27 cities.
On April 3, 2020, Jolin and Eason Chan released the song "Fight as One". In November 2020, she sang theme songs for the TV show The Wolf. In March 2021, she worked with R3hab on the song "Stars Align". In October 2021, she teamed up with Steve Aoki and Max Schneider to release "Equal in the Darkness". In December 2022, she sang the theme song "Untitled" for the movie Marry My Dead Body. This song was nominated for Best Original Film Song. In October 2023, Jolin sang "Someday, Somewhere" for the web series At the Moment. She was nominated for Best Composer for this song. In November 2023, she performed "Oh La La La", a theme song for McDonald's Taiwan's 40th anniversary.
On July 25, 2025, Jolin Tsai released her fifteenth album, Pleasure.
Jolin Tsai's Artistry
Musical Inspirations
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Jolin Tsai has said that Madonna, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Destiny's Child greatly influenced her music. In 1998, she won a singing contest by MTV Mandarin. She sang songs by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey there. She remembers listening to Western pop music, especially Whitney Houston, when she was in school. She would even record herself trying to sing like them. She also admired Destiny's Child because they could sing and dance at the same time. She saw them as role models.
Jolin wants to be a stage performer like Madonna. She noted that Madonna has set trends in music, fashion, and performance. Jolin believes that pop music should always try new sounds and ideas. This helps challenge old ideas and makes the music industry grow. Jolin has also mentioned other artists who influenced her, like Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, and Lady Gaga.
Music Style
Jolin Tsai has used many different music styles throughout her career. She said, "I try out many styles, and I try to show them with my own unique touch." Jolin's main music style is dance-pop. She believes that "every singer needs to find their own unique identity." She also said, "Maybe I don't have many famous slow songs, but dance music is what I do best."
Her first album 1019 (1999) had mostly slow songs. Her next album, Don't Stop, still had slow songs but moved towards more upbeat, rhythmic tracks. Her 2003 album Magic mixed disco, funk, and hip-hop. This album marked her change to mostly dance music. Her 2004 album, Castle, built on the styles of her previous album. J-Game (2005) was heavily influenced by electronic music.
Dancing Diva (2006) is mainly a pop and electronic album. Agent J (2007) showed Eurodance style. Her 2009 album, Butterfly, tried out synth-pop. Myself (2010) mostly used house music. Muse (2012) is a pop album that mixed mainstream and independent music styles. This was a clear change from her earlier works. Play (2014) was greatly influenced by electronic dance music styles like trap and dubstep. Ugly Beauty (2018) included reggae, electronic, hip-hop, and other styles.
Jolin Tsai's Voice
Jolin Tsai has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. When she first started, some people said her singing was not strong. They said her voice was thin and she could not sing many different notes. However, one of the judges from the MTV Mandarin singing contest, Wawa Chen, liked Jolin's voice.
Over time, Jolin's singing has gotten much better. Sohu Entertainment felt that her voice and how she delivered songs had improved a lot over the years. Qu Er from Tencent Entertainment said that Jolin's singing skills are often misunderstood. They felt that only a few singers can keep such good breath control during a whole performance.
Jolin has been nominated for Golden Melody Award for Best Female Mandarin Singer four times. She won the award for her 2006 album Dancing Diva. Some people wondered if her singing was good enough to win. But the head judge of the 18th Golden Melody Awards, Liu Ya-wen, publicly praised Jolin's singing and performance in Dancing Diva. She felt that the album showed Jolin had changed from just a performer to a true singer.
In 2017, during her opening performance at the 54th Golden Horse Awards, she sang a bit off-key when covering "Tian Mi Mi". Critics thought her overall performance was not as good as usual. Jolin openly admitted her mistakes.
Music Videos
Jolin Tsai cares a lot about being creative and visual in her music videos. She tries to make them artistic and popular at the same time. According to Apple Music, her videos are known for always changing styles. They can be bright and new, or sometimes have elements from other cultures. For example, "Prague Square" shows Gothic buildings. "The Spirit of Knight" uses ideas from Siamese culture. Some of her music videos also talk about social issues. "We're All Different, Yet the Same" shows a same-sex wedding to talk about diverse families. "Ugly Beauty" uses big, dramatic visuals to question common beauty standards. The Beijing News noted that some of her videos are still traditional. But others, like "Play", "Womxnly", and "Lady in Red", show bold and unique visual ideas. This shows how she keeps growing and trying new things in her music videos.
Jolin Tsai's Impact and Legacy
Jolin Tsai is known as the "Queen of C-Pop". She has become a very important person in C-pop music. She is recognized for her music, her image, her dancing, and her strength. Liu Hsiu-wen from Billboard said that in the early 2000s, Taiwanese artists like Jay Chou and Jolin Tsai were very popular in Chinese-speaking music markets across Asia. This was a great time for Taiwan's pop music. Former chairwoman of the Kuomintang, Hung Hsiu-chu, said that Jolin's artistic achievements have set a high standard in the C-pop music industry. She added that Jolin's name has been linked to the lively youth of a generation for over twenty years. Liang Xiaohui from NetEase Entertainment suggested that when people in the future think about Chinese divas from the early 21st century, Jolin Tsai might be the first name they remember, much like Madonna in the late 20th century. The Grammy Awards recognized her big influence on the Chinese music scene. They said she is one of the key people helping Mandopop grow around the world.
In a music industry where many slow songs are popular, Jolin Tsai is seen as a leader in making dance-pop music popular in the Greater China region. Fan Jung-ching from Bloomberg Businessweek Taiwan called her the "Great Chinese Dance Music Artist". He wrote that Jolin showed the world how good Chinese dance music can be. Hou Cheng-nan, a professor at I-Shou University, said that Jolin made Chinese dance music better and set a high standard that is hard to beat. A critic from QQ Music, Mimimao, wrote that "Jolin Tsai has definitely contributed the most to the growth of electronic dance music in the C-pop music industry." They thought that Jolin's new ideas put her far ahead of other artists at her time.
Besides her influence on Chinese pop culture, Jolin Tsai has also helped with social issues. Tamar Herman from Billboard said that Jolin is a leading figure in Chinese pop music. She has shown support for same-sex couples and different LGBTQ lifestyles through her lively pop songs. This has given a way for different voices to be heard in the more traditional Chinese music scene. Herman noted that through her music, which promoted self-love and understanding differences, Jolin became an important symbol in Asia's LGBTQ community. Liao Yuanling from Business Today wrote that Jolin always uses her platform to speak up for gender equality. She helps minority groups speak for themselves.
Jolin Tsai and her work have influenced many artists. These include Cyndi Wang, Rainie Yang, A-Lin, Lala Hsu, Eve Ai, and Shi Shi. You Zuo from The Beijing News wrote, "As one of the most influential female stars in the C-pop music scene, Jolin Tsai's dedication to making artistic breakthroughs and caring for society deserves respect from everyone who cares about C-pop music." Apple Music said that Jolin's artistic legacy is built on her strength and new ideas. This makes sure her influence in music and pop culture will last.
Other Activities
Brand Endorsements
Jolin Tsai has promoted many well-known international brands and products. These include Absolut Vodka, Adidas, Always, Balvenie, Bausch & Lomb, Bulgari, Crest, Diablo, Dr. Jart+, Dungeon & Fighter, Gap, Head & Shoulders, Intel, Knorr, Levi's, L'Oréal, Lux, MAC, Max Factor, McDonald's, Mercedes Benz, Morinaga, Motorola, Nars, Olay, Pepsi, Pony, Puma, Quaker, Rémy Martin, Samsung, Shiseido, Standard Chartered, Sunbites, Swarovski, Toyota, Tropicana, Uber Eats, Valentino, Vidal Sassoon, Yamaha, and 7-Eleven.
Jolin has also worked with several brands to create special products. For example, in December 2018, Pony launched two limited-edition sneakers that she designed. In July 2019, Gap released six T-shirts that she designed. Each one was inspired by a song from her 2018 album Ugly Beauty. In September 2019, Gap also released four long-sleeved hoodies designed by Jolin.
Products and Businesses
In September 2007, Jolin and her sister started a nail polish brand called Oops! Jealous. Jolin helped create the colors and styles for the nail polish. In August 2010, Oops! Jealous started selling products through vending machines in Taipei. By October 2011, the brand was sold in Watsons stores. However, the brand stopped in 2014.
In February 2009, Jolin, with Ken Erman, launched a fashion brand called Seventy Two Changes in New York City. It was first sold in Nordstrom stores in North America. There were plans to sell it in Asia too. In February 2010, it opened its first store in Shanghai, China. But because of different ideas among the owners, and her contract ending, Jolin stopped being the brand's designer in 2011.
On October 20, 2015, Jolin started a fondant cake fan page on Facebook called Your Majesty. Then, in December 2015, she started a company for fondant cakes. They took custom cake orders through Facebook and Instagram. By January 2018, she said her cake business had four cake chefs.
Jolin Tsai's Awards and Achievements
Jolin Tsai has been nominated 16 times at the Golden Melody Awards. This includes nominations for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Mandarin Album, and Best Mandarin Female Singer. She has won seven Golden Melody Awards in total. She won Album of the Year for Ugly Beauty. She won Song of the Year for "Marry Me Today", "The Great Artist", and "Womxnly". She won Best Mandarin Album for Play. She won Best Mandarin Female Singer for Dancing Diva, and the Favorite Female Singer/Group award. Jolin holds the record for the most Golden Melody Award nominations and wins among dance-pop artists. She is also recognized by the Guinness World Records as the singer with the most Song of the Year awards. Her 2014 album Play received ten nominations. This makes it one of the most-nominated albums ever, tied with Jay Chou's Fantasy (2001) and A-Mei's Amit (2009). In 2018, her album Ugly Beauty was nominated for eight Golden Melody Awards.
Besides the Golden Melody Awards, Jolin Tsai has won many other Chinese music awards. These include awards from the Beijing Pop Music Awards, CCTV-MTV Music Awards, China Music Awards, Global Chinese Music Awards, Hito Music Awards, and others. In 2023, her song "Untitled" was nominated for Best Original Film Song at the 60th Golden Horse Awards. Internationally, Jolin has also won awards. These include the 2001 MTV Video Music Award for International Viewers' Choice for "Fall in Love with a Street". She also won The Style Award at the 2006 MTV Asia Award. In 2015, she won Best Asian Artist Mandarin at the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards.
In terms of chart success, Jolin Tsai has topped the Hit FM Top 100 Singles chart five times. Her songs "Marry Me Today", "Sun Will Never Set", "Honey Trap", "Play", and "Ugly Beauty" all reached number one. This makes her the artist with the most number-one hits on that chart. Since her 2003 album Magic, every one of her studio albums has been the best-selling album by a female singer in Taiwan for that year. Her albums Dancing Diva (2006), Agent J (2007), Butterfly (2009), and Ugly Beauty (2018) were also the overall highest-selling albums in their release years.
Discography
- 1019 (1999)
- Don't Stop (2000)
- Show Your Love (2000)
- Lucky Number (2001)
- Magic (2003)
- Castle (2004)
- J-Game (2005)
- Dancing Diva (2006)
- Agent J (2007)
- Butterfly (2009)
- Myself (2010)
- Muse (2012)
- Play (2014)
- Ugly Beauty (2018)
- Pleasure (2025)
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)
Enterprises
- 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
Images for kids
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Tsai in 2018
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Tsai at MTV Asia Awards 2006
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Taiwan Beer's advertisement featuring Tsai in Taipei
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