Faye Wong

About Faye Wong

Faye Wong is a Chinese singer-songwriter and actress. Early in her career, she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong . Born in Beijing, she moved to British Hong Kong at the age of 18. She debuted with the Cantonese album Shirley Wong in 1989 and came to public attention by combining alternative music with mainstream Chinese pop. Since the late 1990s, Wong has recorded mostly in her native Mandarin, with some songs recorded in languages such as English and Japanese.

Wong's most famous film role was in Wong Kar-wei's acclaimed Chungking Express, which also prominently featured her Cantonese version of "Dreams" by the Cranberries. That track was taken from her seventh album, Random Thoughts, on which she transitioned from Chinese pop to more of a Western dream pop sound heavily influenced by the Cocteau Twins, whose "Bluebeard" she also covered on the album. The Cocteau Twins contributed two original songs for Wong's album Fuzao. She returned the favor by recording vocals for a special duet version of "Tishbite" for the Asian release of the Cocteau Twins' final album Milk & Kisses.