Thanks from a lucky star

Jackie Chan has been making music since the 1980s, and his latest album is about the people he loves most, Chen Nan reports.

We have watched him on the big screen playing heroes of morality and justice, but for the martial arts film star Jackie Chan that's still not enough - he has one more musical pinnacle he wants to achieve.

On Dec 20, he appeared in Beijing to promote the release of his new album, I Am Me, in which he performs nine songs and delivers a monologue for each song.

"Whenever people ask me about my favorite movie, I usually say it's The Sound of Music. Music is a powerful force in my life that I enjoy listening to alone as much as I do when I'm celebrating with friends. But this album is more than just about music. These songs are also my life stories," he says as he opens the album with a one-minute monologue.

Although Chan, 64, is one of the best-known Chinese actors in the world with a career spanning over five decades in the film industry, he is also recognized as a singer in his own right, having sold more than 1 million copies of about 10 solo albums he has released since the 1980s. He sings in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and English.

He has performed many of the theme songs for his films, including The Young Master in 1980, Police Story in 1985 and The Myth in 2005. His previous album was released in 2002, titled With All One's Heart.

"I am not a professional singer, and I never imagined I would have released so many albums. But I cannot let myself neglect this part of my work," says Chan at the Beijing event, adding that he has spent the past four years preparing for this new album along with Chinese songwriters Wang Pingjiu and Zhao Jialin.

Chan sings about brotherhood in the song, Childhood Stories, which he dedicated to his team of stuntmen, known as the JC Stunt Team, which he established in 1976. The team is now in its ninth generation of stunt artists working in the film industry worldwide.

He dedicated another song, Thank You My Love, to his wife, Taiwan actress Joan Lin, whom he describes as "tolerant, strong and always by my side, no matter what happens".

The song Don't Give Up is for Chan's son, Jaycee Chan, a musician and actor, who was arrested on drugs charges in Beijing in 2014. The song was written by Jaycee Chan before Jackie Chan became a leading ambassador for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and released an album to mark the event.

"I decided not to use that song at that time to avoid talk that I was helping to promote my son. When Jaycee was in trouble, I took that song and changed a little, addressing it to him," says Jackie Chan, adding that his son also sings one part in the song. "I'm probably not the best father, but I am responsible. At that moment I didn't blame him for the bad things that happened but instead blamed myself for not educating him properly. I believe in the future he will emerge from this shadow, and I wanted to cheer him up."

Other songs on the new album include Love Got Old, where Chan pays tribute to his parents, and Everything Is Like Before, Only You Are Gone, which he sings for loved ones who have died, such as the late Taiwan pop star Teresa Teng, with whom Jackie Chan had a relationship, his former manager Willie Chan Chi-keung, who helped establish Chan's career, and some of his stuntmen friends.

"Chinese people tend to be reserved. We always hold our feelings back. For the people I love, I rarely say 'I love you' to them. But with music, I can express my emotions," Chan says.

Chan's new movie, The Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang, is due to premiere on Feb 5.

The kung fu star also adds that the opportunity to record songs alone in a studio offered him a different experience from making movies, where hundreds of people often join him on the set.

"I can totally be in the zone when I'm singing by myself in the studio. This might be my last album so I completely devoted myself to it. I'm looking back on my life and this is what I want to say to my family, my friends and my fans," he says.

On Dec 4, he released an English autobiography, titled Never Grow Up, in which he confesses to the darker side of his personality, involving gambling and alcohol. First released in Chinese in 2015, the book courted controversy and propelled the mega star into international headlines. The book inspired the opening song on the album, bearing the same title, which he chose to frame the album.

He also recorded another song that didn't make it to the final playlist. "It's a song that you may hear at my funeral," Chan says.

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/02/2019 page15)