WITH a career spanning decades, Jeff Chang is undoubtedly one of Chinese music’s most iconic singers. With an astonishing 41 albums under his belt, the singer is one of China’s highest-selling artists and is a household name in South East Asia.

His signature style of serenading audiences and a multitude of awards over a 30-year career have earned him the title of The Prince of Love Ballads. His best-selling album shifted more than 2.5 million copies and he has sold more than ten million tickets to more than 600 shows. The star has now set his sights on bridging the cultural gap between the East and West.

Jeff will perform a special one-off show at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London in April 2020, while he also is planning a collaboration with UK music royalty, Sir Tim Rice. All part of his efforts to give audiences here a better understanding of the beauty of Chinese culture through music.

Jeff grew up with music. Born in rural Taiwan, he sang in the choir at the local church where his father was a pastor. “Church music was a big influence in my childhood,” he recalled. “My father was a pastor, but he was not what you may imagine a pastor to be like. He always encouraged me to do what I enjoyed. I started learning the violin when I was five – he pushed me to learn one instrument vigorously. “I would also listen to a lot of Western music – from the UK and US – The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Queen.”

Jeff harboured no ambitions of becoming a music artist and his big break came by chance when he was studying at college aged 20. He entered and won a singing competition, catching the eye of an influential music executive.

Jeff explained: “One of the judges was a producer and I was lucky enough to be able to sign my first contract with a record label – Rock Records.

“At that time I didn’t know anything about recording an album, or being an artist, or how to perform on stage. I didn’t have any creative input on the album myself.”

The album, Lies, propelled his to stardom – something which he admits he was not ready for.

“I became a celebrity and all of a sudden everybody knew me,” he said. “The college I attended had very old-fashioned views and I had to quit school. I was very upset but I had to accept it.

“I never wanted to be a singer or a celebrity at all. I entered that competition for fun. I didn’t expect all this and it took me a while to get used to it.”

But just five years into his career, in 1989, Jeff had to put everything on hold as he performed the duty expected of military service. It was a pivotal moment in his life, and he used the time to soul-search and decide if he wanted to commit himself to permanently. “In Taiwan, military service is something you have to face. Before you finish your time in the military you can’t plan anything in your life. You have to stop for two years.

“I just used that period of time to make sure that I really wanted to be an artist. I decided I would put all of my energy into this career. I was 100% sure.”

The singer threw himself back into his career upon leaving the military, releasing a string of successful albums and cementing his title as The Prince Of Love Ballads. Driven by a new determination to have more control over his music, he created his own production company, Tide Music, and signed a new deal with EMI.

“Up until this time, I didn’t have much faith to do what I was really interested in,” he confessed. “I had to listen to the producers, or the record company. So I established my own production house and EMI gave me the freedom to do the music that I really liked. I started to do the production on my records on my own. That was a new start for me.”

In 1996, Jeff achieved something incredible by releasing albums in three languages – one in Mandarin, two in Cantonese and one in English. Topping charts across Asia, this period saw the star become Taiwan’s best-selling artist.

Buoyed by his huge commercial success, he joined Sony Music in 1997 and began exploring different genres of music. He revealed: “I had enjoyed great success in commercial music. My 1997 album Intuition is my favourite because it was the first time I didn’t care about the commercial part of the music. I just went with what I really had on my mind.”

But his bold new direction coincided with a period of rampant piracy which hurt the record sales of artists worldwide. Frustrated at a lack of support from his label, Jeff decided to take his whole operation independent. “Of course I was scared,” the singer pondered. “All my life I had been with major record companies. I had to quit all this and do everything on my own - start everything again. It was really scary. It took me about two years to figure out how to do everything.”

He has since released his music on his own terms, spanning genres including Chinese instrumental, hip hop and rock. A regular on awards shows across Asia where his accolades include being named best male singer at the China Music Awards, the star regularly sells out shows across China’s major cities. He holds the record for the greatest number of concerts held in Beijing and Shanghai by any male singer.

Jeff’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall next year will not be his first on these shores. He became the first ever Taiwanese singer to host a concert in England when he played the Hammersmith Apollo 2011.

Recalling the performance, he said: “I was very honoured but also very nervous. I didn’t know what my audience would be like in the UK. It’s a very different set of expectations.

“There are so many Chinese in the UK and they knew my music very well. I was very relieved in the end. Just knowing there are fans of your music in foreign countries is fantastic.”

The highly anticipated show at the Royal Albert Hall was set in place after he was introduced to legendary promoter Harvey Goldsmith through a mutual friend.

“I never thought I would get to work with such a big name,” he admitted.

The prospect of performing at the iconic venue is one that he finds exciting and nerve-wracking.

“Everybody knows the importance of the venue. It would be the height of anyone’s music career. I am extra nervous because I know all the top singers and musicians who have performed there in the past. I’m honoured to be among them – I just hope I’m qualified to join that list!”

Jeff is a keen art collector having started collecting Taiwanese artefacts when he was still in high school. If you want to find Jeff when he is in the UK, London’s many exhibitions would be a good starting point. He mused: “I love the arts and the culture of the UK. Whenever I am there, I spend most of my time in the galleries and museums of London.”

But such outings would be a luxury he could not enjoy in Asia, where he is mobbed by fans wherever he goes.

He added: “ I travel a lot in Europe, I can move freely which is why I love it there. The fans in Asia are … a lot more passionate! ”

Despite his modesty, Jeff plans his live shows meticulously. Last year he performed at Beijing National Concert Hall with 100 musicians from the Russian Symphony Orchestra. The show was recorded live – incredibly in one take - and released on vinyl. He is also known for mixing other forms of art into his work, most notably a collaboration with German artist Tobias Gremmler who created stunning 3D visuals for the song Where Has Time Gone?

He has promised to bring a high-tech production to the Royal Albert Hall next year. The iconic venue will be the perfect stage to showcase the talents of a true Asian superstar with nothing left to prove: a man who is merely driven by his desire to share his music with as wide an audience as possible.