Wang Yibo

Wang debuted in 2014 as a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band group Uniq with the song "Falling in Love".[6] He served as the lead dancer and rapper of the group.[3]

Wang made his acting debut in the film MBA Partners.[7] He then played the role of Red Boy in A Chinese Odyssey Part Three,[8] and starred in the romance comedy drama Love Actually.[9] Since 2016, he is a host on the variety program Day Day Up.[10]

In March 2017, Wang was cast in his first lead role in the youth xianxia drama Private Shushan Gakuen.[11] In April, he won the Best New Idol Award at the Top Chinese Music Awards.[12] In August, Wang and Guan Xiaotong collaborated to sing Once Again, the theme song of the movie with same name.[13] In November, Wang released the theme song Just Dance for the 4th Xuan Wu Dance Festival.[14] The same year, he made a guest appearance in the youth campus drama When We Were Young,[15] and was cast in the science fiction drama Super Talent, later named My Strange Friend.[16]

In celebration of the 2018 lunar new year, Wang performed his solo dance number at the Hunan Spring Festival of the Hunan Television. He also performed, along with other Hunan Television hosts, an adaptation of Uniq's song "Happy New Year".[17]

In March 2018, Wang was confirmed as a dance mentor in the reality survival show Produce 101.[18] He gained increased recognition for his dance skills on the show.[19] In one of the episodes of the show, Wang revealed that during his childhood he had a disease called myocarditis and had to give up dancing and undergo serious medication to recover. Eventually, he was cured and had to start learning how to dance from scratch. Wang further shared that after his recovery, he went to dance lessons for six hours everyday.[20]

In 2019, Wang starred in the esports romance drama Gank Your Heart, playing a misunderstood professional gamer.[21] He also sung the drama's theme song, "The Coolest Adventure".[22] With his portrayal of Ji Xiangkong, Wang took home his first major award for "Audience's Choice for Actor" at the 30th China TV Golden Eagle Award.[23]

The same year, he starred in the xianxia drama The Untamed, based on the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi, as one of the two male leads alongside Xiao Zhan.[24] He and Xiao also released a duet tiled "Unrestrained" for the drama;[25] and Wang also released the song "Won't Forget", the theme song of his character in the series.[26] Wang gained increased recognition and popularity with his portrayal of Lan Wangji.[27][28] The series was also popular overseas, leading to increased global recognition for Wang.[29]

Wang entered the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list for the first time, ranking 71st;[30] Forbes China also listed Wang under their 30 Under 30 2019 list which consisted of 30 influential people under 30 years old who have had a substantial effect in their fields.[31] In August 2020, Forbes published Forbes China Celebrity 100 List 2020, and Wang Yibo was ranked #9.

On 30 December 2019, Wang released his single "No Sense". Within 20 minutes of its release, 6 million digital copies were sold with the sales exceeding 18 million yuan. After 10 hours, 10 million digital copies were sold and the sales exceeded 30 million yuan. It has become the fastest selling digital single of NetEase Music to reach the sales of 10 million yuan.[32] It currently has over 17.0 Million sales worldwide (as of 09/10/2020).[33]"No Sense" is the first attempt of Wang in songwriting. He wrote it intermittently as he was also busy shooting the drama series Legend of Fei. Wang shared that the song was about his own feelings and experiences. He wanted to portray through his song that he wished others can also overcome difficulties and keep a good mindset.[34] During the Hunan Television New Year's Eve Concert 2020, Wang performed "No Sense" live on stage for the first time.[35]

In May 2020, Wang was confirmed as one of the captains of the dance competition show Street Dance of China.[36] In October 2020, Yang Kai, a member of his team Yi Bo Wang Zha (一波王炸) won the championship.[37]

In December 2020, Wang starred in the wuxia drama Legend of Fei, based on Priest's novel Bandits (有匪), as the male lead alongside Zhao Liying.[38] He sung the song "First Rays", revealing the affectionate confession of his character Xie Yun to the female character Zhou Fei played by Zhao.[39] The drama was also popular both domestically and internationally. Not only did the view counts reach a record of over 130 million within only the first 8 hours of release[40] and 4 billion in just over 1 month on China Tencent Video alone,[41] but the series also gained Top 1 spot on WeTV Thailand and WeTV Philippines after only 1 week of simultaneous release.[42]

On 30 December 2020, Wang released his second single "My Rules (我的世界守则)". Within 10 minutes of its release, 7 million digital copies were sold with the sales exceeding 21 million yuan. After 2 hours and 20 minutes, 10 million digital copies were sold and the sales exceeded 30 million yuan. Wang again broke his own record of the fastest selling digital single of NetEase Music to reach the sales of 10 million yuan.[43] The single debuted on Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart at the position 14th during the fourth week of January 2021.[44] During the Hunan Television New Year's Eve Concert 2021, Wang performed "My Rules" live on stage for the first time.[45]

Wang is set to play as a policeman in the crime detective drama Being a Hero alongside Chen Xiao directed by Fu Dongyu.[46] He is also set to play as Baili Hongyi in the xianxia drama The Wind Rises in Luoyang alongside Huang Xuan and Victoria Song.[47]

Wang is one of the most in-demand and influential brand ambassadors in China. Partnering with over 30 brands,[48] his endorsements and ambassadorships range from local products such as Ping An Insurance,[49] transportation app DiDi,[50] skincare brand Pechoin,[51] Youku,[52] Game for Peace (PUBG),[53] and online food delivery Ele.me[54] to international brands including Swarovski,[55] Lenovo,[56] Monster Energy, [57] and KFC.[58] He is the global spokesperson of Shu Uemura cosmetics,[59] denim brand Evisu,[60] and Redmi smartphones.[61]

In 2020, Wang became the first entertainer to be granted the title of official partner by Nike in Mainland China.[62][63] Wang is also the youngest member and the youngest brand ambassador of Audi Elite Club in history, after Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau, and pianist Lang Lang.[64]

Due to his passion for extreme sports, particularly skateboarding and motorcycle racing, as well as his widespread influence in the younger generation, Wang was honorably appointed by the Chinese government as the Chinese Skateboarding Promotion Ambassador,[65] also the ambassador for the Chinese winter sports[66] and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics.[67]

Wang has graced the front covers of the Chinese edition of various international magaziness, such as GQ Style, Cosmopolitan, L'Officiel Hommes, Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, and T magazine. In March 2020, Wang became the first Chinese celebrity to grace all three covers of SuperELLE China by himself in its history.[68] In December, Wang starred a fashion film project between Vogue Film and Chanel alongside Zhou Xun titled Le Vrai Ou (花的游吟).[69]

Wang has used his image to raise awareness for multiple causes, such as Firefighting Public Welfare of Luoyang City,[70] SOS Children's Villages' campaign with Qingsongchou "No Child Alone: I want to have a family",[71] the Civil Traffic of Hunan Province,[72] and "Earth Aid, Green Life on the Table", a campaign co-sponsored by WildAid, China Green Carbon Foundation, and Food and Agriculture Organization.[73] On 8 December 2019, Wang was honored as the Kuwo Music's 2019 Role Model Reading Charity Artist. He was one of the celebrity readers of "Model Reading", the first youth reading and sharing program jointly created by Kuwo Music and China Youth Daily. It aims to evoke interest and enthusiasm of the youth to start reading literary works.[74]

Wang has been active to show his support in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2020, Wang and more than 200 celebrities donated a total of 278 million yuan to Han Hong Charity Foundation in order to help the city of Wuhan, an area vastly affected.[75] He made another donation to Wuhan together with the other hosts of Day Day Up. They collectively donated 1 million yuan worth of masks, protective clothing, and other necessary supplies.[76] Wang also sang a number of original songs as a tribute to front liners of the COVID-19 pandemic and to convey love and hope during those challenging times. Under the guidance of the Communist Youth League of China, Wang and other actors collaborated to sing "With You By My Side" (有你在身边), a song that is part of the music album Love Is Not Separated, created by China Youth Daily, China Youth Online, and Ku Wo Music.[77] In March 2020, Wang and Xinhua News Agency launched the tribute song "We Stay Together" (因为我们在一起) to inspire people to work together against the pandemic.[78]