Vanness Wu

Vanness Wu
吳建豪
Wu at the Joyful Family Music Event in 2012
Born	(1978-08-07) August 7, 1978 (age 43) Los Angeles, California, United States
Other names	Van Ness Wu
Education	Corona del Mar High School
Occupation	Singer actor dancer director producer model songwriter spokesperson
Years active	2000–present
Spouse(s)	Arissa Cheo ​ ​ (m. 2013; div. 2018)​
Parent(s)	Mimi Yang (mother)
Musical career
Origin	Taiwan
Genres	Mandopop R&B Dance Taiwanese hip hop Chinese hip hop J-pop
Labels	Sony Music Taiwan Pony Canyon SM Entertainment Universal Music Taiwan
Associated acts	F4 Kangta & Vanness
Musical artist
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	吳建豪
Simplified Chinese	吴建豪
showTranscriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wú Jiànháo
Website	Vanness Wu on Facebook

Vanness Wu (simplified Chinese: 吴建豪; traditional Chinese: 吳建豪; pinyin: Wú Jiànháo; born August 7, 1978) is a Taiwanese-American actor, entertainer, singer, director, and producer. He is a member of the Taiwanese boyband F4 and the Korean Mandopop duo Kangta & Vanness.

Early life[]

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Wu was born on August 7, 1978, in Los Angeles, California. He's the youngest of three children and has two younger half-siblings. His parents divorced when he was young and spent his childhood between Los Angeles and Taipei before eventually settling in Santa Monica.

As a teenager, he learned to breakdance and competed in numerous dance competitions throughout the 90s.^[1]

After graduating from Corona Del Mar High School, he worked as a telemarketer before moving to Taiwan at the age of 21 to pursue a career in entertainment to “search for a life with more meaning”.

Career[]

Early career with F4[]

Wu at the MTV Asia Aid in 2005.

Wu starred as Mei Zuo (美作), one of the F4 members, in the Taiwanese drama series Meteor Garden and its sequel, Meteor Garden II. At the conclusion of the series, they continued to perform together and released three studio albums as the boy band F4. In 2002, Wu became the second F4 member, after Vic Chou, to release his debut solo album, Body Will Sing. The track, "I Hate Myself" is listed at number 95 on Hit Fm Taiwan's Hit Fm Annual Top 100 Singles Chart for 2002.^[2] The album was awarded as one of the "Top 10 Selling Mandarin Albums of the Year" at the 2002 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards, presented by the Hong Kong branch of IFPI.^[3]

In 2003, he was featured on Beyoncé's single "Crazy in Love", featured on her album Dangerously in Love.

In 2004, Wu made his film debut in the Hong Kong film Star Runner and was nominated at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Newcomer.

In 2006, he collaborated with Korean singer Kangta, forming Kangta & Vanness. The duo released the album Scandal.

In 2008, Wu was announced as the opening act and special guest for Kanye West's "Glow in the Dark" concert in Shanghai. They performed the hit song “Good Life”^[4]

Solo career success and acting career[]

Wu has appeared in several Taiwanese dramas as well as motion pictures. In 2009, he starred as Ren Guang Xi in Autumn's Concerto, one of the highest-rated Taiwanese idol drama. He also released his first Japanese single "Only", which entered Top 10 of the Oricon Chart, as well as another single "I Don't Wanna Lose You".

In 2010, Wu became the executive producer for the television series Year of the Rain.

Wu's third Chinese solo album C'est La V was released July 2011 under Universal Music Taiwan. It features collaborations with international artistes such as Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic, as well as Bruno Mars and Justin Michael who wrote the track "Knockin".

Besides directing, producing, acting, and singing, Wu is also the creator/designer of his own jewelry line 3.V.O.7. He is also the creative director of Reebok (greater China division).

In 2012, Wu won the "Best Crossover Singer" at the 16th Chinese Global Music Charts.

In 2013, Wu joined Jiangsu TV's diving variety show Stars in Danger: The High Dive, and won the silver medal.

In January 2015, Wu was announced to be one of the judges of the talent show Asia's Got Talent, along with Indonesian-French singer Anggun, Canadian musician David Foster, and former Spice Girls member Melanie C, which aired from March to May on AXN Asia.^[5]

In July 2015, Wu returned to the Philippines after a decade of his first visit for the special show for the #LiveinLevis event sponsored by Levi's in line with the launch of the Women's Denim Collection for Fall 2015. Wu's performance was a way of thanking the brand's fans and style seekers.^[6][7]

In 2016, it was announced that Wu would star in his first Chinese television series The Princess Weiyoung alongside Tiffany Tang, playing the 5th century prince and then Emperor Tuoba Yu of the Northern Wei Dynasty. He was also in the science fiction film Pili Back. In the same year, he participated with his sister Melody in the third season of The Amazing Race China, based on CBS's reality program of the same name, where they were eliminated on the ninth leg and finished 4th.

In 2019. he starred in Ip Man 4: The Finale alongside Donnie Yen where he played Hartman Wu, a U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant and Bruce Lee's student.

Personal life[]

This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (May 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

On November 15, 2013, Wu married his longtime girlfriend, Singaporean heiress and entrepreneur Arissa Cheo, in Los Angeles. On June 20, 2018, they both decided to get a divorce after 5 years of marriage.

His mother and sister own a skincare business in Los Angeles, called Vivid Health & Beauty.

He is a devout Christian and often talks about his faith on social media.

Filmography[]

Television[]

Film[]

^{[10] [11]}

Discography[]

Studio album[]

Singles[]

With Kangta and Vanness[]

• 2006 – Scandal – Kangta & Vanness Collaboration

Other collaborations[]

• Beyoncé – "Crazy in Love" (Asian releases only) [2004]
• Coco Lee – "Hip Hop Tonight" [2006]
• Brian Joo – "Everything to Me" [2010] – 3rd Wave Music – I WILL BE THERE Album – www.3rdwavemusic.org
• Sammi Cheng – "Forgiveness" (In both English and Chinese) [2010]
• Lee Junho – "Undefeated" [2012] (M/V)
• Avicii – "Levels" (Mandarin Version) [2013]
• David Foster, Anggun and Melanie C – "Let's Groove" (charity single for the victims of Nepal earthquake) [2015]
• Danson Tang, Selina Ren, Diamond Zhang, Madoka Yonezawa, Siwon, Yao Yao, Rainie Yang, Amber Kuo, – "Blessing (Chinese edition)" [2015]

Endorsements[]

• Walkman
• Siemens 2118
• Legend Computers (China region)
• Mingle Shoes (China region)
• Lu Piao Shampoo (China region)
• Samuel & Kevin
• Bicowave & Bicogirl
• Pepsi – 2002~2005 (Taiwan, Hong Kong, China)
• Yamaha – 2003 (Southeast Asia)
• Hang Ten – 2012
• Hyundai – 2012
• Reebok – 2012
• G-Shock – 2014
• Casio – 2014
• Levi Strauss & Co. – 2014

See also[]

• History of the Chinese Americans in Los Angeles

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vanness Wu.

• Vanness Wu on Facebook
• Vanness Wu at IMDb