Jackie Chan: Kung Fu Fighter Believes There's More to Him Than Meets the Eye
After seeing him perform acrobat stunts, kung-fu kicks, and aerial jumps, who would have known Jackie Chan, a remarkable martial artist and actor, is also a singer? With twenty albums and one hundred songs under his belt, proficiently singing in many languages such as English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and Taiwanese, Jackie certainly has experience as a singer. He first began singing while attending the Peking Opera School when he was seven years old. Along with his vocal lessons, Jackie acted, performed acrobatics and martial arts. A lot of Jackie's successful co-stars today such as Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Yeun Wah also derived from the same school. After Opera school, Jackie pursued a career as an actor, placing singing as his secondary career. On one hand, Jackie was making movies, but on the other hand, he was also dropping albums on a regular basis. Both song and film elements combined for the first time when Jackie's very first song titled, "Kung Fu Fighting Man," appeared in the movie, "The Young Master."

After much success in both careers in Hong Kong, Jackie spent the last twenty years growing and expanding in attempts to penetrate the American market, his next level of achievement. It was not an easy journey for him as he suffered a little more than physical injuries doing stunts for his movies in an effort to appeal to the American audience. His early movies shown in America were not a seen as a success. It wasn't until his movie, "Rumble In The Bronx," was released that Jackie garnered extensive media attention and became an international presence. In America, Jackie was not thought of as a singer at all, nor did he intentionally promote himself that way. He did not release any albums as a crossover appeal to his American audience as he has in the past in places such as Hong Kong. Still, he believes there is more to being an action hero or stuntman than meets the eye.

Though Jackie went on to make more than eighty movies in his lifetime that specifically appeal to either the United States or Hong Kong market, he continued to incorporate elements of his music talent through his movies, not albums. During the filming of "The Tuxedo," Jackie, who was in character, sang and danced, imitating the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, for one of the scenes. Seeing this, Jackie's fans embraced Jackie's performance with compliments. Off screen, often for fun, Jackie sings over the closing credits to his movies. What mystifies Jackie Chan fans who do not know him as a singer is that many of Jackie's movie soundtracks feature Jackie singing. Realizing this, Jackie's music fans eventually embraced Jackie as an action and comedic actor as well as a singer. Though he does not presently produce as many albums, Jackie expressed interest in singing duets with singers from each country. More known for his duets rather than solo singing, Jackie has teamed up with singers such as Anita Mui, Naoko Kawai, Ani DiFranco, and even recent stars such as The Twins.

Career Highlights:
• 20 albums released (1984-2002)
• 1984 - The Best Foreign Singer Award in Japan
• 1990 - Ten Most Popular Performers in the 80's Award for Radio & Television in Hong Kong

Where is he now?
Jackie Chan and Nic Tse Ting Fung are filming their new movie, "New Police Story."
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