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Actor

1983-07-17 · Shanghai, China · Male

4 series in the catalog

Xue Zhiqian (Chinese: 薛之谦; pinyin: Xuē Zhīqiān, born July 17, 1983), also known professionally as Joker Xue, is a Chinese singer, songwriter, producer, and businessman. Known for his distinctive ballads, "Xue Style Love Songs" (薛式情歌/薛氏情歌), and emotive live performances, he is recognized as a leading figure in Chinese popular music and one of the most-known artists in the Chinese-speaking world.

Xue signed with Shang Teng Entertainment in 2005 after appearing on the reality competition My Style, My show (我型我秀). His debut album, Jacky (2006), featured the hit song "Serious Snow" and won him the Best New Artist title at eight Chinese music award ceremonies. Despite achieving success with How Are You? (2007) and Deeply Loved You (2008), his career stagnated due to lack of financial support from Shang Teng Entertainment, forcing him to launch several businesses to fund his next album Several Of... (2012). In 2015, Xue gained significant popularity on Weibo, marking the start of his career resurgence. His album, Beginner (2016), produced the immensely popular song "Actor". He continued to experience critical acclaim and commercial success with the release of The Crossing (2017) and Freak (2018), Dust (2019), and Extraterrestrial (2020).

In 2020, Xue established his own label and production company, Chaoshi Music, releasing Countless (2022) and The Guardian (2024). Chaoshi Music produces Xue's tours as well as tours for other artists and music festivals. In 2023, Xue set a new precedent for concert refund policy when he offered to refund or exchange the tickets and fully reimburse non-local concertgoers' travel and lodging expenses. His action has since spurred other artists to provide similar compensations for concert cancellations.

Though initially known for his distinctive emotional ballads, Xue has shifted his songwriting focus to address societal issues, such as cyberbullying and marine pollution, and incorporated electronica and rap elements into his music. Since his debut, he has embarked on four concert tours, including the Extraterrestrial World Tour (2021-2025), one of the most-attended concert tours of all-time with more 5 million tickets sold. In 2025, NetEase Cloud Music named Xue as the most-streamed artist in the platform's history.

Early life

Xue was born and raised in Shanghai, China. At age four, his mother died of a heart disease. He had fine art training in his youth and later studied hospitality management at the Glion Institute of Higher Education in Switzerland.

Music career

2004–2010: Debut and career beginnings

In 2004, Xue passed the audition for the singing competition show My Style, My Show (我型我秀), but chose to resign because he felt he "was not qualified to compete." In 2005, he returned to My Style, My Show, finishing in fourth place and signing with Shang Teng Entertainment (上腾娱乐). In 2006, he released his debut album Jacky (薛之谦) as Jacky Xue. His self-titled album, including major hits such as "Serious Snow" (认真的雪) and "Yellow Maple Leaves" (黄色枫叶), sold over 200,000 copies within one and a half months and Xue was awarded the Most Popular New Artist at the 2006 Global Chinese Music Awards. In 2007, Xue released his second album How Are You? (你过得好吗), which sold more than 150,000 copies within one month of its release.

In 2008, Xue was a torchbearer for the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay. The song "Once Upon a Time in Zurich" (苏黎世的从前) from his second album was adapted to pay tribute to Olympic athletes and renamed "Origin of the Dream" (梦开始的原点). It was included on his third album Deeply Loved You (深深爱过你) which was considered a critical and commercial success, making history with seven nominations at the Beijing Pop Music Awards and prompting his company to release an upgraded commemorative album in April of the following year. He closed out the year with his first concert in Shanghai on December 20.

In 2009, Xue released Unfinished Songs (未完成的歌), a compilation album composed of selected tracks from his previous albums with three new songs. Despite his successes, Shang Teng Entertainment's new management was unwilling to fund Xue's next album in 2010. During this period, he fell into depression, and lost weight sharply.

2011–2015: Self-funded music

In 2011, Xue opened his own hotpot restaurant, Shang Shang Qian (上上谦), its successes allowed him to keep pursuing music. In July 2012, Xue marked the end of his seven-year contract with Shang Teng Entertainment with the announcement of his fifth album Several Of... (几个薛之谦). He briefly signed with Shanghai Kunhong Media but soon terminated the contract due to Kunhong's inability to fulfill said contract.

In 2013, Xue signed with Ocean Butterflies and released his sixth album An Unexpected Journey (意外). It debuted at the top of Sino Chart and remained there for two weeks. In 2014, Xue appeared on many Chinese variety shows because "doing variety shows is to make money, and the ultimate goal of making money is to return to making music." He later called his style of humor during this period "hard humor" because he had to force himself to exaggerate his affectations for comedic effect.

In 2015, Xue founded his own streetwear brand Dangerous People. He gained significant popularity on Weibo for his humorous posts and later said the sudden fame was jarring but he was grateful for the chance to share his music with more people. On June 8, he released his first EP, Gentleman (绅士), which contained the highly popular song "Actor" (演员), one of the most-viewed Chinese music video on YouTube and one of the most-streamed Mando-pop songs on Spotify. On October 17, Xue released his second EP Half, which surpassed 100 million streams in less than a month.

2016–2020: Commercial success

In 2016, Xue changed his English name from "Jacky" to "Joker" as "Jacky" was the result of a guessing game he played at his debut and "Joker" reflected his sense of humor. In an effort for the audience to connect his name to his music after the success of "Actor", Xue pushed himself to appear in more than 40 variety shows. He was named "No. 1 Model Worker in Variety Shows" and ranked tenth on data analysis agency Standard Ranking's list of internet celebrities commercial value. However, the packed schedule took its toll on his physical and mental health. In July, Xue produced and released his seventh album Beginner (初学者), which won multiple awards, and was named Album of the Year on Apple Music's 2016 year-end list.

In January 2017, Xue was hospitalized due to acute gastroenteritis and later stated he plans to shift his focus to music, working toward becoming "Eason Chan of mainland and shedding the variety show star persona. In April, he embarked on his first concert tour I Think I've Seen You Somewhere Tour (我好像在哪见过你巡回演唱会). In June, Madame Tussauds Shanghai unveiled a wax figure of Xue. In December, Xue released his acclaimed eighth album The Crossing (渡). By the end of 2017, the total stream count of his songs across all Chinese platforms exceeded 12.7 billion. In early 2018, Xue suffered from laryngitis for several months before making a full recovery. In July, he began his Skyscraper World Tour (摩天大楼世界巡回演唱会). On December 31, he released his ninth album Freak (怪咖), which was well-received. In 2017 and 2018, Xue ranked first amongst solo artists cumulative playback volume on QQ Music.

In 2019, Xue concluded the Skyscraper World Tour in Hong Kong on May 19, setting the record for highest concert box office by a mainland China male singer. From July to November, he headlined four music festivals, debuting the "Joker" stage persona that was later officially adopted in 2023. In December, Xue released his tenth album Dust (尘) and was named Male Singer of the Year at CMIC Music Awards. Billboard magazine included "Puppet" (木偶人), the lead single from Dust, on their The Global No. 1s You (Probably) Never Heard list.

In 2020, Xue held his first online concert Dust in the World (尘浮世间线上音乐会) on May 23. On…