Timeline
1960s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: 我們都是傷心人
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
Biography
Biography
Sun Nan (Chinese: 孙楠; pinyin: Sūn Nán; born February 18, 1969) is a pop singer from Dalian in mainland China. His songs include "Be there or Be Square", "The Wind Goes to North", "Save", and his song for the 2008 Summer Olympics, "Forever Friends". Sun's album Crescent Moon was released in 1990. He has released 12 albums with over 10 million sales in total. Since 2012, Sun has judged or hosted numerous singing competitions in China.
Sun has held over 30 concerts in Asia and over 100 concerts around the world.
Early life
Sun Nan was born in Dalian in Liaoning, China, on February 18, 1969. Sun Nan was born into a family of artists. His father was a tenor who taught bel canto and his mother, sister, and brother all participated in a dance troupe. Raised in such a family environment, Sun Nan learned to play the piano and the guitar and formed a band at an early age. Though he did not consider music to be his life's work after graduating from high school, he was soon attracted to pop songs from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Under those circumstances, he opted for a career in music and learned to sing.
Career
In the 1990s, Sun was a popular singer in the Beijing music scene. He rose to international prominence after 2002.
In August 2012, Sun served on the judging panel of Asian Wave on Dragon Television. He cancelled all of his concerts in Japan during the territorial dispute of Senkaku Islands between China and Japan.
On February 17, 2015, he participated in the 2015 CCTV Spring Festival Gala and performed the song "Hands". On January, Sun took part in the third season of Hunan TV's I Am a Singer as one of the seven initial singers and a host. However, Sun withdrew from I Am a Singer due to the fact that he wanted the rest of the singers to stand a higher chance in the title. In July, he participated in Jiangsu Television's "Mongolian Song King", eventually winning. In November, he participated in the "China Star" competition airing on Dragon Television. He won the grand prize on "China Star" and subsequently traveled to the United States to participate, receiving the 58th Recording Academy's President's Merit Award.
On October 28, 2017, Sun Nan held the "Xi Xi Ya Ji" in Hangzhou's Xixi Wetland. Director Zhang Jizhong, "New Weekly" publisher Sun Wei, and other guests attended the event and released "Nan's Story" under the brand of Guoxue. This traditional craft is intended to spread the beauty of Chinese traditional culture to every Chinese person.
The documentary Amazing China ends with a song performed by Sun.
On February 15, 2018, in the 2018 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, Sun Nan and Tan Weiwei performed "New Beginning of Happiness". On March 2, he participated in the 2018 CCTV Lantern Festival and performed "New World".
On February 4, 2019, the Central Radio and Television General Station Spring Festival Gala invited Sun Nan and Zhang Jie to perform the song "The Distance of Time".
Personal life
Sun Nan married Chinese actress Mai Hongmei (买红妹) in 2000. They had a daughter and a son. Due to Sun's frequent traveling for his concerts, Sun and Mai communicated less and less frequently. In 2009, Sun filed for divorce.
In 2009, Sun married hostess Pan Wei (潘蔚). Sun's interests and hobbies include Formula One, golf, and soccer; he is the captain of the Meng Zhou soccer team.
TV series theme songs
Sun has performed several theme songs for Chinese television series, including the following:
"Ai Tai Nan" (爱太难) To Love is Too Difficult, Da Xi Fa theme song (China Central Television, 2012)
"Ai Ni Ai Bu Gou" (爱你爱不够) Can't Love You Enough, Zhang Xiao Wu's Spring opening theme song (China Central Television, 2010)
"Bi Tian Geng Gao" (比天更高) Higher than the Sky, The Prince's Education opening theme song (China Central Television, 2008)
"He Ni Zai Yi Qi" (和你在一起) Together with You, Sword Stained with Royal Blood ending theme song (2007)
"Dun Huang Ri Yue" (敦煌日月), The Great Dunhuang opening theme song (China Central Television, 2006)
"Bu Mie De Xin" (不灭的心) Inextinguishable Heart, Lotus Lantern opening theme song (China Central Television, 2005)
"Zhen Qing Zhen Mei", Legend of the Condor Heroes ending theme song, with Valen Hsu (China Central Television, 2003)
"Zhi Yao You Ni", Young Justice Bao ending theme song, with Na Ying (2000)
"Wu Kui Yu Xin" (无愧于心), Young Justice Bao opening theme song (2000)
"Jin Sheng De Ai Zou Yuan" (今生的爱走远), Love Story in Shanghai ending theme song, with Ai Yu (2000)
"Shi Fou Ai Guo Wo" (是否爱过我), Love Story in Shanghai opening theme song (2000)
Notable achievements
Sun has had numerous notable achievements early on in his career:
1987 to 1989: Beijing coal mine Art
1990 to 1991: Dalian Churos
1991 to 1993: The central song and dance ensemble (Gu Jianfen Art Center)
1990: Sun's first album, Curved Moon, was released by Guangdong Media Publishing House
1992: Sun Nan went to Hong Kong as one of the ten most popular singers in China. (The other nine members were: Na Ying, Xie Xiaodong, Mao Amin, Cai Guoqing, Cheng Fangyuan, Yang Yuying, Tao Jin, Xie Jin, and Teng Geer.)
1992: Sun Nan held six concerts "The night of Sun Nan" in Indonesia, and that was the first time a Chinese pop singer can hold a concert in another country.
1993: Sun Nan joined Music Impact Ltd. (Taiwan), other artists including Andy Liu, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Rosamund Kwan, Max Mok, Leo Ku discography, Serene Koong.
Concerts
Marvellous Nan Tour (2001)
Concert in Changchun
Concert in Dalian
Concert in Shanghai
Nan Era Music Festival (2009)
Concert in Beijing
Concert in Wuxi
Concert in Shenzhen
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 11 | 61.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 7 | 80.4th |
| Studio albums | 2 | 78.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 4 | 75.9th |
| Recording span (years) | 31 | 68.2th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (7 release groups · 2 studio albums)
Albums · 2
1994 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 40:42
1我們都是傷心人3:542誰的心忘了收3:423愛你的心無法自拔3:584雨和淚3:465不敢太愛你4:586留什麼給你3:567愛在水火間4:458早知道早該忘記4:309愛讓人為難3:4510浮沉人世間3:281999 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks
1你快回來2只要你好3無處不在4愛的生命5快樂時光6風往北吹7世紀 Party8愛是個錯9三言兩語10不見不散
Other · 1
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 楠得精选Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 12 tracks · 52:121为爱说抱歉5:11 2天长地久4:08 3爱得精彩5:01 4淡淡的忧4:44 5我们都是伤心人3:56 6没完没了4:08 7你快回来4:26 8不见不散3:54 9谁的心忘了收3:43 10生生世世4:07 11留什么给你3:57 12美梦成真4:57 | 1 March 2001 |
Album · 3
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 缘分的天空Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 12 tracks · 55:251拯救5:32 2我爱的不爱我5:04 3缘分的天空4:35 4乐园4:43 5爱过以后4:10 6嘿, 我说3:46 7I Believe4:53 8宝贝4:58 9梦的眼睛5:09 10爱都一样4:24 11快乐梦想3:36 12缘分的天空(节奏版)4:35 | Compilation | October 2002 | |
| 2003 | 第一楠主角Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 13 tracks1飞越海洋 2真情真美 3幸福相守 4一生约定 5风雨豪情 6若即若离 7天长地久 8为爱说抱歉 9对视 10动情 11是否爱过我 12我看见了 13让梦冬眠 | Compilation | August 2003 | |
| — | 第一楠主角2011Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music | Compilation | — |
Single · 1
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 是我 (《藏海传》电视剧主题曲)Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 3 tracks · 13:011是我 (《藏海传》电视剧主题曲)4:21 2是我 (《藏海传》电视剧主题曲) (伴奏)4:20 3是我 (《藏海传》电视剧主题曲) (和声伴奏)4:20 | Soundtrack | 19 May 2025 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Sun Nan head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 11 | 61.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 7 | 80.4th |
| Studio albums | 2 | 78.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 4 | 75.9th |
| Recording span (years) | 31 | 68.2th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/ca6f1a5a-e7da-48f9-8fcd-9e85715eef8cdiscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/ca6f1a5a-e7da-48f9-8fcd-9e85715eef8ccore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2400919seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Nanbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Nan
Why this artist is in the database
- List of C-pop artists
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q2400919 · MusicBrainz: ca6f1a5a-e7da-48f9-8fcd-9e85715eef8c