Faye entered the music scene in 1989 when her teacher introduced her to a producer,
Chan Tsiau Bao. Impressed by her budding talent, Chan offered her a contract. At the age
of 20, Faye entered into a contract with Cinepoly Records Limited and released her first
album, entitled "Shirley Wong", in November 1989. She quickly followed with her
second album, entitled "Everything", in June 1990, and then a third, entitled
"You're the only one", in December 1990. By then people had begun to notice her
and her fame spread.
But Faye, being introvert by nature, did not take very well to her growing popularity
and stardom. She felt she needed time for herself and so decided to leave for America to
study music. She stayed in New York and started off with a few short-term singing and
dancing classes. When Faye returned to Hong Kong in 1992, her first intention was to
finish her record contract with Cinepoly before proceeding for her university education.
She changed her stage name from "Shirley" to "Faye".
Faye then released an album entitled "Coming Home" in August 1992, presumably
to commemorate her return to Hong Kong. This highly successful album won her considerable
popularity and set her irreversibly on the path to super-stardom. The song "Easily
Hurt Lady" turned out to be a mega-hit and radio stations in Asia would broadcast
that song for years to come. She won the "Most Popular Asian Female Singer"
award in 1993. By then, she had released no less than 8 albums. Faye staged her first
concert in November 1994, in Toronto, Canada.
It was no surprise, then, that Faye decided to cancel her varsity enrolment and embark
on a full-time career in singing. Her creative yet carefree style, her sincere yet
sophisticated character, her trendy fashion, and most of all, her mesmerizing voice, won
her international fame and recognition such that when I first got to know her in 1995, she
had become a common name in pop circles. True to the taste of the times, her later albums
gradually took on an "alternative" flavour. A good example would be her album
entitled "Impatience - Fu Zhao", which featured 3 songs exhibiting Faye's voice
but without any lyrics whatsoever.
For all the things Faye famous for, perhaps the greatest is her brand of cool
insouciance, especially to the media. Unlike other pop stars who craved for attention,
Faye did not care much about social appearances or the spotlight and she seldom
entertained the press. Overcome by the fanatical screams of the millions of her fans, she
began to "retreat" into her enclave. People started to criticize her and say
that she was "cocky" but she did not care one iota. The shy Faye never wanted to
mould herself to please audiences or her fans or deliberately drum up her popularity. Yet
her exquisite, pristine, charming voice continued to draw attention from the world over
till she had to face an unstoppable wave.
After her contract with Cinepoly expired, Faye signed a contract with EMI, starting 26
May 1997. It was worth HK$70 million and would last 3 years. Her first album with EMI
featured the all-time favourite "You're happy, so I'm happy". She staged a
concert in Taiwan in October 1997 with an audience of 20000. In January 1998, Faye won the
"Favourite Female Artist" award at Taiwan's Channel-V Awards.
