JJ Lin

Early life

Lin was born in Singapore to a Hokkien family and studied at , Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Saint Andrew's Junior College before completing his National Service (NS). Lin's grandfather used to run a maritime transport business when Lin was young. Lin's father has a telecommunications-related business while his mother owns a family karaoke chain and has a background in Chinese classical music, hence influencing Lin's music. His brother, a manager in a European bank, was a major influence in his career choice.

Career

2003–2006: Debut and career beginnings

In addition to Mandarin, Lin also sings in English, Hokkien and Cantonese using a romanized pronunciation system, and has released his songs in Cantonese. In Taiwan, he was awarded the Best New Artist award at the Golden Melody Awards. After completing his NS, Lin signed with Ocean Butterflies International, which launched the then 22-year-old Lin's debut album in 2003. In 2011, Lin signed a new contract with the record label Warner Music Taiwan.

He is well known for his songwriting and singing skills. He wrote songs for various musical artists while he was still a trainee under Ocean Butterflies under his mentors, Billy Koh and Sunkist Ng. In total, he has written over a hundred songs for other artists. His notable compositions include "Remember" (记得) for Taiwanese singer A-Mei, A-Do's "Let Go" (放手), Harlem Yu's "What's Wrong With You?" (干嘛你看不爽我), Cyndi Wang's "When You" (当你), Vivian Hsu's "Smiling Eyes" (爱笑的眼睛), and Comic Boyz's "Heart of Superman" (超人心). In Singapore, he was selected to perform the remixed version of "Home", the theme song of the National Day Parade in 2004. Lin has sold 1 million copies in less than a week and is extremely successful throughout Asia.

2007–2009: Commercial success and recognition

In July 2007, he broke a Guinness record by signing 3,052 CDs in 2 hours and 30 minutes. During the signing, he was not allowed to drink or eat. The average time for him to sign a CD was 2.7 seconds. In May 2008, he performed at the CCTV charity event The Giving of Love, dedicated to helping victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Lin also donated a large sum of money to the rescue efforts and composed a song "Love and Hope" () commemorating the tragedy. In February 2008, Lin released a compilation album entitled Waiting for Love (). It has selected tracks from several of his albums spanning from his debut album to 2007's West Side. Later in October of that year, his sixth album, Sixology (), was released, and it sold 280,000 copies in a week. His own fashion line, SMUDGE, was opened in Singapore during 2008 Christmas with an unofficial launch. The store's official launch was on 13 March 2009.

In May 2009, Lin won three awards at the 14th annual Composers and Authors Society of the UK (Compass) Awards Presentations, a ceremony that honors performers in the music scene. It was held at the Royal Albert Hall, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace and Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore. He was honored with the Top Local Artiste of the Year award, which is given out to Singaporean artists who generated the highest royalty earnings for the year. In that same year, Lin won the Singapore Youth Award. In 2009, his singing career was put on hold due to his voice being damaged by acid reflux and flu, as well as his hectic touring and recording schedules. His poor health forced him to return to Singapore to recover and receive treatments. On 18 December 2009, he released the seventh album, Hundred Days.

2010–2013: Continued success

In May 2010, Lin performed in America for the first time at the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Concert Tour (APAHM). In June 2010, Lin performed together with American singer Sean Kingston at the opening concert of the Marina Bay Sands to thousands of invited VIPs guests. But both were absent at the inaugural YOG Opening Ceremony. Lin's eighth album, She Says (她說), was released on 8 December 2010. Lin's ninth studio album, Lost N Found (学不会) was released on 31 December 2011. A preview of his 9th album was made available on 12 December 2011 on various Chinese internet radio channels. Lin's tenth anniversary album, Stories Untold (因你而在) was released on 13 March 2013. A compilation of micro films were released in conjunction with the album, serving to expand the stories behind the songs. He worked with a few notable people on the album, including Ashin, Harry Chang (张怀秋), and his older brother Eugene Lim (林俊峰). He also started his world tour "Timeline" in July 2013 in Taipei, Taiwan.

2014–2019: Performances, songwriting and touring

Lin co-wrote the song "Dreams" with Goh Kheng Long and Corrinne May and performed the song live during the grand finale at the Chingay Parade on 27 and 28 February 2015. One of his recent ventures in the world of music was a duet with Ayumi Hamasaki, for the latter's music video, "The Gift" (and as of 27 April 2015, has about 1,882,459-page views). In 2015, he was selected to perform the National Day Theme Song, "Our Singapore", which was composed by Dick Lee. His experimental album From M.E. to Myself was released on 25 December 2015. The track, "Twlight", is among the most-viewed Chinese music videos on YouTube at 162 million views. On 7 July 2016, Lin released "If Miracles had a Sound", a 96-minute music documentary created over the course of 455 days, taking place throughout studios in the U.S., Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The theme song of the documentary, "Infinity and Beyond" (超越无限) was released on 21 June 2016.

On 19 December 2017, JJ Lin posted on his Instagram page that the past two years "had not been easy" and that he had been "searching constantly for a clear direction", needing a "shelter for the soul, a 'SANCTUARY'". He wrote songs and finished his Message in a Bottle album, which was released on 29 December 2017. At the same time, he and his team and "shared a common vision, starting on project "SANCTUARY" and built the space from ground zero". In early 2018, he announced his "Sanctuary" concert tour began in Shanghai on 17 March. In 2019, he released The Story of Us (), and actress Wu Jinyan starred in the music video.

2020–present: Recent works

In January 2020, Lin released a song "I'll Stay With You" dedicated to the medical staff in Wuhan, China, who were working hard to save patients infected with COVID-19. On 20 October 2021, Lin released his first album that contains songs in English, titled "Like You Do". He also collaborated with English singer Anne-Marie in producing the song "Bedroom".

In April 2023, Lin released his fifteenth studio album, Happily, Painfully After.

In April 2025, NetEase Cloud Music named Lin as the artist with the second-highest number of songs surpassing 100 million streams in the platform's 12-year history at 65 songs.

Other ventures

Ambassadorships and show appearances

Lin has appeared in various advertisements for brands such as Sprite, Dota 2, Beats and Cornetto Royale. He is also a tourist ambassador for Singapore, and an IP Ambassador for the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore in 2012. On 14 August 2015, Lin was selected to be the advisor for Team Harlem Yu on The Voice of China (season 4). On 4 November 2016, Lin joined the variety show "Dream Voice" as one of the mentors alongside A-Mei, Jam Hsiao, Hebe Tian, and Yu Quan. He stayed on as a mentor for the second season of the show, which was released in October 2017, and the third season, which was released in October 2018.

In 2019, he took part in the Chinese food travelogue show Chef Nic. On 24 February 2021, Lin performed a medley of songs ("A Whole New World", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", "Let It Go" and "Embark") to commemorate the official launch of the digital streaming service Disney+ in Singapore, which launched a day earlier on the 23rd.

Business career

In 2017, Lin launched his business career. He established Team Still Moving under Gunfire (Team SMG), a professional esports team. Initially focused on Arena of Valor, Team SMG has expanded itself into other games such as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds in 2018, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in 2020 and Dota 2 in 2021.

In July 2022, Lin said he is collaborating with Kiat Lim, son of Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim, and Elroy Cheo, a scion of the Cheo family that owns edible oils firm Mewah International, to co-found ARC, an app-based digital community that authenticates member profiles with non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Beginning 30 September 2022, Lin ran his pop-up café Miracle Coffee at the outdoor rain oculus of ArtScience Museum. It was also announced that a flagship outlet of Miracle Coffee was expected to be opened at the museum's lobby in 2023.

Personal life

In July 2025, while performing in Beijing on the final leg of his concert JJ20 Final Lap, Lin announced on stage that he had been diagnosed with a heart condition in April 2024, and has been taking medication daily since.

Discography

Main article: JJ Lin discography

• Music Voyager (2003)
• Haven (2004)
• No. 89757 (2005)
• Cao Cao (2006)
• Westside (2007)
• Sixology (2008)
• Hundred Days (2009)
• She Says (2010)
• Lost N Found (2011)
• Stories Untold (2013)
• Genesis (2014)
• From M.E. to Myself (2015)
• Message in a Bottle (2017)
• Drifter / Like You Do (2020)
• Happily, Painfully After (2023)

Filmography

Films

Television series

Reality and variety shows

Tours

Main article: List of JJ Lin concert tours

• Just JJ World Tour (2006–2007)
• I Am World Tour (2010–2011)
• Timeline World Tour (2013–2015)
• Sanctuary World Tour (2018–2019)
• JJ20 World Tour (2022–2025)

Awards and nominations

References

References

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2. {{in lang. link. (25 November 2011 12 May 2004. Retrieved 20 June 2011)
3. "林俊杰演唱会说出小时候的秘密 被妈妈打 所有的男孩都会犯的错". qq.com.
4. "Dishing with Chris Lee - JJ Lin, Hong Junyang, Fann Wong".
5. (22 June 2023). "为什么林俊杰没事？ 他揭"惊人家世"吓到闭嘴{{!}}中國報".
6. (18 May 2017). "Profile and Facts of JJ Lin: Bio, Net Worth, Fun Facts etc.".
7. Birchmeier, Jason. "Biography: JJ Lin". [[All Media Guide.
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10. (23 July 2007). "JJ Lin Earns Autograph-Signing World Record". CRIENGLISH.
11. Duzhe Issues 9–16 – Page 69 2008 "期待你的爱/林俊杰 "
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19. (16 March 2015). "浜崎あゆみ / The GIFT（ayumi hamasaki – The GIFT feat. JJ Lin）【Music Video】".
20. "Instagram post by JJ Lin • Dec 19, 2017 at 12:05 pm UTC".
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22. (2019-12-31). "吴谨言MV扮玉兔 林俊杰：她的眼睛会说故事".
23. Smith, Lamont Mark. "'I'll stay with you': Grateful netizens thank JJ Lin and Stefanie Sun for encouraging Wuhan medical staff with touching song, Business Insider – Business Insider Singapore".
24. "Mandopop singer JJ Lin releases new album, including an English song".
25. (2021-04-22). "JJ Lin unveils new single with Anne-Marie, 'Bedroom' — listen".
26. (21 April 2023). "爆曲预定! 酷狗歌迷在林俊杰全新专辑《重拾_快乐》中狠狠共鸣".
27. (21 April 2025). "网易云音乐官方微博: #网易云音乐12周年#".
28. "JJ is Singapore's New Tourism Ambassador to Greater China {{!}} STB".
29. "Speech by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Law, Ms Sim Ann, at The Originals IP Champion Music Fiesta 2012 Finale".
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32. "Join me for A Night of Disney+, with a music performance like never before! Stream the dream at 8pm tomorrow, see you there! Watch it on: Disney+ (SG) FB, Singapore Tourism Board FB, MEWATCH, Mediacorp Channel 5, Mediacorp Channel 8, StarHub Ch111/825 @DisneyPlusSG #DisneyPlusSG".
33. (2 February 2020). "JJ Lin's E-sports Team Breaks Through Southeast Asian Market by Acquiring Malaysian Team".
34. "Singer JJ Lin's e-sports organisation enters Southeast Asia with Malaysian team".
35. (5 January 2021). "JJ Lin's Team SMG is entering Dota with new squad led by Mushi and ninjaboogie {{!}} ONE Esports".
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37. "JJ Lin's Miracle Coffee pop-up at MBS extending 'through to 2023'".
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