Tanya Chua

Biography

Tanya Chua Chian Ya (born 28 January 1975) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter. She launched her singing career by releasing her debut studio album Bored×Bored1999 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1无聊3:512好的! 好的!5:103我的彩色电视机4:274强尼 (星期五了)4:185I Don't Know Where I Stand3:196你抱歉个屁5:087灰烬3:328我的朋友4:159忘怀4:1610如何?3:5211直到下一次3:1312My Friend3:54 in 1997. She was part of the trio that sang "Moments of Magic" (1999), Singapore's official millennium song. Her albums, Amphibian (2005), Goodbye & Hello×Goodbye & Hello19 October 2007 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1達爾文4:252Goodbye & Hello3:403當你離開的時候3:574空白格4:125越來越不懂4:096如果你愛我3:517化學實驗4:148It's True4:249晨間新聞3:5010走過的路4:3211達爾文Ⅱ (進化版)3:39 (2007), Sing It Out of Love (2011) and Depart (2021), each won her a Golden Melody Award for Best Mandarin Female Singer award.
With a career spanning more than two decades, Chua is the only person to win the Best Mandarin Female Singer award four times at the Golden Melody Awards, and has achieved popularity in Greater China and among the Chinese-speaking world.

1975–1996: Early years and career beginnings

Chua was born in Singapore on 28 January 1975. She attended CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls' School, and achieved a diploma in business administration at Singapore Polytechnic.

1997–2002: Universal Music

In 1997, Chua signed a recording deal with Singaporean management company Music & Movement, and debuted her singing career by releasing an English album titled Bored×Bored1999 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1无聊3:512好的! 好的!5:103我的彩色电视机4:274强尼 (星期五了)4:185I Don't Know Where I Stand3:196你抱歉个屁5:087灰烬3:328我的朋友4:159忘怀4:1610如何?3:5211直到下一次3:1312My Friend3:54. In 1998, she attended the electric guitar classes at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. In 1999, Chua signed a recording deal with PolyGram, and released her first self-titled Mandarin album. In the same year, she released her second English album Luck. The song "The Wicked Signs of Trying to Be a Superstar" was written by Taiwanese singer-songwriter David Tao.
In March 2000, Chua released her second Mandarin album Remember under Universal Music Group which acquired PolyGram on the same year. The album earned her a nomination for Best New Artist at the 11th Golden Melody Awards. In the same year, she wrote the theme song of the Singaporean film Chicken Rice War, and appeared on the film herself. In 2001, Chua released her third Mandarin album I Do Believe×I Do Believe20 April 2001 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1I Do Believe (暖洋洋版)4:022可以愛你真好3:063Why3:314衝動4:545Day & Night4:136跟你借的幸福5:007女人的說法3:268不夠完美3:409變賣5:0410平凡之歌4:0311I Do Believe (believer mix, 星光燦爛版)3:54 which earned her a nomination for Best Mandarin Female Singer at the 13th Golden Melody Awards. In the same year, she performed in the Singapore National Day Parade with her self-written theme song titled "Where I Belong". In 2002, Japanese record label S2S released an English album titled Secret Lavender which contained seven songs from Chua. Her composition "Wrong Number" for Chinese singer Faye Wong earned her a Golden Melody Award nomination for Best Composition.
Universal initially did not renew Chua's contract after it expired in 2002 but eventually offered to renew her contract. Both would eventually agree not to renew her contract.

2003–2006: Warner Music

In 2003, Chua signed a recording deal with Warner Music Taiwan, and released her fourth Mandarin album Stranger which earned her a nomination for Best Mandarin Female Singer at the 15th Golden Melody Awards. In the same year, she released her fourth English album Jupiter×Jupiter1 July 2003 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Drops of Jupiter3:492Tell Me3:083Two of Us3:134All I Needed4:205Yellow4:436Sanctuary of Love4:127Just Like the Movies4:148Day and Night4:069Lost2:5410On This Earth9:12. In 2004, Chua produced Hong Kong singer Gigi Leung's album Belongingness. In 2005, Chua released her fifth Mandarin album Amphibian. At the 17th Golden Melody Awards, she won her first Best Mandarin Female Singer award along with other nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Album Producer. In 2006, Chua moved to Taipei, and launched her own music production company Tangy Music.

2007–2015: AsiaMuse Entertainment

In May 2007, Chua signed a recording deal with Taiwanese record label AsiaMuse Entertainment. The following month, she was featured as background vocals in Taiwanese singer Chang Chen-yue's song "Yearning Is a Kind of Sickness". In October of the same year, she released her sixth Mandarin album Goodbye & Hello×Goodbye & Hello19 October 2007 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1達爾文4:252Goodbye & Hello3:403當你離開的時候3:574空白格4:125越來越不懂4:096如果你愛我3:517化學實驗4:148It's True4:249晨間新聞3:5010走過的路4:3211達爾文Ⅱ (進化版)3:39 which earned her two awards for Best Mandarin Female Singer and Best Album Producer out of seven nominations at the 19th Golden Melody Awards.
In 2008, Chua released her live album My Space which was nominated for Best Mandarin Female Singer at the 20th Golden Melody Awards.
In 2009, Chua released her seventh Mandarin album If You See Him. The album earned her four nominations including Best Mandarin Album, Best Mandarin Female Singer, Best Album Producer, and Best Composition at the 21st Golden Melody Awards. The album also won her a Hong Kong Top Sales Music Award for Ten Best Sales Releases Mandarin. In 2010, Chua produced Chinese singer Na Ying's album So What. In 2011, Chua released her eighth Mandarin album Sing It Out of Love. She made history of becoming the first person to win the Best Mandarin Female Singer award thrice at the 23rd Golden Melody Awards, along with seven other nominations for that album. In the same year, she released her fifth English album Just Say So×Just Say So18 November 2011 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Let's Get Together3:262Just Say So3:563Make It For Real4:154Carousel3:545Back Into My Life4:166More Than Anyone4:007Never Before4:278See You Again4:329Game With Fate3:0910Key To Happiness4:0311Friends3:48.
In 2013, Chua released her ninth Mandarin album Angel vs. Devil, which earned her a nomination for Best Mandarin Female Singer at the 25th Golden Melody Awards. In the same year, she became one of the judges in the Chinese singing contest Sing My Song with Liu Huan, Yang Kun, and Emil Chau. In 2015, she came back as one of the judges in the second season of the show. In November of the same year, Chua released her tenth Mandarin album Aphasia which earned her six nominations at the 27th Golden Melody Awards. Subsequently, her contract with AsiaMuse Entertainment expired.

2018–present: Return to Universal Music

In July 2017, Chua re-signed a recording deal with Universal Music. The following year, Chua released her eleventh Mandarin album Kisses for the World. The lead single from the album "The Will" earned her a Best Composition nomination at the 30th Golden Melody Awards. Chua also sang Nightglow, the official theme song for miHoYo's mobile ACG title Honkai Impact 3 second CG: Final Lesson.
In 2020, her concert tour "Kisses for the World" was announced. Tickets for the show sold out within 5 minutes but was postponed from May 2020 to January 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In August of the same year, Chua started writing songs for her twelfth Mandarin album Depart×DEPART12 August 2021 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Bluebirds5:352Breakdown3:533Into The Wild3:564出走4:165那些小事情4:236舊情歌3:447全部的所有3:158Photographs3:549讓浪漫作主4:1010Om Tara4:14 which was released in August 2021. At the 33rd Golden Melody Awards, Chua won four out of eight nominations, including three major awards for Best Female Mandarin Singer, Best Mandarin Album and Album of the Year for the album. The win for Best Female Mandarin Singer award made Chua the most awarded artist in the category, breaking her tie with A-mei, with four wins.

Mandarin

Tanya (1999)
Remember (2000)
I Do Believe (2001)
Stranger (2003)
Amphibian (2005)
Goodbye & Hello (2007)
If You See Him (2009)
Sing It Out of Love (2011)
Angel vs. Devil (2013)
Aphasia (2015)
Kisses for the World (2018)
Depart (2021)
Imperfect Us: Original Soundtrack (2024)

English

Bored (1997)
Luck (1999)
Secret Lavender (2002)
Jupiter (2003)
Just Say So (2011)