Leehom Wang is an American-born singer-song writer, record producer, actor and film direct of Chinese descent based in Taiwan. Wang was born on May 17, 1976 in Rochester, New York. Wang grew an interest towards the violin and started playing it when he turned six. In his teenage years, he learned to play the piano and guitar. He was formally trained and developed his career at the Eastman School of Music, Williams College and Berlee College of Music. His musical style consists of Chinese elements such as Beijing opera, traditional styles of ethnic minorities, Chinese classical orchestra with hip-hop and R&B. Wang is a four-time winner of Taiwan’s “Golden Melody Awards”, the “Grammys” of Taiwanese music.
In 2007, Wang started acting in several films, including Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution and Little Big Soldier by Jackie Chan. On June 20, 2007, Wang’s single “Falling Leaves Return to Roots” was released, and it declared change in Wang’s music style. The change was influenced by his role of Kuang Yumin in Lust, Caution. Wang wanted to stray away from mainstream pop and chinked-out related hip hop music, and started to create music from 1930’s Shanghai. Wang is an environmental activist, and his album, Change Me, that was released on Friday, July 13, is focused on pop rock and old-school Taiwanese pop. This song brought about the awareness of global warming and environmental issues. Wang’s album was made entirely out of recycled paper. Wang was one of the first torchbearers for the 2008 Summer Olympics.