Ken Chu (; born January 15, 1979) is a Taiwanese singer and actor. He was a member of Taiwanese boy group F4.
Chu was born in Taipei, Taiwan. Raised by a single mother, he was sent to Singapore for school when young. At 17, he returned to Taiwan, where he worked as a waiter until he was discovered by TV producer Chai Zhiping, who cast him in the TV series Meteor Garden (2001), its supplementary mini-series, Meteor Rain (2001), and its sequel, Meteor Garden II (2002). With the huge success of Meteor Garden, Chu with three other co-stars formed boy group F4, the name of the fictional group from the show. Chu was the lead in Sky of Love (2003) and Tokyo Trial (2006). In 2007, Chu starred alongside Iza Calzado in the movie ', directed by Adolf Alix. In January 2005, he released his debut solo album, On Ken's Time. The tracks "æ°¸ä¸ÂÃ¥ÂÂæ¢" (Never Stopping) and "La La La" were nominated for Top 10 Gold Songs at the Hong Kong TVB8 Awards, presented by television station TVB8, in 2005. In 2006, he released a cookbook, Mei Wei Guan Xi (Delicious Relations) in Taiwan, China, and Japan.
On February 24 and 25, 2007, he held his first solo concert in Japan. In 2009, he had a falling-out with his label over his second and final album, as the label failed to meet the production budget. After his ten-year management contract expiredâÂÂduring which he often struggled with depression due to high pressure and media scrutinyâÂÂChuâÂÂs career declined.
Throughout the 2010s, Chu mainly lived in Beijing, where he opened an antique shop but closed in the late 2010s. In 2014, after disbanding his 8-year-old fan club, Chu was enrolled as an undergraduate of Department of Directing at the Beijing Film Academy. In 2019, Chu graduated with a masterâÂÂs degree in retail management from the NEOMA Business School in collaboration with University of International Business and Economics. Chu moved back to Taiwan since the COVID-19 pandemic. In a 2021 interview, Chu acknowledged being the âÂÂleast successful member of F4,â revealing that he had little to no income in Taiwan over the past two years. Since the 2020s, he has primarily focused on creating online content, including travel shows and e-commerce.
From February 2003 to April 2005, Chu was in a relationship with actress Mai Sato, until he was photographed having a hotel fling with Li Bingbing.
From 2006 to 2011, Chu was in a relationship with actress Kelly Lin.
In 2015, Chu met his Mei Meng Cheng Zhen (2015) co-star Han Wenwen. They married in 2016.