He can sing, rap, dance, produce music and much more! Over the years, Jackson Wang has repeatedly demonstrated these numerous talents and won millions of hearts. The Chinese superstar has more than 32 million followers on Instagram alone! Jackson originally became known as a member of GOT7, but now also has a successful solo career.
We give you an overview of Jackson’s career; from his time as a member of the Hong Kong national fencing team to the present!
- Pre-Debut
- GOT7
- Music Solo
- Popularity in China
- Jackson’s numerous talents
Pre-Debut
Many idols already have experience as an actor or model before their debut. But few can say they were offered an athletic scholarship from Stanford University!
Jackson was born on March 28, 1994 in Hong Kong and grew up as the son of fencer Wang Ruiji and gymnast Sophia Chow. So it was natural for him to also be interested in sports. Jackson began fencing training at the age of 10 and became so good that he was selected for the Hong Kong junior national team at 16.
With his team he won, among other things, first place at the Asian Junior Championship and the Cadet Fencing Championship. He even prepared to compete in the London 2012 Olympics! In 2011, he was also offered an athletic scholarship to Stanford University in California.
But then everything turned out differently! Jackson not only had a passion for fencing, but also for dancing and singing.
In 2010 he took part in an audition by JYP Entertainment. A representative from the agency noticed Jackson while he was playing basketball at school and invited him to come to the audition. In December 2010, JYP announced that Jackson had placed first out of 2,000 applicants!
So Jackson had a choice between an already successful fencing career and a potential future as an idol.
He decided against the sports scholarship and risked everything for his dream of becoming an idol. Despite his parents' concerns over his sudden career change, Jackson moved to South Korea in 2011 and began training in JYP Entertainment. About three years later, he debuted as a member of the seven-member boy band GOT7!
GOT7
The debut album “Got It?” was released on January 20, 2014. Jackson was 19 years old at the time.
GOT7 is a diverse group with different backgrounds. Jackson's bandmates come not only from South Korea, but also from Taiwan and Thailand!
GOT7 topped the Billboard World Album Chart with their first album! The boys drew attention, among other things, with their acrobatic dance elements such as somersaults. To this day, they regularly occupy number 1 in the charts and are one of the few groups that are still active together, even though all members are now at home in different entertainment venues.
You can find out more about the history and success of GOT7 here: GOT7's varied history and discography!
Music Solo
On October 25, 2019, Jackson released his first solo album “Mirrors”! It contains eight songs, including the partly self-written and self-composed song “Bullet to the Heart”.
In fact, the singer published his own works long before his official solo debut:
For example, in April 2016, he performed two self-composed songs called “I Love It” and “WOLO” with his bandmates Yugyeom and Bambam. “I Love It” even appeared on GOT7’s repackage album “Present: You & Me Edition” in December 2016.
In 2017, Jackson founded his own studio “Team Wang” in Hong Kong. His first release there was the English single “Papillon”. “Mirrors” was also released by Team Wang. This was followed by the mixtape “Lost & Found” in March 2022 and the second solo album “Magic Man” in September 2022.
In January 2021, the singer left JYP Entertainment, but to the relief of fans, he announced that he would still remain a member of GOT7.
In the same year, Jackson founded a hip hop group called “Panthepack”, with which he released an album called “The Pack” in September 2021.
To date, Jackson has not only released two solo albums and a mixtape, but also a number of singles and soundtracks. He also collaborated very frequently with other artists! He can be heard on Sunmi's song "Frozen in Time", Rain's "Magnetic", "Easier" by Amber Liu and "On My Way" by Epik High, among others.
Jackson’s music regularly tops the charts, especially in China, but also receives international recognition:
For example, “Magic Man” reached the top 15 on the US Billboard 200 chart and the top 5 on the Korean Gaon Album Chart. It was also named one of the Top 20 Best Albums of the Year (Chinese) at the Asian Pop Music Awards! And that's just one of many awards Jackson has accumulated over the years.
Jackson is one of the biggest stars in China!
Jackson's influence can be seen, among other things, in the number of his Instagram followers: 33 million fans follow the star on Instagram (September 2023). Jackson currently has more followers on the social media platform than any other Chinese celebrity!
In 2021, Forbes China released a Top 100 list containing celebrities from across China. These include singers and actors from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as well as authors, models, athletes and more.
The list considered influence and income between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. Not only did Jackson make the list, but he even came in at number 10! He was behind nine actors and singers such as Lay Zhang, who is also known as a member of the Korean boy band EXO.
Jackson is not only a singer and dancer, but also a producer and designer:
He is the lead designer and creative director of the fashion brand “Team Wang Design”. The brand is defined not only by the products, but also by creative approaches such as the concept of “Invisible Man”. This is an invisible model because the brand does not want to be represented and defined by a certain image.
As already mentioned, Jackson writes some of his songs himself. He is also responsible for the composition and sometimes even the production in many cases. He writes not only for himself, but also for his group and other artists such as Amber Liu from f(x).
As you can see, Jackson is a real all-rounder!
He can sing, dance, fence, produce music, design clothes and also speaks several languages: Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese and English.
We are sure that Jackson will continue to amaze us with his many skills for a long time to come!
Sources: Forbes, vct.news, Team Wang, Instagram, YouTube
