Jackie Chan is an absolute icon. The amount of talent embedded in that single personality is unbelievable. But that’s not where his greatness ends. Chan is also an actor, and unbeknownst to most people, an amazing singer!
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Jackie Chan is a prolific singer, who has recorded around 20 albums with over 100 songs. He has sung songs in five different languages. Chan has been singing since he attended the Peking Opera school at the age of seven. While his acting career took the front foot, he kept up his singing career as well and kept recording album after album.
Jackie Chan’s autobiography: ‘Never Grow Up’
Jackie Chan released his autobiography,?‘Never Grow Up’?in December 2018. While the book was released in Cantonese in the year 2015, it was released in English only in 2018. In his autobiography, he talks about his career, his personal life, his childhood, and his stint in Hollywood.?
Chapter thirty of his autobiography is titled ‘SING’, and this chapter gives an insight into his singing career. He claims that a lot of Americans are not even aware of the fact that Chan sings.
Jackie Chan owes his career to his ‘Demon Producer’
Jackie Chan attributes his singing career to his producer, Jonathan Lee. He says in his book, “One of the reasons I have a singing career at all?which many Americans don?t even know about?is Jonathan Lee.”
But Jonathan Lee has not always made things easy for Chan. “He demanded very high standards from my music, and so I called him ?the demon producer.??Jonathan Lee has pushed Chan to his limits to make his singing career a successful one.
Jackie Chan reminisces that while he argued with Lee to make his songs easier, the producer always pushed Chan to upgrade his singing and to sing more complex songs. This one time, Chan and Lee butted heads during which Chan went on a 45-minute-long monologue on why he should be getting easier songs.
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Jonathan Lee’s only reply to this rant was, “Are you done complaining?”.?While Lee might have made life difficult for Chan at times, it is obvious that the actor appreciates the work Lee put into his career.
Chan says, “I consider myself very lucky to have had the chance to work on all these songs, and it?s all thanks to Jonathan Lee that I go around the world singing. If you think my singing isn?t bad, then you ought to thank him, too. He?s my teacher as well as my friend, my brother, my demon producer.”
Written by
Edited by
Anupama Ghosh