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Jackie Chan: The musician you haven’t met

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The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China is one I would never forget. It’s probably the Olympics game with the most records set and broken.

Three things stood out for me in this 2008 global sporting event; In swimming, Michael Phelps broke the record for the most gold medals ever won by an Olympian with a total of 14; 8 of which he won in Beijing.

In Athletics, Usain Bolt won both 100m and 200m relay in a record 9.69s and 19.30s respectively, to set new Olympic and World Records – which he later went on to break in Germany (2009) for 200m and London (2012) for 100m.

The closing ceremony was as beautiful as the opening ceremony, albeit less. However, what stood out for me was seeing one of my favourite action figures mount the stage and sing his heart out. I remember staring at the TV with my mouth agape.

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His performance of Hard to Say Goodbye (which featured Andy Lau, Liu Huan and Emil Chau) got me curious. Is this one of those celebrity stunts where organisers want to give people something to cheer about? Or does he sing for real? The answer came when I did a quick search online and saw that he already released one of the two official albums for the 2008 Summer Olympics titled Official Album for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games – Jackie Chan’s Version.

In 2007, Chan recorded and released We Are Ready, the official one-year countdown song to the 2008 Summer Olympics which he performed at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics.

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Apparently, Jackie had been trained at China Drama Academy. The school was one of various Peking Opera Schools that were popular in Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong in the 50s and 60s. These schools trained students in martial arts, acrobatics, music and dance, among other skills. Perkin Opera has produced many students that have gone on to become successful stunt performers, action choreographers, actors and film directors.

By 1980, Chan had started producing records on his own. His first musical recording, Kung Fu Fighting Man was recorded entirely in English and was played over the closing credits of his movie The Young Master. He has since then been singing most of the theme songs to his movies which often play over closing credits.

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Jackie Chan is a polyglot. He has done songs in English, Cantonese, Japanese, Mandarin and Taiwanese. In a musical career spanning almost 40 years, he has produced over 20 different albums with over 100 songs in over 5 different languages.

Jackie is famed for his slapstick action comedy, which combines well-choreographed acrobatic fighting style, improvised weapons and innovative stunts, which he typically performs himself.

Either as a director, actor, writer, stuntman, martial artist, singer or philanthropist, there’s everything to love about the man who has dedicated his life to enriching other people’s lives through entertainment and philanthropy.

Marianne by Jackie Chan

Cry With You, Laugh With You By Jackie Chan

Endless Love by Kim Hee Seon and Jackie Chan –

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