Ella Chen

Biography

Ella Chen Chia-hwa (traditional Chinese: 陳嘉樺; simplified Chinese: 陈嘉桦; pinyin: Chén Jiāhuà) is a Taiwanese singer, actress, and television host. She is a member of the Taiwanese girl group S.H.E.

Musical career

On 8 August 2000, HIM International Music held a 'Universal 2000 Talent and Beauty Girl Contest' in search of new artists to sign under their label. When Chen traveled with her older sister to Taipei for a holiday, she discovered that her sister had registered her for the competition. Intimidated by the long line of contestants and worried of facing ridicule for her tomboy personality, Chen almost gave up before the first round, but her sister convinced her to stay. Chen's deep voice caught the label's attention, and she reached the final round. Her alto voice was noted for its strong and beautiful nature.
Following the conclusion of the contest, Chen returned to her duties at a local hospital, but received a call from HIM International requesting an additional audition. After test recordings were done, she signed on as part of HIM's newest girl group, S.H.E. Her English name 'Ella', which means courage, was derived from a personality test set by HIM Management Co. When Chen first tested out her signature, HIM employees were concerned that the signature would be easily forged due to its simplicity; thus, during S.H.E's early days, Ella signed autographs using the last character of her name, (pinyin: huà). However, as S.H.E's autograph sessions drew larger audiences, Chen reverted to her simpler, English signature.
During her career with S.H.E, Chen has been the most accident-prone member. On 29 July 2003, she was sent to the hospital after jumping from the third story of a building and injuring her spine while filming a variety program; the two other members refused to jump. She returned three weeks later to promote Super Star. In 2005, during the filming of Reaching for the Stars, Chen burned her ears and hair on a candle, prompting crew members to send her to the National Taiwan University Hospital. She stayed away from filming for two days, during which she cut off approximately two centimeters of burnt hair on both sides of her head.
In 2007, Chen was voted by online fans as Taiwan's most down-to-earth artist. Since the release of S.H.E's first album in 2001, Chen has usually been the one to answer reporter's questions. As the tomboy of S.H.E, Chen is frequently the subject of jokes targeting her gender and sexual orientation, but she usually takes the jabs in stride. In one online poll she was labelled as one of China's Four Main Tomboys of the past century.
In 2009, Chen composed a song for her seniors Power Station, entitled "Love Crazy/愛到瘋癲" (originally titled Shi Mian/Insomnia (失眠), written after her failed heartbreaking relationship). The song was given to them as repayment for Power Station have given S.H.E the song "Freezer". Chen had also composed a station song entitled "Pop Radio 91.7 jingle" for Taiwan Pop Radio station "Pop Radio 91.7," 再这里 for Huang Yi Da (黄义达), 鸟 for Yao Yao.

2012–present

On March 30, 2012, Ella released her debut solo EP, "To Be Ella", which featured the theme song, insert songs, and the ending theme from her starring film, "Bad Girls". The album also includes the track "Shameless", the film's ending theme "I Am Just Me", composed by Ella herself, and a special bonus track: a duet with Greeny Wu titled "You've Been Written in My Song" (Chamber Music Version).
On April 17, 2015, Ella Chen released her debut solo studio album, "Why Not×WHY NOT17 April 2015 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1有何不可2有事嗎3你正常嗎4差一點5信愛成癮6浪費眼淚7想念自己8賴床9情書1030啊11Why not!12真的我13無解". The album features three songs from her acting projects, including the ending theme "The Really Me" (which she composed herself) and the insert song "Unsolvable" from the TV series The Lying Game, as well as "Almost", the theme song for the film The Missing Piece.
On June 7, 2015, Ella Chen held her first solo concert, the "Why Not Showcase", at Legacy Taipei. Tickets went on sale on May 12 and sold out completely within one minute. Subsequently, she held concerts in Beijing and Guangzhou in August and December of the same year, respectively.
The album ranked 9th in annual sales in Taiwan, and the official music video for the track "Love Addiction" has surpassed 10 million views on YouTube.
On October 28, 2016, Ella released her single EP Me vs. Me (Hun Shen Shi Jin;渾身是勁) with a limited run of 2,016 copies. However, during the initial promotion on October 22, the high retail price and the limited availability drew backlash from fans. On October 26, Ella personally addressed the issue during a live stream on her official Facebook page, announcing that the price would be reduced to a reasonable level in an effort to defuse the fan backlash.
On November 14 and 15, 2020, the "ELLA Show: Entertainment Unlimited" was held for two consecutive days at the Taipei Music Center, grossing approximately NT$26 million over the two-day run. Following the performances, on November 16, 2020, Ella Chen released the digital EP "Ella Show Entertainment Unlimited Company", which features the main tracks from the live show, including "Don't Wanna Be A Song Without a Chorus", "A CA ELLA", and "Entertainment Unlimited Company".
On August 20, 2022, the "ELLA Show: Entertainment Unlimited" was held at the Kaohsiung Music Center. Tickets sold out instantly after going on sale on March 12, making her the first female singer to hold a solo concert at the venue since it opened.
On March 31, 2024, Ella released her second solo studio album, "Bad Habits" on digital platforms, followed by the official physical released on April 1. Subsequently, she held the "Bad Habits New Album Concert" in Taipei on April 13.
On September 10, 2025, Ella Chen officially announced her solo concert tour, "It's Me," and released a video featuring Selina and Hebe. In the video, they promoted her solo tour in the name of S.H.E. The tour kicked off its first show on November 15 and 16, 2025, at the Helong Stadium in Changsha, China. The tour entered its second phase during the Beijing concert, featuring updated wardrobe designs, a revised setlist, and adjustments to the show program.

Acting career

Her unusually deep voice earned her a starring role as the voice of Arthur in the Mandarin version of Arthur and the Minimoys.
In 2003, Chen starred in drama series "The Rose" (薔薇之戀) with Joe Cheng (鄭元暢) and Jerry Huang (黃志瑋). The drama was voted the Most Popular Drama at the 39th Golden Bell Awards.
In 2005, Chen and her S.H.E group mates were involved in a drama called "Reaching for the Stars" (真命天女), and she also performed the insert song "Only Then" solo for this drama, which was included in the "Reaching for the Stars OST". She was the only member nominated for Best Lead Actress at the 41st Golden Bell Awards. In 2006, Chen accepted a role in drama series "Hanazakarino Kimitachihe" (花样少年少女) with Wu Chun (吳尊). The show was popular both in Taiwan and internationally in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and in non-Chinese speaking countries like Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the USA and some European countries.
As a singer and an actress, Chen has also appeared in various music videos such as 愛的重唱曲-覆水難收篇 (2004-04-05), 再一次拥有 (2005) by Kaira Gong and 愛到瘋癲 (2009) by Power Station.
2010 marked Chen's return to the drama series arena when she starred alongside Jerry Yan (言承旭), in "Down With Love" (就想賴著妳).
In 2012, Chen ventured onto the big screen in her first full-length film New Perfect Two (新天生一對) alongside Vic Chou (周渝民). This was immediately followed by another equally successful movie, "Bad Girls" (女孩坏坏) with Mike He (賀軍翔). Bad Girls' theme song was covered by Chen and became the carrier single of her first commercial mini album entitled "To Be Ella/I am Chen Jia Hua", which topped the charts all over Asia and gained various praises from the critics and nominations from different award giving bodies on the same year.
In 2013, Chen filmed a Chinese New Year Drama in Shanghai entitled Ji Pin Da Zuo Zhan which required her to film one month straight as she went back and forth from Taiwan to Shanghai to fulfill her group activities in her home country.
Chen also hosted a dating show, "Take Me Out", with Harlem Yu which began airing on 13 April 2013. She was nominated for Best Entertainment TV Show Host along with Yu at the 49th Golden Bell Awards. Chen was a judge in Season 2 of the Chinese reality singing television show, Masked Singer.
In March 2016, the film "The Missing Piece", starring Ella, was selected for the competition section of "The 11th Osaka Asian Film Festival", where she won the "Yakushi Pearl Award" (Best Actor Award) for her performance.
Chen was a vocal mentor on Produce 101 China, which aired in 2018. In 2020, Chen joined Season 2 of the Chinese survival show, Youth With You (Season 2), which was previously known as the third season of Idol Producer, as a vocal coach along with Cai Xukun, Lisa, and Jony J.
In 2023, Chen participated in the fourth season of the Chinese reality singing survival show Ride the Wind (previously known as Sisters Who Make Waves), where she ended up placing first.

Personal life

In October 2016, Chen announced that she was 6 weeks pregnant with her first child with her husband, Alvin Lai, who is Malaysian. Their child, a boy, was born on 12 April 2017.
She first revealed her son nine months after his birth on social media. He later appeared at S.H.E 17th anniversary concert as a surprise guest.

Extended plays

To Be Ella (2012)
Ella Show Entertainment Unlimited Company (2020)