Priscilla Chan (singer)

Priscilla Chan Wai Han
陳慧嫻
Chan in 2014
Background information
Birth nameChan Wai Han
Also known asPC
Born (1965-07-28) 28 July 1965 (age 59)
British Hong Kong
Genres
OccupationSinger
Years active1983–2001, 2003–2004, 2007–present
Labels
Various
WebsitePriscilla Chan on Facebook
Priscilla Chan on Instagram
Priscilla Chan on Weibo (in Chinese)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese陳慧嫻
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinChén Huìxián
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationchàhn waih hàahn
JyutpingCan4 Wai6Haan4
IPACantonese pronunciation: [tʃʰɐn21 wɐi22 haːn21]

Priscilla Chan Wai Han (Chinese: 陳慧嫻; Jyutping: Can4 Wai6 Haan4; pinyin: Chén Huìxián; born 28 July 1965) is a Hong Kong singer. She is renowned for her contralto singing voice and her maturely clear, technically skilled, and emotion-rich vocals.[1][2]

Debuted in 1983 at age 18 from a trio album project named Girls' Magazine (少女雜誌), which was formed by Fiori Productions Ltd. (法安利製作有限公司), with the hit "Forgotten Promise" (逝去的諾言), Chan began her solo singing career in 1984 and has since remained popular for more than three decades.[3] Chan signed to PolyGram Records, Hong Kong (寶麗金) in 1986 and reached her career peak between the late-1980s and mid-1990s, and scored several hits particularly in the 1980s, most remarkably including "Silly Girl" (傻女) from her 1988 album Priscilla's Love (嫻情), as well as her signature song, "Thousands of Songs" (千千闋歌), one of the all-time Cantopop classics, from her 1989 best-selling farewell album Forever Your Friend (永遠是你的朋友), which also elevated Chan to the top tier of Hong Kong singers.[4]

Chan continued to release albums during her study, and resumed her full-time singing career in 1995 after graduation, achieving a huge success for her comeback album titled Welcome Back. Chan's work remained relatively popular throughout the 1990s, eventually falling out of favour in the early 2000s when she was overtaken by a new generation of Cantopop singers.[5][6] Chan made a few brief comebacks in the 2000s, including the one in 2003 when she signed to Universal Music Hong Kong, performed a concert with two shows, and released an album entitled Love Knot (情意結). Feeling frustrated upon poor record sales, Chan stepped back from the Hong Kong musical industry and embarked on her live performances at private functions and concerts overseas and in mainland China, where her popularity was further boosted.[7]

After a decade of hiatus, Chan officially returned to the Hong Kong Cantopop scene in 2013, when she signed to Universal Music Hong Kong again with the relaunch of the PolyGram label in Hong Kong. Chan then successively released two cover albums, namely By Heart (2014) and Evolve (2015), and the compilation album Back to Priscilla (Back to Priscilla 嫻情三十) (2014) commemorating the 30th anniversary since her debut. Chan also performed in two major concert series, namely the "Back to Priscilla: 30th Anniversary Concert 2014 Live" (2014) and the "Priscilla-ism Live 2016" (2016) at the Hong Kong Coliseum, with world tours, live performances, and private functions mainly held in mainland Chinese cities, and sporadically in North America and Russia.[8][5]

  1. ^ Hu, Yuanhang (11 March 2011). ""療傷天后"陳慧嫻首支國語歌曲MTV昆明開拍". China News Service (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  2. ^ SPILL 編輯部 (2 October 2018). "【編輯推薦】八十年代 100 首最佳本地歌曲選:Part 2". SPILL HK (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  3. ^ "【失蹤人口】少女雜誌陳樂敏黎芷珊敍舊 網民:食咗防腐劑". Apple Daily (in Traditional Chinese). 18 March 2019. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  4. ^ Inés Fung (19 March 2020). "10 iconic Cantopop singers you should know". Localiiz. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  5. ^ a b Chow, Vivienne (18 August 2019). "From Alan Tam to Sandy Lam, 10 of Canto-pop's original stars: where are they today?". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  6. ^ Birchmeier, Jason. "Artist Biography: Priscilla Chan". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  7. ^ Kamarudin, Syahida (18 April 2013). "Priscilla Chan to make a comeback". Yahoo! Lifestyle Singapore. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  8. ^ "【娛樂快遞】遠赴莫斯科演出 · 慧嫻壓軸登場". Universal Music Hong Kong UMWebzine (in Traditional Chinese). 14 April 2017. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.