Ella Chen – born Chen Chia-hwa on June 18, 1981, in Pingtung, Taiwan – is a Mandopop singer and actress who is known for her solo recordings as well as being a member of Taiwanese girl group S.H.E. Her deep voice and tomboy image have brought her a lot of attention from the press, and she has been labelled one of China’s Four Main Tomboys of the last century. Ella Chen’s career began in 2000 when her sister entered her into a singing competition. Initially hesitant to perform, she relented and ended up reaching the final round. After returning briefly to her day job, she was contacted by HIM International, who were in the process of putting together a girl group by the name of S.H.E. The trio released their debut album, Girls Dorm, on September 11, 2001. Even though the album’s released coincided with terrorist attacks in America, sales were still impressive. Their sophomore album, Youth Society, was released in early 2002, and sold over one million copies in Asia. After several years of success with S.H.E., she began an acting career, appearing on several TV dramas over the years. Ella Chen released her first solo EP, Qiang Qiang, in 2007. She also began acting in motion pictures including The Long Goodbye (2010), Perfect Two (2012), Lucky Star (2015), and Big Three Dragons (2019). When S.H.E.’s recording schedule slowed down, she released the To Be Ella EP in 2012 but didn’t issue her debut full length album, Why Not, until 2015. Balancing her singing and acting careers, she released two more EPs – Me vs. Me (2016) and Ella Show (2020) – while also recording TV and motion picture themes, often as duets with her co-stars. In March 2022, she starred in the film Summer as well as performing music featured in the movie.
