鄭中基

chinese

Ronald Cheng Chung-Kei was born on March 9, 1972. His father is Pan-Asian music industry bigwig Norman Cheng, the current chairperson and CEO of EMI, and formerly of the Asia Pacific division of Polygram and then Universal Music. Originally intending to work behind the scenes as a composer and record producer, Cheng did odd jobs at his father’s company—which included doing back-up vocals for the likes of Alan Tam and Priscilla Chan—during summers as a youth. Around 1995 he went with Jacky Cheung to Los Angeles and briefly took music lessons from famed vocal coach Joel Ewing. The lessons were apparently effective, as producers started taking notice of Cheng’s voice and he was signed to a recording contract soon thereafter. Cheng first shot to popularity in Taiwan before returning home and enjoying some success in Hong Kong. However, his singing career went into a lull from 2000-2003 due to the infamous “air rage incident” (more on this later) and has only recently rebounded. Though his heart is in music, Cheng has ironically experienced much more success through acting than through singing. Initially cast in unmemorable roles in films like Twelve Nights (2000) and My Wife is 18 (2002), Cheng finally carved out a niche for himself in comedies with the help of director Vincent Kok. They first worked together in the Lunar New Year comedy My Lucky Star (2003), for which Cheng was nominated for an HKFA Best Supporting Actor Award. Kok then wrote Dragon Loaded 2003 ...