Jolin Tsai ([tsˈaɪ]; Chinese: 蔡依林; born September 15, 1980) is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of C-Pop", she is considered one of the most influential people in Chinese popular culture. She is known for her continual reinvention and versatility in music style and visual image, and she has achieved great reputation and popularity in Chinese-speaking world. She is also regarded as a huge role of popularizing dance-pop as mainstream music in Greater China, and she remains completely in charge of every aspect of her career. Her works, which incorporate social themes, have generated both commercial success and critical acclaim.
In 1998, Tsai won the champion at a television singing competition show produced by MTV Mandarin. In 1999, she released her debut album, 1019. The album made her become an instant hit, and her first incarnation of the girl next door made her become a teen idol with a huge teenage fan base. In 2003, she released the album, Magic. The album reflected her first music reinvention, and it marked the beginning of her dance-oriented music direction. In 2006, she released the album, Dancing Diva. The album highly impressed with slick dance songs and dazzling dance moves, and it established her representative status as a dance-pop artist in the C-pop music industry.
In 2009, Tsai founded the company Eternal, and she started to be completely in charge of her career. In 2010, she released the album, Myself. It is considered one of the most experimental albums in the C-pop music industry. In 2012, she released the album, Muse. The album integrated pop music and pop art, and it spanned mainstream and independent music. In 2014, she released the album, Play. It incorporated various social themes and further thrust her into the international spotlight. In 2018, she released the album, Ugly Beauty. The album explored traditional aesthetic criteria and bipolarity of human feelings, and it is regarded as leading the C-pop music production.
With sales of over 25 million records, Tsai is the highest-selling Taiwanese female recording artist since 2000. Since her 2003 album, Magic, all of her studio albums became at least the year's highest-selling album by a female artist in Taiwan, and four of which even became the year's highest-selling album in the country. She has won six Golden Melody Awards, and it made her become the female Mandopop artist with the most wins at the awards. She has been ranked top 20 six times on the Forbes China Celebrity 100, and three times of which she was even ranked the highest-paid female singer on the list. In 2014, Next Magazine reported her net worth exceeded NT$2 billion.