Born in Los Angeles, California on August 7, 1978, Vanness Wu is a Taiwanese-American actor, entertainer, and Mandopop singer. Apart from his acting and solo music career, he is also known as a member of Taiwanese boyband F4 and Korean-Mandopop duo Kangta & Vanness. Growing up in Los Angeles, he learned to breakdance and entered many dance competitions in the 1990s. After he graduated from high school, he spent time working as a telemarketer before moving to Taiwan to pursue an entertainment career. Wu began his career as an actor, portraying a member of boyband member F4 in the television drama Meteor Garden for two seasons. Once the series was over, F4 released three studio albums and a compilation between 2001 and 2008. His first solo album, Body Will Sing, released in 2002. During this period, Wu appeared on Beyoncé’s 2003 single “Crazy In Love”. He also formed the short-lived duo Kangta & Vanness with Korean singer Kangta. The duo released one album: Scandal (2006). His second solo album, V.DUBB, was issued in 2007. After F4 split up, he became a successful actor on Taiwanese television and released his debut Japanese single, “Only”, which was released on his fourth album Reflections (2010). His fifth album – and second Japanese full length – was V (2011) featuring “Better”, which was written by Bruno Mars. His album C’est La V featured Ryan Tedder (One Republic) on the track “Is This All”. Additional albums in his catalog include Different Man (2013), #MWHYB (2016) and the collection Vanness Best (2017). In November 2020, Wu released the single “Through It All” (featuring Yuan Yonglin and Wu Jianhao), a tribute to late actor Godfrey Gao, released on the first anniversary of the actor’s passing.
