Top 10 Chinese Pop Singers

So many pop singers have delighted us for decades in Chinese world, it’s difficult to select the 10 best Chinese pop singers. However, I finally worked out my list of the 10 best Chinese pop singers. These singers may not be popular in other parts of the world, but they certainly have made themselves known in Asia with their talented singing skills and performances:

1. Wong Ka Kui 黄家驹

Wong Ka Kui is a famous Hong Kong singer. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and the founder of the rock band Beyond. Wong had strong influences on the people in the 1980s and 1990s, with his talent, passion on life and sense of social responsibilities.

His famous songs such as The Land(大地), Loving You(喜欢你), Truly Love You(真的爱你), The Glorious Days (光辉岁月) and Under a Vast Sky(海阔天空) are the most beloved ones by fans. It is a pity that he died in 1993 for suffering head injuries when falling off a stage in Japan.

2. Andy Lau 刘德华

Andy Lau Tak-wah is a Hong Kong Cantonese pop star and actor. In the 1990s, Lau was branded by Hong Kong media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop along with Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung and Leon Lai.

He has recorded hundreds of songs, you can find some of his most well-known songs here.

3. Teresa Teng 邓丽君

Teresa Teng was regarded as one of the most influential Chinese pop singers of all time. Her unique talent, sweet voice, cute smile and natural performance made her the all-time greatest Asian singing icon and pop diva. It is a true fact that wherever there are Chinese people, the songs of Teresa Teng can be heard.

Tragically Teng died of an asthma attack while holidaying in Thailand on May 8, 1995 at the age of 42. You can find her classic songs here, every song is so beautiful and makes us miss her so much.

4. Jay Chou 周杰伦

Jay Chou is a famous Taiwanese singer. He is the most successful and influential Chinese singer since 2000. His songs inventively combines Chinese and Western music styles to produce unique songs that assimilates R&B, rock and pop genres.

He is a very  talented singer who composes all his own songs. Some of his most popular songs include East Wind Breaks(东风破), Chrysanthemum Flower Bed(菊花台), Listen to Mama’s Words(听妈妈的话), Common Orange Jasmine(七里香), Faraway(千里之外) and Blue and White Porcelain(青花瓷).

5. Jacky Cheung 张学友

Jacky Cheung nicknamed “God of Songs”, he has more than a hundred platinum discs to his name, and millions of fans around the world. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings.

His popular songs include Best Wishes(祝福), Farewell Kiss(吻别), Loving You More Every Day (每天爱你多一些) and Love Sparks(爱火花). 

6. Faye Wong  王菲

Faye Wong is a talented Chinese singer and is referred to as a diva by the Chinese media. With angel songs, independent and easy personality and charm on the stage, Wong has captured hearts of many of her fans.

In 2000 she was recognized by Guinness World Records as the Best Selling Canto-Pop Female. Her popular songs include Because of Love (因为爱情), Red Bean(红豆), Eyes on Me, Ren Jian (人间) and Passing Years(流年).

7. Leslie Cheung 张国荣

Leslie Cheung was an world-renowned famous actor and singer. Though he is more well-known for her movies like “Farewell My Concubine” and “Temptress Moon,” he has also performed many popular canton pop songs.

His most famous songs like Monica, A Thousand Dream of You, Bygone Love(当爱已成往事), Wild Wind(不羁的风) and Silence is Golden (沉默是金), won many awards in various music festivals. Tormented by emotional-sentimental troubles, the 47-year superstar committed suicide by jumping off a high-rise hotel on April 1, 2003.

8. Leehom Wang 王力宏

Leehom Wang is an American Chinese singer. His musical style is known for fusing Chinese elements with hip-hop and R&B. Wang has been active since 1995 and released 25 albums.

My favorite tracks from Wang include The One and Only(唯一), Unbelievable(不可思议), Kiss Goodbye and Change Me(改变自己)Mistakes in the Flower Field (花田错),Descendants of the Dragon(龙的传人)。

9. Aaron Kwok  郭富城

Aaron Kwok Fu-shing is a well-known Hong Kong singer-actor. The Hong Kong media gave him, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai the title Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings.

Due to his excellent dancing skills, he is dubbed as “Hong Kong’s Michael Jackson” by the media. Para Para Sakura(芭啦芭啦樱之花), I’m On Fire and We Wish You A Merry Christmas (快乐圣诞)are his most popular songs.

10. Anita Mui 梅艳芳

Anita Mui was both a famous singer and actress. She is often described as the Asian Madonna by the Media and this reflects her great popularity in Asia.

Her performance features low and magnetic voice, exotic costumes and wild dancing on the stage. Mui sang mostly in the Cantonese dialect and obtained great success in Canto-pop. It is a pity that she died from cervical cancer on December 30, 2003 at the early age of 40.

Her famous songs include Sunset Melody(夕阳之歌), Si Shui Liu Nian (似水流年)and Flaming Red Lips(烈焰红唇).

Above is the list of the top to famous Chinese music artists, do you know other top Chinese singers? Please leave a comment below.

37 Responses

  1. blurryface says:

    I’m listening to Faye Wong while writing this comment! She has such a nice voice to hear…
    Thank you so much for providing this list. I found it by chance while searching for more info about 魏然/Ice Paper and ended up here. Even though I didn’t find what I was searching for at first, I’m gonna check all of these singers *.*

  2. ron says:

    where is sara gu?

  3. Caroline says:

    Agree Langgalamu to be included

  4. Shealin Banta says:

    I am a chinese musician who plays the drums, saxophone, bass clarinet, and trumpet. I am also in marching band, concert band, and jazz band at my school

  5. Anonymous says:

    Where is Leon , Sam Alan Tam, Hacken Lee, George Lam
    黎明 許冠傑 譚詠麟 李克勤 林子祥
    Mand. li ming xu guan jie Tan yong lin Li ke qin Lin zi xiang
    Canto. lai ming hui koon keit Tam wing lun Lee Hak-kan Lam Tse Cheung

  6. Anonymous says:

    Where is Leon Lai (黎明)?
    The four heavenly kings should all be there.
    (四大天王)

  7. Fan of z.tao says:

    Z.tao is the best chinese singer……he is best….this list is wrong

  8. 千纸鹤 says:

    what! It’s all old stars!

  9. american says:

    Jay Chou should be first or second

  10. Frank W Sevek says:

    What! No GEM? Something definitely wrong here

  11. Leticia says:

    what wrong with you not eve know who there in you tube is is hua chenyue I you get you most you must to update your list you should change the title and put your favorites singer in chine not the most pupular

  12. ims says:

    This list is really out of date. Most of these singers were popular 15 years to 25 years ago. China has many outstanding new singers in the past few years. Try catching up by watching TV programs such as The Singer and Super Vocals available on youtube.

  13. Simon Man says:

    @tiga. Chinese is the Language, Mandarin, Cantonese Is actually a Dialect.

  14. joey says:

    why the top one is Wong Ka Kui,it is not correct.People in China who know something about Chinese music circles all agree that Teresa Teng is the top one.

  15. Eyes On Faye says:

    Wait….. Na Ying!!!! Where the heck was she? She’s important?
    Also, tiga you’re correct. It’s Wang Fei not Faye Wong and Zhou Jielun not Jay Chou (Wades-Giles)

  16. JK says:

    Any top 10 list is always disputable depending the era and the age of voting crowd.
    But my all time top 10 must include , Teresa Teng, Jacky C, Leslie, Faye, Ah Mei, Anita Mui,

  17. Scott says:

    Good list. I also like Sun Yan Zi. Karen Mok, Shang Wen Jie, and G.E.M. Now I am listening to the you-tube videos of Tong Jun (Cover Sharing). Xie Xie.

  18. chris says:

    What is wrong with you? Where tf is Jolin Tsai? I don’t even know most of these people

    • Peter says:

      I feel old even though I”m only 20 when you said that. Most of the people are from Hong Kong and are actually quite famous as Actors. If you know the songs 吻别, 忘情水,and 对你爱不完 are by 张学友#5,刘德华#2,and 郭富城#9. 王菲 is the singer who’s been popular way too long and finally became a meme last New Years for singing off key. Plus this list didn’t have JJ Lin 林俊杰 so automatic dislike

    • Yoga says:

      U dunno mean you too outdated, Jolin Tsai totally unable reach to them

  19. Mable says:

    I like Anita Mui, I like her songs, I studied Chinese at the time Hanbidge Mandarin school, lisa teacher told me a lot about her story, make me more like her

  20. ken says:

    how about eason
    he is also famous!!!

  21. Yusboy x9 says:

    I really lyk hong kong music. But i dnt understand their language. Am 9ja guy

  22. waldomarek says:

    ok and exactly how did you come up with this list?

  23. ailes says:

    Wang, not Wong. It’s one of the most famous chinese last name!!!

    • Wait, what? says:

      What are you talking about?? There are no names here that are wrong. WONG is a last name, as is WANG. Two distinctive last names. Please at least look up your facts before you try to correct someone.

      • Cmon cuh says:

        王=Wang and not not Wong, it’s common for Americans to misspell Chinese names. (You can even look the name up on Wikipedia smh.)
        But since we don’t care abut it (cause why should we? Would you learn how to spell it anyways?) instead we roll with it.
        Also the Chou in Jay’s name is actually spelled “Zhou” fyi.

        So instead of actin all smart n shit, the one that should be looking up facts before trying to correct someone is you.
        If you do not speak the language or know any of it, don’t act like you do.

        • Howard says:

          If you do not speak the language or know any of it, don’t act like you do. I’m sorry to tell you Wong and Wang are the same. We pronounce Wong in Cantonese instead of Wang.

        • Nan Wang says:

          Actually, in english, they say Chou for some reason. i didn’t come up with it so don’t blame me. Also, wong is a last name in chinese. One of my friends last name is Wong and they are Chinese.

        • Anonymous says:

          王 incident: Cantonese exists in this world Cmon cuh!
          Jay Chou’s incident: It’s romanization. There can be multiple romanization to a sound/word

      • LMAO says:

        Wang and Wong are actually the same character in Chinese, so no, they AREN’T “two distinctive last names”; they’re two spellings for the same last name.

    • tiga says:

      I’m sorry to tell you but you’re an idiot. Wong is her Cantonese surname, which translates to Wang in Mandarin. If you were really Chinese you would know that “Chinese” isn’t an actual language. Mandarin, Cantonese and many others are actual languages of China.

    • Anonymous says:

      Wong (王,黃,往,皇,旺,汪,凰,煌) is distinctively cantonese
      This can be translated to huang or wang.

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