F4 (band)
F4 | |
---|---|
Also known as | JVKV |
Origin | Taiwan |
Genres | Mandopop |
Years active |
|
Labels | Sony Music Taiwan (2001–2007) |
Past members | Jerry Yan Vanness Wu Ken Chu Vic Chou |
Website | Sony Music Taiwan |
F4 (Flower Four) or JVKV was a Taiwanese boy band consisting of Jerry Yan, Vanness Wu, Ken Chu, and Vic Chou. The group F4 was formed in 2001 after the Taiwanese drama Meteor Garden that they starred in was widely successful. Together they have starred in several Taiwanese drama series and released three albums, Meteor Rain (2001), Fantasy 4ever (2002), and Waiting for You (2007).
According to Forbes, F4 has sold 3.5 million copies of their first two albums all over Asia as of July 2003.[1] In 2007, due to copyright issues, the group changed its name to JVKV, using the descending age of the initials of its members.[2] Other than their country of origin, Taiwan, they have also attained popularity in other parts of Asia, such as the Philippines, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea.
History
[edit]2001: Formation and Meteor Garden
[edit]The group formed as a result of the success of a Taiwanese drama series, Meteor Garden. The series is an adaptation of the Japanese shōjo manga series Hana Yori Dango. Yan plays the lead role of Dao Ming Si, an extremely arrogant and rich university student who meets his match in the poor but proud girl, Shan Cai. Chou, Wu and Chu play as his friends Hua Ze Lei, Mei Zuo, and Xi Men, respectively. In the series, the four guys identify themselves as a group called "Flower Four", or often shortened as F4.
Meteor Garden was released in Taiwan in 2001 and turned the leads into stars virtually overnight.[3] In 2002 Meteor Garden was released in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and the Philippines in 2003. The series was aired on Xing Kong channel, and was later remade in China. A sequel, Meteor Garden II, was shot in Spain later and released in 2002.
2001–04: Musical venture, Meteor Rain, and Fantasy 4ever
[edit]In 2001, F4 became a boy band and signed a record deal with Sony Music Taiwan. In the same year they released their debut album, Meteor Rain, and in the following year they released Fantasy 4ever. The album includes the Mandarin version of "Can't Help Falling in Love" that they recorded for the Asian version of Walt Disney's Lilo & Stitch soundtrack,[4] a Mandarin version of "Yo Te Amo" by Chayanne, and a Pepsi advertisement theme song "Ask For More".
In 2003, they embarked on an Asian tour to support Fantasy 4ever, and went on an unannounced hiatus in 2004 afterwards as the members began to focus on their solo careers.
2007–08: Waiting for You and name change to JVKV
[edit]On April 29, 2007, Meteor Garden producer Angie Chai announced that the group would no longer be known as F4. The change in name stemmed from copyright-related issues. Japanese publisher Shueisha, who owns the copyright to Hana Yori Dango allowed the group to use F4 as its band name in 2001. However, as Japan had filmed and aired its own live action versions of the popular manga, with its own cast of four, the publisher felt that there may be confusion over the name in different countries.[5][6] Due to this conflict, the group was renamed JVKV using the first initials of each of the group's members. According to the producer, the members are listed in the new name by the order of their birth dates from oldest to youngest, thus Vanness Wu's name appears before Vic Chou's.[2]
Despite rumours of disbanding,[7] JVKV released their third album, Waiting For You, on December 28, 2007.[8] Their third album still bore the name F4, not JVKV. F4 were the first foreign artists to hold 7 consecutive concerts in Japan.
2013: Jiangsu TV's Spring Festival
[edit]In January 2013, the group was confirmed to perform at Jiangsu TV's Spring Festival in China along with Harlem Yu.[9] The performance was taped in Beijing on January 30, 2013,[10][11] and was aired on February 10, 2013. It was their first performance together in four years. During the show, they hinted that they were going to have a concert tour in China, which did not come to fruition.
Members
[edit]Stage name | Birth name | Date of birth | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
English | Chinese | Romanized | Chinese | |
Jerry Yan | Liao Yang Chen | 廖洋 |
January 1, 1977 | |
Vanness Wu | Wu Chien Hao | August 7, 1978 | ||
Ken Chu | Chu Hsiao Tien | January 15, 1979 | ||
Vic Chou | Chou Yu Min | June 9, 1981 |
Solo projects
[edit]JVKV are also individually concentrating on their solo careers in both acting and music. Three of them appeared in Wish To See You Again, starring Chou and Chu, while Wu made a few guest appearances in a few episodes. Due to scheduling conflicts, Yan did not star in the series; his part was played by Kingone Wang. Yan filmed a series in Taiwan alongside Wu Chun of Fahrenheit and Show Lo, called Hot Shot otherwise known as 篮球
Jerry Yan
[edit]In August 2004, Yan came out with his first solo album titled, The First Time (
Vanness Wu
[edit]Wu focused his attention on both movies and music. He first released a solo album titled Body Will Sing in 2002, and has since released several more albums. He also has been featured in several music videos, such as "Ai Cuo" with Wang Leehom, the Chinese version of "Crazy in Love" with Beyoncé, and Coco Lee's "Hip Hop Tonight". Besides music, he also has been acting as well, notably in Autumn's Concerto (
Vic Chou
[edit]Chou was the first JVKV member to release a solo album. He has since came out with 3 solo albums, Make a Wish (2002), Remember I Love You (2004), and I'm not F4 (2007).
He was also on the big hits "love storm" with other fellow JVKV member, Ken Zu.
Ken Chu
[edit]Chu released his own cookbook, Delicious Relations (
Discography
[edit]Title | Released | Label | Format |
---|---|---|---|
Meteor Rain ( |
August 28, 2001 | Sony Music Taiwan | Studio album (CD) |
Fantasy 4ever ( |
December 18, 2002 | Sony Music Taiwan | Studio album (CD) |
Waiting for You ( |
December 28, 2007 | Sony Music Taiwan | Studio album (CD) |
Filmography
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | Meteor Garden | Yan as Dao Ming Si Chou as Hua Ze Lei Wu as Mei Zuo Chu as Xi Men |
Drama series |
2001 | Meteor Rain | Mini series | |
2002 | Meteor Garden II | Drama series | |
2002 | Come to My Place | Yan as Zhong Yi Ye Chou as Zhong Yuan Wu as JJ Chu as Guang Tian Jian |
Drama series |
Awards
[edit]Year | Awards | Category | Nomination | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Hong Kong TVB8 Awards | Best Group (Gold) | F4 | Won | [citation needed] |
IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards IFPI |
Top 10 Selling Mandarin Albums of the Year 十大銷量國語唱片獲獎 |
Meteor Rain | Won | [12] | |
2003 | Fantasy 4ever | Won | [13] | ||
MTV Asia Awards | Inspiration Award | F4 | Won | [14] |
References
[edit]- ^ Alexandra Kirkman (July 7, 2003). "Big--But Not Here". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 12, 2003. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
- ^ a b (in Chinese) F4
嫌 新 称呼 JVKV绕口合体 宣 传用回 本名 . May 2, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2007. - ^ "CNN.com – F4 Talkasia Transcript – Jun 16, 2006". CNN. Edition.cnn.com. June 16, 2006. Archived from the original on June 28, 2006. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
- ^ "F4
主唱 《星 际宝贝》横 袭好莱坞 F4 singers hit Hollywood in Lilo & Stitch" (in Chinese). NETandTV.com. June 26, 2002. Archived from the original on June 27, 2007. Retrieved December 15, 2007. - ^ Wang, Vivien (April 29, 2007). "Boy band changes name F4 into JVKV". China Daily. Archived from the original on June 2, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2007.
- ^ "Boys over Flowers Forces F4 Idol Band to Rename Itself". Anime News Network. May 14, 2007. Archived from the original on May 16, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
- ^ "F4 to Formally Disband in October". CRI English. August 31, 2007. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved December 15, 2007.
- ^ (in Chinese) F4
再度 合體 發行 全 新 專 輯「在 這裡等 你」 四騎士劍誓再度征服全亞洲 Archived December 31, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. December 28, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2007. - ^ Belmonte, Maureen Marie (January 11, 2013). "'Meteor Gardens F4 To Reunite at China's Spring Festival". The Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
- ^ "F4 arrives in beijing for spring festival gala". xinMSN. February 1, 2013. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ^ "F4 performs in million dollar costumes". xinMSN. February 1, 2013. Archived from the original on July 1, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
- ^ IFPI Hong Kong 2002 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards winners list Archived July 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved April 19, 2011
- ^ IFPI Hong Kong 2003 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards winners list Archived February 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved April 19, 2011
- ^ AVRIL LAVIGNE, LINKIN PARK WIN BIG AT MTV ASIA AWARDS, January 24, 2003, archived from the original on November 2, 2020, retrieved November 14, 2021,
In other categories, Robbie Williams won Favorite Male Artist, Blue took Favorite Pop Act and F4 earned the Inspiration Award.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Can't Help Falling In Love - Sony Music Taiwan
- F4Vevo
- (in Chinese) Official SonyMusic F4 360 site
- F4 in CNN's Talkasia