Wei Li-an (; born 5 March 1987), known professionally as WeiBird, is a Taiwanese
Mandopop
Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Standard Chinese, Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Ta ...
and
folk-rock singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, one live album and two EPs. Wei won the Golden Melody Award for Best New Singer in 2011 and Best Composer in 2015.
Wei gained media attention as the winner of the first season of the reality television singing competition ''
Happy Sunday
''Happy Sunday'' ( ko, 해피 선데이) is a Korean reality show, reality-variety show shown on the KBS2 network, which competes directly against Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, MBC's ''Sunday Night (South Korean TV series), Sunday Night'' and ...
'' in 2007.
He released his eponymous debut album ''
William Wei
Wei Li-an (; born 5 March 1987), known professionally as WeiBird, is a Taiwanese Mandopop and folk-rock singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, one live album and two EPs. Wei won the Golden Melody Award for Best New Singer in ...
'' in 2010, which received 4 nominations at the
22nd Golden Melody Awards and subsequently won him the Best New Artist award.
His third studio album
Journey into The Night received 2 nominations at the
26th Golden Melody Awards and the lead single "Wolves" (狼) won him the Best Composer award.
In 2021, Wei was nominated in four categories at the
32nd Golden Melody Awards for the album
Sounds of My Life
''Sounds of My Life'' is the fifth studio album by Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriter William Wei. It was released on April 29, 2020, by The Orchard. Production was done by Wei with Aven Tsai, alongside a variety of collaborators including Der ...
.
Wei also received a nomination at the
58th Golden Horse Awards
The 58th Golden Horse Awards () were held on November 27, 2021, at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (Taipei), Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Organized by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, the awards honored the ...
for 'Best Original Film Song' with 'Red Scarf' (如果可以).
The song is also nominated for 'Song of the Year' at the 33rd Golden Melody Awards.
Life and career
1987–2005: Early life
Wei grew up in
Taichung
Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...
, Taiwan. His parents, Wei Chin-long (韋金龍) and Chen Yu-mei (陳玉美), were both professors in the foreign languages departments of
National Chung Hsing University
National Chung Hsing University (NCHU; ) is a research-led comprehensive university in South District, Taichung, Republic of China.
Currently, NCHU is among the four universities of the Taiwan Comprehensive University System, a research-led un ...
and
National Chung Cheng University
National Chung Cheng University (CCU; ) is a national university in Minxiong Township, Chiayi County, Taiwan. CCU is a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
History
National Chung Cheng University was the first ...
respectively.
Wei's grandfather was a songwriter and both of his parents were previously choir members.
Wei grew under their influences and has developed great sensitivity toward music.
However, Wei did not pick up any music instruments when he was a child as he felt it would be tiring. Instead, Wei enjoyed drawing and wanted to become a comic artist when he grew up.
During his high school, Wei's father bought him his first guitar and he developed a passion for the instrument.
He began learning the basic chords on his own and practiced it whenever he was free. Wei was inspired to start writing his own songs after watching a songwriting showcase by his school music club.
He started composing songs and posted his works onto StreetVoice, a music-publishing platform for independent songwriters.
His songs were very well received by the Netizens and Wei became one of the most popular songwriters on StreetVoice.
Although most of Wei's works were notably
Folk Pop
Folk-pop is a musical style that may be 1) contemporary folk songs with large, sweeping pop arrangements, or 2) pop songs with intimate, acoustic-based folk arrangements. Recording production values created a unblemished style that appealed to ...
, he also experimented with different music genres such as
Bossa Nova
Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...
,
R&B,
Soul Jazz
Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including ten ...
and
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
.
2006–08: ''Happy Sunday''
Wei was accepted into the one of the top universities in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
,
National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan.
The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...
and pursued a major in Foreign Languages. In 2006, Wei decided to sign up for a school singing competition for fun and he performed Black Humor (黑色幽默) by
Jay Chou
Jay Chou ( zh, t=周杰倫, s=周杰伦, poj=Chiu Kia̍t-lûn, p=Zhōu Jiélún, first=t, w=Chou Chieh-lun; born January 18, 1979) is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, record producer, rapper, actor, and television personality. Dubbed the " King ...
. He won the competition unexpectedly and was selected to represent his school in the reality television singing competition,
Happy Sunday
''Happy Sunday'' ( ko, 해피 선데이) is a Korean reality show, reality-variety show shown on the KBS2 network, which competes directly against Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, MBC's ''Sunday Night (South Korean TV series), Sunday Night'' and ...
.
In the competition, Wei consistently impressed the judges with his good performances. He covered songs from many singers including
David Tao
David Tao (), born Tao Xuzhong () (born 11 July 1969), is a Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning singer-songwriter. He is well known for creating a crossover genre of R&B and hard rock tunes which has now become his signature style and for havin ...
,
Stefanie Sun
Stefanie Sun (, born 23 July 1978) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter. In 2000, she released her debut album, '' Yan Zi'', which won her a Golden Melody Award for Best New Artist. In 2004, she released her eighth studio album, '' Stefanie'', w ...
,
Wang Leehom
Wang Leehom (; born May 17, 1976), sometimes credited as Leehom Wang, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, producer, and film director. Formally trained at Eastman School of Music, Williams College and Berklee College of Music, his music i ...
. Wei ultimately won the competition and was crowned the first winner of
Happy Sunday
''Happy Sunday'' ( ko, 해피 선데이) is a Korean reality show, reality-variety show shown on the KBS2 network, which competes directly against Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, MBC's ''Sunday Night (South Korean TV series), Sunday Night'' and ...
.
However, Wei did a shocking decision by turning down the prize contract from the partnering music label.
He decided to put his budding music career on hiatus and continues his study. Wei felt that he was not ready to become a singer and he did not want to be bonded by a contract.
In addition, he was uncomfortable with the sudden fame and wanted to take a break after the intense singing competition.
Wei returned to his student life and continued publishing his songs on StreetVoice. Wei's works dominated the music charts on StreetVoice and many of his works remained in the top ten positions for more than two years.
He started writing songs for singers such as
FanFan
Christine Fan (born March 18, 1976), better known by her stage name FanFan or her Chinese name Fan Wei-chi, is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, TV presenter, record producer, actress, author and philanthropist. She sings mostly in Mandarin, but ha ...
,
Angela Zhang
Angela Zhang (; born 19 January 1982), also known as Angela Chang, is a Taiwanese singer and actress. Zhang has released ten studio albums as of 2020.
She debuted and rose to fame with the Taiwanese television dramas '' My MVP Valentine'' (20 ...
and
Rene Liu
Rene Liu Ruo-ying (; born 1 June, 1969) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actress, director and writer. In the Sinophone world, Liu is widely known by her affectionate nickname "Milk Tea". Her music often focuses on love stories and has built an ...
.
2009–10: ''Slowly Wait'', ''William Wei'', ''The Fleeing of a Two-Legged Bookcase''
In 2009, Wei decided to sign a record deal with
Linfair Records. Wei released his first EP on 13 March 2009, titled
Slowly Wait (慢慢等).
It consists of two tracks 'Slowly Wait' (慢慢等) and Good Weather (好天氣).
Both songs were fan favourites from StreetVoice. He began promoting his EP by touring 14 live houses in Taiwan. Wei also launched WeiTV, a parody channel on YouTube, to promote his first EP.
Subsequently, Wei released his
first self-titled debut studio album (韋禮安同名創作專輯) on 4 June 2010.
The album was a commercial success and was the seventh best selling album on the major
online bookstore
Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...
(博客來) in 2010. A 'Night' edition of the album was released on 17 August 2010 and was limited to 5,000 copies worldwide. The second hit, Because of Love (因為愛), charted 13th on the overall KKBOX digital music chart in 2010.
Wei's debut album received positive reviews from the critics. It was selected as one of the top 10 mandarin albums in 2010 by the
Chinese Musicians' Association and
Hit FM.
Wei received nominations 4 different categories in the prestigious
22nd Golden Melody Awards.
The album was nominated for Best Mandarin Album and lead single, 'Have or Have Not' (有沒有) earned Wei a nomination for Best Composer.
Wei was also nominated for Best Mandarin Male Singer and eventually won Best New Artist.
Wei held his first nationwide concert tour, The Fleeing of a Two-Legged Bookcase (兩腳書櫥的逃亡), on 18 September 2010 at the
Taipei International Convention Center
The Taipei International Convention Center (TICC; ) is a convention center in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The convention center is an integral part of the Taipei World Trade Center. Except for renting for conferences and exhibitions, the ven ...
to a crowd of 3000. He covered songs from his debut album and some of his all-time favourite songs by other artistes. The concert was recorded for
live release. The Fleeing of a Two-Legged Bookcase was later held in
Taichung
Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...
on 25 September 2010.
2011: Military service
Wei was
conscripted for mandatory military service in late 2010.
He served as the ambassador for the anti-drug campaign during his military service.
During this period, Wei continued to write songs in preparation for his
second studio album. Wei completed his 13-month military service and was discharged on 25 December 2011.
2012–13: ''The Bird That Saved The World'', ''Someone Is Waiting'' and ''Through My Lenses''
Linfair Records invested over NT 1 billion in filming a movie specifically for Wei, titled The Bird That Saved The World (什麼鳥日子).
The filming was completed within a tight schedule of sixteen days back in 2010.
The movie was released on 6 April 2012 in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
.
An
accompanying soundtrack was released earlier on 12 January 2012 in support of the movie.
Following the success of his
first album, Wei's second album
Someone Is Waiting was released on 3 August 2012.
The album received rave reviews from critics and fans. Both
Chinese Musicians' Association and
Hit FM have shortlisted the album as one of the top 10 best albums in 2012. "Still" (還是會), one of the songs in
Someone Is Waiting, won the Best Soundtrack of the Year award in the
KKBOX Music Award.
"Still" charted at 10th on the overall
KKBOX
KKBox, stylized as KKBOX is a music streaming service developed in 2005 by KKBox Inc., a software company in Taipei, Taiwan. It is a part of Japanese Telecom Group, KDDI. The service mainly targets the music markets of East and Southeast Asia, fo ...
digital music chart in 2012.
Wei held his second concert tour Through My Lenses concert at Hong Kong and
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
.
Both concerts were fully sold-out.
2014: ''Journey into The Night''
Wei released his third studio album, ''
Journey into The Night
''Journey into the Night'' () is the third studio album by Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriter William Wei. It was released on March 25, 2014, by Linfair Records. The album consists of 11 tracks. The theme of the album is about fears and it drew ...
'', on 25 March 2014.
Unlike the previous two albums, ''Journey into The Night'' leaned towards a darker artistic direction.
Inspired by
Ang Lee
Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popula ...
's movie ''
Life of Pi
''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, India who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He s ...
'', Wei faced his worst fears in his third album and experimented with
metal rock Metal rock may refer to:
* Heavy metal music
* Metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts ele ...
,
hip-hop,
2-step,
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
and rock.
Wei also distinctively changed his public image to appear more mature and masculine. In the music video of lead single 'Wolves', Wei shed his boy-next-door image and transformed into a bloodthirsty werewolf.
In promotion of the album, a three-dimensional art installation titled 'Bird and Wolf' was exhibited at the
Huashan 1914 Creative Park
The Huashan 1914 Creative Park () is a multi-purpose park in Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan.
History
Empire of Japan
What is now Huashan 1914 Creative Park opened in 1914 as Taihoku Winery during Japanese rule. It was privately owned w ...
.
Wei also embarked on By Your Side (在你身邊) concert promotional tour, and visited
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
,
Taichung
Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...
,
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
, Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.
The album was a commercial success and was the fifth best selling album on the major
online bookstore
Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...
(博客來) in 2014. It was also the seventh most streamed album on music streaming platform
KKBOX
KKBox, stylized as KKBOX is a music streaming service developed in 2005 by KKBox Inc., a software company in Taipei, Taiwan. It is a part of Japanese Telecom Group, KDDI. The service mainly targets the music markets of East and Southeast Asia, fo ...
.
The third single, 'By Your Side' (在你身邊) was ranked 5th on the overall
KKBOX
KKBox, stylized as KKBOX is a music streaming service developed in 2005 by KKBox Inc., a software company in Taipei, Taiwan. It is a part of Japanese Telecom Group, KDDI. The service mainly targets the music markets of East and Southeast Asia, fo ...
digital music chart in 2014.
''Journey into The Night'' received generally positive reviews, with critics praising Wei for expanding and integrating more styles into his base of
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
and
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
. The album received 2 nominations at the
26th Golden Melody Awards.
Wei was nominated for Best Mandarin Male Singer and 'Wolves' earned Wei the Best Composer Award.
In October 2014, Wei filmed his second movie, ''The Grand Song'' (侗族大歌).
The filming took place at the villages in
Guizhou
Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...
.
Wei was invited by theatre director
Edward Lam to perform the theme song of theatre play ''What Is Sex?'' (紅樓夢).
Wei performed 'May Have Been', the theme song of the play, at the very last scene.
'What Is Sex?' ran at Taiwan
National Theater and Concert Hall
The National Theater () and National Concert Hall () are twin performing arts venues at Liberty Square in Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan. Completed in 1987, the landmarks stand on the south and north sides of the square with Chiang Kai-s ...
from 26 to 28 December 2015.
2015–17: ''Free That Girl'' and ''It All Started From An Intro''
Wei returned to perform in 'What Is Sex?' at
Hong Kong Cultural Centre
The Hong Kong Cultural Centre () is a multipurpose performance facility in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Located at Salisbury Road, it was built by the former Urban Council and, since 2000, has been administered by the Leisure and Cultural Servi ...
Grand Theatre from 19 to 20 July 2015.
On 12 September 2015, Wei held his third concert, Free That Girl, at the
Taipei Arena
The Taipei Arena () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Songshan, Taipei, Taiwan, and it is operated by the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC). Built in 2005, the large multi-purpose stadium can accommodate major international sport ev ...
.
In promotion of the concert, Wei released a promotional single titled
"Girl" (女孩) on 28 May 2015. Wei also enlisted help from various female artistes including Hong Shi from Taiwanese girl group
Popu Lady
Popu Lady was a five-member Taiwanese girl group based in Taiwan, formed in 2012 by HIM International Music. The name of the group stands for "popular lady", which expresses the desire of the group to gain popularity through its songs and to giv ...
,
Waa Wei
Waa Wei (; born 10 October 1982) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, radio DJ, author, actress and artist. She was the former lead vocalist of the indie band Natural Q. She has published seven solo albums: ''La Dolce Vita'' in 2007, ''Graceful Po ...
and
Lala Hsu
Lala Hsu (; born 20 December 1984) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter. Hsu was born in Hualien County, Taiwan, and grew up in Taichung.
Hsu was a contestant in the third season of CTV's ''One Million Star'' in 2008. She won the contest with a ...
to promote the concert. Free That Girl performed to a crowd more than 10,000. It was scheduled to be held in Hong Kong on 18 June 2016.
In October 2015, Wei returned to tour with theatre play "What Is Sex?" in China. In two months, he performed at 7 cities:
Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
,
Chengdu
Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...
,
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...
, Shanghai, Beijing,
Zhuhai
Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pearl ...
and
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
.
Wei's rising popularity has won him endorsement deals and opportunities to sing for soundtracks of television drama series.
In a span of two years, Wei released nine digital singles, including the hit song, "
Don't Say" (別說沒愛過).
At the 2015 overall
KKBOX
KKBox, stylized as KKBOX is a music streaming service developed in 2005 by KKBox Inc., a software company in Taipei, Taiwan. It is a part of Japanese Telecom Group, KDDI. The service mainly targets the music markets of East and Southeast Asia, fo ...
digital music chart,
"Girl" was ranked at 9th and "
Don't Say" was ranked at 11th.
Wei held his Free That Girl concert in Hong Kong on 18 June 2016. Wei's fourth album 'It All Started From An Intro' was scheduled for release on 16 August 2016.
Wei released his fourth studio album,
It All Started From An Intro, on 16 August 2016. In this album, Wei continues to experiment with different music genres such as
Argentine Tango
Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in patterns such as AB ...
,
Electronic Dance Music, Pop,
R&B,
Fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plectr ...
etc. At the 12th KKBOX Music Award, Wei was one of the ten recipients honoured with the 'Artist of the Year' award.
The award is given to the top ten performing artists on KKBOX based on total music streaming volume.
Wei lent his voice to the role of
Brainy Smurf
This is a list of ''The Smurfs
''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''T ...
in the 2017 animated
Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
film
Smurfs: The Lost Village.
2018–2020: ''Contractual Dispute'', ''At Thirty'', ''Sounds Of My Life'', ''After Thirty''
On 2 September 2018, Wei announced he has left his record label,
Linfair Records and established his own music label, Awesome Music.
His news of departure was not well-taken by his previous label, which accused Wei had arbitrarily claimed that his contract had expired. As such,
Linfair Records has filed a lawsuit against Wei . Wei eventually won the lawsuit after embroiling in a 2 years legal battle with
Linfair Records.
Wei released a new single 'At Thirty' on 13 September 2018, which became the promotional single for his 'At Thirty World Tour'. Compromising of 10 shows, the tour visited 8 major cities in China and is scheduled to visit Singapore and Malaysia. On 29 April 2020, Wei released his 5th studio album titled
Sounds of My Life
''Sounds of My Life'' is the fifth studio album by Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriter William Wei. It was released on April 29, 2020, by The Orchard. Production was done by Wei with Aven Tsai, alongside a variety of collaborators including Der ...
. The theme behind this album circles around Wei's 'Documentary of Sounds' as he translates his life and emotions into music. For this album, Wei also experimented a variety of genres in his album, from pop, folk, rock to even R&B. Later in December 2020, Weibird performed 2 sold-out shows of ‘After Thirty’ at the Taipei Pop Music Centre.
Sounds of My Life
''Sounds of My Life'' is the fifth studio album by Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriter William Wei. It was released on April 29, 2020, by The Orchard. Production was done by Wei with Aven Tsai, alongside a variety of collaborators including Der ...
received 4 nominations at the 32th Golden Melody Awards.
The album was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Mandarin Album.
Wei was also nominated for Best Mandarin Male Singer and 'I Wrote A Song For You' earned Wei a nomination for Best Composer.
2021–Present: ''Red Scarf'' and ''I'm More Sober When I'm Drunk''
In 2021, Wei released "Just Stay With Me", which served as the opening credit song for television series
Tears on Fire. He later participated at reality talent show
Sing! China
''Sing! China'' (; formerly ) is a Chinese singing competition television series broadcast on Zhejiang Television. It premiered during the summer on 15 July 2016. It is a re-branded version of '' The Voice of China'', a show based on the orig ...
and joined Team Li Ronghao. He was subsequently eliminated in the Cross Knockouts round.
Wei was invited by
Giddens Ko
Giddens Ko (; born 25 August 1978) is a Taiwanese novelist and filmmaker. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Management from National Chiao Tung University and Master of Social Science from Tunghai University. He has published more than 60 boo ...
to compose a song for his movie
Till We Meet Again which was adapted from his novel 'Yue Lao' (月老). Wei co-wrote the theme song "Red Scarf" with Jerry C and Ko, which was a commercial success, becoming the biggest hit song in 2021.
The song has garnered over 60 million view on Youtube and topped music charts in various countries. It was named the 'Song of the Year' by Hit FM in the annual Top 100 countdown.
Due to the song's popularity, Wei released the song in Korean and Japanese for the movie's international releases. "Red Scarf" was well received by music critics and was nominated 'Best Original Film Song' at
58th Golden Horse Awards
The 58th Golden Horse Awards () were held on November 27, 2021, at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (Taipei), Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Organized by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, the awards honored the ...
and 'Song of the Year' at the 33rd Golden Melody Awards.
Wei was also honoured 'Artist of the Year' at the 12th KKBOX Music Awards Ceremony.
In the same year, Wei released his first English album I'm More Sober When I'm Drunk. The album is inspired from Wei's past heartbreak experiences which includes drowning his sorrows in alcohol. The album was well-received and named one of the Top 10 Album of the Year by Hit FM. The lead single 'R.I.P.' topped the Western Single Chart on KKBOX.
Wei announced his new concert 'See You Tomorrow' which will be held at Taipei Arena and all two shows were sold out within minutes after going on sale.
Discography
*''
William Wei
Wei Li-an (; born 5 March 1987), known professionally as WeiBird, is a Taiwanese Mandopop and folk-rock singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, one live album and two EPs. Wei won the Golden Melody Award for Best New Singer in ...
'' (2010)
*''
Someone Is Waiting'' (2012)
*''
Journey into The Night
''Journey into the Night'' () is the third studio album by Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriter William Wei. It was released on March 25, 2014, by Linfair Records. The album consists of 11 tracks. The theme of the album is about fears and it drew ...
'' (2014)
*''
It All Started From An Intro'' (2016)
*''
Sounds of My Life
''Sounds of My Life'' is the fifth studio album by Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriter William Wei. It was released on April 29, 2020, by The Orchard. Production was done by Wei with Aven Tsai, alongside a variety of collaborators including Der ...
'' (2020)
*''
I'm More Sober When I'm Drunk'' (2021)
*''
Good Afternoon Good Evening and Goodnight
In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...
'' (2022)
Filmography
Film
Theater
Radio
In July 2015, Wei became a celebrity DJ on a Beijing radio station. His radio program ran every Monday, from 10 to 11 pm. From 28 February, Wei's radio program was lengthened to 2 hours and runs on every Sunday, 9-11pm.
Concerts
* The Fleeing of a Two-Legged Bookcase 兩腳書櫥的逃亡 (2010)
* Through My Lenses 印象派 (2012)
* Free That Girl 放開那女孩 (2015–17)
* At Thirty 而立 (2019–20)
* After Thirty 而立之後 (2020)
* See You Tomorrow 如果可以,我想和你明天再見(2022)
Endorsements
Wei has been a spokesperson for many popular brands including
Lipton
Lipton is a British brand of tea, owned by Ekaterra. Lipton was also a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, later sold to Argyll Foods, after which the company sold only tea. The company is named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton, who fo ...
,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
Office 365
Microsoft 365 is a product family of productivity software, collaboration and cloud-based services owned by Microsoft. It encompasses online services such as Outlook.com, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, programs formerly marketed under the name Mic ...
and Cotton USA.
In many of his endorsements, Wei specially wrote songs for the brands such as 'Playing Games' (玩遊戲) for Microsoft Office 365
and 'Mirror of Sanctity' (崑崙鏡) for ARPG mobile game 'Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mirror of Sanctity'.
Wei was also the ambassador for World Vision Taiwan on numerous occasions. In 2013, Wei was first appointed as the ambassador for World Vision Taiwan's "Love Loaf" campaign and travelled to
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
to bring awareness about combating poverty and improving the lives of children and their families.
In 2014, he continued his ambassadorial role and visited
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
.
Subsequently,
Claire Kuo
Claire Kuo (born Kuo Po-yu on 5 August 1980) is a Taiwanese singer and television host.
The daughter of a restaurant owner, Kuo graduated from Shih Hsin University and was a competitive cheerleader. She performed her final routine in Novembe ...
joined Wei and visited
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
in 2015 to raise awareness about issues such as water scarcity, malnutrition and diseases.
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
Official YouTube account (Weibird0305)StreetVoice blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wei, William
1987 births
Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriters
National Taiwan University alumni
Living people
Writers from Taichung
Musicians from Taichung
21st-century Taiwanese male singers