G.E.M.

Gloria Tang Tsz-kei (born Tang Sze-wing; 16 August 1991), professionally known by her stage name G.E.M. (backronym of Get Everybody Moving)[2] is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter originally from Shanghai, China. She is known for her wide vocal range and songwriting. Her self-titled EP G.E.M. made her debut in the Hong Kong music scene with the release in 2008. This was followed by the release of 2009's 18..., 2010's MySecret and 2012's Xposed, which won the Hong Kong Top Sales Music Award for the Best Sales Local Female Vocalist.[3] Her 2nd-place finish in the 2014 edition of Chinese singing competition program I Am a Singer gained her immense fame and popularity in Greater China in addition to her native Hong Kong.[2] In the same year, she won a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Asian Act. In 2015, she released the critically acclaimed Mandopop album Heartbeat, and was ranked 11th on the Forbes China Celebrity 100. In 2016, she became the only Asian artist featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30.[4]She is the first female Chinese singer with 3 Music Videos which exceed 100 million views on Youtube and currently the most followed female Chinese singer on Spotify. In 2020, she won the Jury Award at the 31st Golden Melody Awards.

For other uses, see Gem (disambiguation).
"Gloria Tang" redirects here. For the Hong Kong Canadian actress, see Gloria Tang (actress).
In this Chinese name, the family name is Tang.

G.E.M.
鄧紫棋
G.E.M. performing in Dalian, 2018
Born
Tang Sze-wing (鄧詩穎)

(1991-08-16) 16 August 1991
Shanghai, China[1]
Other namesTang Tsz-kei
Dèng Zǐqí
Gloria Tang
EducationTrue Light Girls' College
Occupation
  • Singer-songwriter
  • record producer
  • rapper
  • actress
Years active2008–present
Partner(s)None
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • guitar
  • drums
Labels
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese鄧紫棋
Simplified Chinese邓紫棋
Tang Sze-wing
Traditional Chinese鄧詩穎
Simplified Chinese邓诗颖
Websitegeteverybodymoving.com

Life and career

1991–2008: Early years and career beginnings

Tang was born in Shanghai, China, and moved to Hong Kong at the age of four.[5] She grew up with a musical background; her mother is an alumnae from Shanghai Conservatory of Music, her grandmother was a vocal coach, her grandfather was a saxophonist, and her uncle was a violinist. G.E.M. started to write songs at the age of thirteen. She featured in a performance on Hong Kong's Educational Television at the age of seven.[6][7] She achieved ABRSM's piano grade 8 at the age of thirteen.[8]

In 2006, Tang won the champion in the singing competition titled Spice It Up, and caught the attention of Chang Tan, who offered her a recording deal with Hummingbird Music. She then became a professional singer at the age of 16. She graduated from Heep Woh Primary School and True Light Girls' College with a score of 21 points in HKCEE.[9] In 2008, she attended Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, but dropped out in 2009 due to her decision to focus on her singing career.

2009–2010: G.E.M., 18..., and My Secret
G.E.M. at an event in Plaza Hollywood, 2009

In October 2008, Tang released her debut self-titled EP G.E.M. which included two Mandarin songs and three Cantonese songs. She won a series of awards for the album, and was dubbed "Girl with Giant Lungs" and "Young Diva with Giant Lungs" for her vocal range.[10] In May 2009, G.E.M. travelled to Los Angeles to record her first studio album, 18..., which was released in October 2009. In November 2009, she held her first concert 18 Live Concert at Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre, and the concert featured special guests including Jan Lamb and Justin Lo.[11][12] In the same year, she also held a concert in Toronto.[13] In 2010, G.E.M. went to Taiwan to promote the album 18...,[14] and returned to Los Angeles to record her next studio album, My Secret, which was released in October 2010.[15]

2011–2012: Get Everybody Moving Tour and Xposed

In May 2011, G.E.M. performed a three-day concerts titled Get Everybody Moving Tour in Hong Kong Coliseum, and became the youngest Hong Kong female artist to perform in the venue. She then performed another five concerts in the same venue in September and embarked a concert tour in eight countries.

In June 2012, she performed alongside Jason Mraz and Khalil Fong at the iTunes Live in Hong Kong, and sang "Lucky" with Jason Mraz. Her third studio album, Xposed, was released in July 2012. The lead single, "What Have U Done", peaked number one on all four pop music charts in Hong Kong.

2013–2015: X.X.X. Live Tour, I Am A Singer, and Heartbeat

G.E.M. embarked on her X.X.X. Live World Tour in April 2013, in support of her third studio album, Xposed. The tour started with five shows in Hong Kong Coliseum, and ended with a show at Wembley Arena in London, which is also her debut show in Europe. There was a total of 73 shows in 4 continents. In May, she became the youngest nominee ever of Golden Melody Award for Best Female Vocalist Mandarin, with her album Xposed. In June, she released a cover of Chinese smash hit Intoxicated, which was played for 15 million times on QQ Music within a week.

G.E.M. performing during the X.X.X. Live Tour in Hong Kong, 2015

In January 2014, she appeared in the second season of Hunan TV's I Am A Singer alongside Han Lei, Bibi Zhou, Phil Chang, Gary Chaw and others. Her second-place finish gained her immense popularity and fame in Greater China. In the same year, she earned a World Music Award nomination for World's Best Female Artist and an MTV Europe Music Award nomination for Best Mainland China & Hong Kong Act. In December 2014, G.E.M.'s wax figure at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong was unveiled.[16] On 10 February 2015, JJ Lin published the official music video for his song 《手心的薔薇 Beautiful》featuring G.E.M.. In September 2015, she was selected to be the team advisor for team Wang Feng at The Voice of China (season 4). In November 2015, she appeared on the cover of China's Apple Music, and released her studio album Heartbeat with music videos of all ten tracks in the album. The album topped the iTunes chart in China.

2016–2018: G-Force and Queen of Hearts Tour

In 2016, she appeared on the list of Forbes 30 Under 30 (Music),[4] being the only Asian musician on the list. In the same year, she was asked to voice a lead role in the animated film Charming, alongside Demi Lovato, Ashley Tisdale, and Avril Lavigne.[17][18] She also performed at Heroes of Remix (Chinese: 盖世英雄) that same year, singing EDM versions of songs such as Like You 《喜欢你》 and The Brightest Star In The Night Sky 《夜空中最亮的星》, among others. In September 2016, she released her photobook 25 Looks and an EP, which includes four remix songs. In November 2016, she earned an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Mainland China & Hong Kong Act. On 29 December 2016, G.E.M. released the Chinese theme song for the science fiction film Passengers titled "Light Years Away" 《光年之外》, which she also performed on several occasions, including NASA 2019 Breakthrough Prize. Lyrically, similar to the plot of the film itself, it speaks of a doomed love.

G.E.M. performing during the Queen of Hearts World Tour in Guangzhou, 2017

In May 2017, G.E.M released her first documentary G-Force, which was directed by Nick Wickham. In April 2017, she embarked on her Queen of Hearts World Tour. On 21 October 2017, Namewee (Chinese: 黃明志; pinyin: Huáng Míng Zhì), a Malaysian Chinese hip hop recording artist and composer, published a video featuring her in a cover of his song Stranger In The North 《漂向北方》(KTV Version), which had received widespread popularity, where she sings the chorus which was originally performed by Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter Wang Leehom. At the 13th Annual KKBox Music Awards on 21 January 2018, G.E.M. and Namewee together sang "Stranger in the North"《漂向北方》immediately after she sang "Goodbye"《再見》and "Light Years Away"《光年之外》for her 2018 KKBox Artist of the Year award-winner performance.[19] On April, she was invited to be the duet partner for Hua Chenyu in the finals of Singer 2018 and sang "Light Years Away".

On 18 August 2018, her Queen of Hearts World Tour has called for an end for part 1 of the tour and she announced the part 2 tour will hold in 2019 with more new songs.

2018–present: "Fairytale Trilogy" project, Queen of Hearts Tour Part 2, and City Zoo
G.E.M in 2018

In 2018, G.E.M announced that she would be working on a project, Fairytale Trilogy, where each of the three E.P.’s will feature three new songs written by the singer herself, and produced by Lupo Groinig.[20] Her first EP of the project was titled My Fairytale with "TIK TOK" being the lead single. The music video, was released on 21 August, and reached 5 million views within 12 days. The music video reached over 10 million views with only 22 days which is the fastest music video for G.E.M. reaching 10 million views. On 4 November, G.E.M. was invited to perform the song "Light Years Away" and served as on-stage presenter in the Breakthrough Prize, being the first ever Chinese singer to perform at the ceremony.[21] As of November 2018, it made over 200 thousand record sales in China.[22]

On 19 November, she was selected as one of the BBC 100 Women, being the only Chinese on the list.[23] On 22 November, the number of subscribers of her official YouTube channel "GEMblog" exceeded 1 million.

Fearless, the second EP of G.E.M.'s fairytale project was released on 9 November, with "Woke" being the lead single. The song was also a hit, and was topped on national charts.

The project ended with her last EP of the year, Queen G was released on 28 December, with the lead single "Love Finds a Way".

After gaining some more new commercial endorsements, G.E.M. composed and recorded new commercial songs in Los Angeles in early 2019.[24] Then beginning March 2019, she resumed her Queen of Hearts World Tour with concerts across Canada, US and eastern Asia.

G.E.M. released her seventh studio album City Zoo on 27 December 2019. Following, she appeared on the Bilibili New Year's Eve event and Jiangsu TV's New Year's Eve event simultaneously on 31 December 2019, performing her hit singles Light Years Away, Tik Tok and Full Stop.

Contractual issues and lawsuit

On 7 March 2019, she announced that she would no longer be represented by Hummingbird after three months of negotiations on her contract and allegedly being pressured to work. Hummingbird replied saying that there was no such pressure or unfair practices. G.E.M. continued on The Queen of Hearts World Tour until April 2019 so as not to disappoint her fans.[25] As "G.E.M." and "邓紫棋" are trademarks held by Hummingbird, it was speculated that she may have to give up using the stage name.[25] However Hummingbird explained that the copyright was to prevent piracy, and a lawyer is being consulted before an appropriate course of action is carried out. A spokesperson added that "a lawyer has been assigned to make sure that [she] will receive all the basic rights that she deserves".[26]

On 29 March 2019, Hummingbird filed a court case claiming that G.E.M. has three more years on her contract, ending in 2022, and is looking to validate the contracts signed in 2014, with no start date indicated on the documents, as to be taken in effect only in March 2017. Should their case succeed and she leaves the company, she may have to pay HK$120 million as compensation for losses. G.E.M. maintained that the 2014 contract was signed under the pressure of not being able to participate in the finals of I Am a Singer if she did not sign the contract. G.E.M. had since filed a counter-suit for unspecified damages, claiming that the company had failed in fulfilling their contractual duties. Both parties seek exclusive rights to her copyrighted works, including the stage name.[27][28][29]

On a Shende Wisdom Talents (捨得智慧人物) episode aired on 27 October 2020, G.E.M. alleged that she had suffered "mental abuse" at Hummingbird.[30][31]

Discography
Main article: G.E.M. discography

Filmography

Films
Year Title Role Notes Ref
2009 Love ConnectedAh Yee
2009 Trick or Cheat G.E.M. Leading Actress [32]
2012 Wreck-It Ralph Vanellope von Schweetz Voiceover (Cantonese)
2017 G.E.M.: G-Force HerselfDocumentary
2018 CharmingSleeping BeautyVoiceover (English)

Variety shows
Year Title Channel Role Notes
2014 I Am a Singer Hunan Television Contestant
2015 The Amazing Race Shenzhen Television Contestant
2016 Heroes of Remix Jiangsu Television Guest
2018 The Rap of China iQiyi Mentor
2018 The Next Top Bang Dragon Television Mentor
2019 The Rap of China Season 2 iQiyi Mentor
2020 Me to Us Mango TV Guest
2020 I Want to Live Like This iQiyi Guest
2020 The Coming One: SUPER BAND Tencent Video Mentor

Music Video
Year Title Artist Notes
2018 Woke G.E.M. Co-director and co-screenwriter

Tours
  • Get Everybody Moving Concert (2011–2012)
  • X.X.X. Live Tour (2013–2015)
  • Queen of Hearts World Tour (2017–2019)

Awards
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by G.E.M

References
  1. Lee, Wing-Sze (6 November 2010). "Q&A: Gloria Tang". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  2. "Introducing: G.E.M. – The biggest popstar you've never heard of". livenation.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  3. "IFPI HK 2012 Awards". IFPI HK. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  4. "30 Under 30 2016: Music - Forbes". 6 January 2016. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  5. "香港歌手鄧紫棋發片 抵台宣傳拼命練普通話(圖)_娛樂頻道_新浪網-北美" [Hong Kong singer G.E.M. Tang releases new album and diligently learning Standard Chinese for promotion activities in Taiwan] (in Chinese). 23 April 2010. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  6. "G.E.M.童年教育電視(1)：金花學國語 － YouTube" (in Chinese). 9 March 2009. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017.
  7. "G.E.M.童年教育電視(2)：小龜也探親 － YouTube" (in Chinese). 13 March 2009. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014.
  8. "頭條日報 頭條網 - G.E.M. At Seventeen" [Headline news - G.E.M. At Seventeen] (in Chinese). 25 January 2013. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  9. "陳偉霆G.E.M.出貓靠裝 - 東方日報" [William Chan G.E.M. Interview on Trick on Cheat movie] (in Chinese). 23 August 2009. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  10. "G.E.M.Sing夢成真 - 太陽報" [G.E.M. album debuts] (in Chinese). 20 September 2010. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  11. "G.E.M.勁呻完騷變咕喱 - 太陽報". the-sun.on.cc (in Chinese). 24 November 2009. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  12. "一連三場的<G.E.M. 18 LIVE>處女演唱會..終於完滿結束了!… 鄧紫棋 Gem Tang - G.E.M. Blog" [3 rounds of <G.E.M. 18 LIVE> concert in a row... finally ended on a successful note!] (in Chinese). 23 November 2009. Archived from the original on 26 November 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  13. "G.E.M.滿意有進步" [G.E.M. satisfied with improvements] (in Chinese). 2 January 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  14. "超愛吃炸雞排＋珍奶 鄧紫棋甘願胖4公斤" [Likes consuming fried chicken and bubble tea, Deng Ziqi willing gain 4kg] (in Chinese). 30 April 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  15. "G.E.M.赴美下海執垃圾" [G.E.M. collects trash from the sea] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  16. "GEM Tang's wax figure has been unveiled". Yahoo! News. 11 December 2014.
  17. "Demi Lovato, Avril Lavigne, Fall Out Boy, Ashley Tisdale & G.E.M. Team for 'Charming' Song". Billboard. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  18. "Avril Lavigne, Demi Lovato, And Fall Out Boy Are Collaborating on a Prince Charming Song". MTV News. Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  19. "13th KKBOX Music Awards" (in Chinese). 4 January 2018. Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  20. "GLOBAL POP STAR G.E.M. RELEASES NEW E.P. "FEARLESS"". Billboard China. 9 November 2018. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  21. "Silicon Valley's Breakthrough Prize Announces Musical Performer and presenters for live ceremony celebrating science on Sunday, November 4". breakthroughprize.org. 30 October 2018. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018.
  22. "Sales for My Fairytale EP". QQ Music (in Chinese).
  23. "BBC 100 Women 2018: Who is on the list?". BBC. 19 November 2018. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018.
  24. "#GEM邓紫棋代言百事可乐# 她，唱作俱佳，极... 来自百事中国 - 微博" [#GEMPepsiSpokesperson She, a top singer, coming from Pepsi China]. Weibo (in Chinese). 22 January 2019. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  25. Abby. "DramaPanda: G.E.M. May Have To Change Stage Name? Her Former Label Asks Public To Stop Speculating". Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  26. "Hong Kong pop singer G.E.M. faces S$20 million lawsuit from record label". CNA Lifestyle. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  27. "估計損失1.2億！G.E.M.經理人公司入稟索償" 估計損失1.2億！G.E.M.經理人公司入稟索償 [G.E.M.'s record label seeks compensation for approximately HKD 120 million loss!]. on.cc東網 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  28. "Hong Kong pop princess G.E.M. fires lawsuit back at record label". AsiaOne. 9 April 2019. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  29. "'Just a manufactured product': G.E.M. recounts mental abuse by ex-label, wanted to leave suicide note". AsiaOne. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  30. "G.E.M Breaks Down Talking About The "Mental Abuse" She Suffered Under Her Former Record Label". TODAYonline. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  31. "愛出貓 Trick or Cheat：後段班出頭天！". 【開眼電影網】. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
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