Mandopop star Jay Chou’s 2014 marriage proposal to feature in upcoming music video

TAIPEI – Back in 2014, Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou made headlines when he proposed to his now-wife Hannah Quinlivan in an English castle, surrounded by hired actors pretending to be workers in the building. 

“I rented an uninhabited castle, and everyone in there were actors – even the ‘restaurant’ was fake,” he said with a laugh at a press conference at Muvie Cinemas in Taipei, Taiwan on March 24 to promote his highly anticipated new album Children Of The Sun.

It will be released across all digital platforms on March 25, with a worldwide physical release to follow on April 10.

“I told (my then-girlfriend) that it was almost time to go downstairs to eat, and she didn’t want to go at first. I thought, ‘Was the whole show for nothing, and the castle rented for nothing?’” 

Fans will soon get to see the “very fun” process for themselves, as a recording of how Chou popped the question will be featured in an upcoming music video for a song from Children Of The Sun.

The ruse behind the proposal did not stop there: Quinlivan was invited to the castle believing that they were there to scout for a location for their future nuptials.

“I even said, ‘Let’s go and see which hotel our guests can stay at after,’” Chou continued. “I also told her that there was a restaurant dress code, so that she wouldn’t complain to me if people ever saw the proposal video one day.” 

The famously private Mandopop singer-songwriter admitted that he would not have been so forthcoming about his personal life once upon a time. 

“I used to be so unwilling (to share),” said the 47-year-old, who tied the knot with the 32-year-old Australian-Taiwanese model-actress in northern England in 2015.

“But now that I’ve reached a certain age, I see it as sharing something with my fans, because we’re all friends now,” he reflected. 

The sharing did not end there. Another song on the 13-track Children Of The Sun will include the voice of his youngest child, three-year-old Jacinda.

“She often records some very childlike voice messages for me using my phone, which made me think of turning them into a song,” he said. 

Chou had previously written two songs dedicated to his two older children - daughter Hathaway, 10, and son Romeo, eight.

Lover From Previous Life (2016) features a piano melody that Hathaway created at four months old, while the music video for Pink Ocean (2022) was centred on Romeo, then five years old. 

“(My youngest) had asked me, ‘What about me?’”, Chou said with a chuckle.  

Children Of The Sun is his first full-length offering in more than three years, following the 2022 album Greatest Works Of Art.

Great works of art remain a key theme in Children Of The Sun’s title track, whose nearly seven-minute music video was also unveiled at the press event. 

In it, Chou plays a detective investigating a series of mysterious murders in scenes inspired by well-known paintings – from Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss to Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks as well as The Death Of Marat by Jacques-Louis David. 

In total, there are references to 30 pieces of art. “Fans can keep going back to it and try to find which paintings are hidden inside,” said Chou.  

With a budget exceeding US$2.8 million (S$3.5 million), the music video is the most expensive in Mandopop history, featuring atmospheric settings including the Chapelle Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc in Paris. Post-production work was handled by New Zealand company Weta Workshop, the Oscar-winning studio known for its work on movie franchises including Avatar (2009 to present), The Lord Of The Rings (2001 to 2003) and Dune (2021 to present).

According to Chou, the music video was created to give his fans a dose of “positive energy” and help them “overcome their inner demons”.

“My fans have been listening to my songs since their student days, but now that we’re in the workforce, our resilience is lower,” he quipped. 

His Carnival II world tour is set to kick off in the Chinese city of Hangzhou on April 3, which commemorates the entertainer’s 25th anniversary in show business. 

Despite having made his debut over two decades ago, he confessed that he has more recently experienced bouts of nervousness and anxiety ahead of his concerts.

“It has happened to me twice… but once I’m on stage, I forget the panic.” 

The musician added that this was never an issue when he was younger – to the point where he would confidently sing on stage even when he was feeling rundown with a cold. “Now I’m much more emotional,” he said. 

At this point, the emcee of the press conference, Taiwanese actor-host Ken Lin, laughed and revealed the one question Chou had asked him while they were preparing for the media event. 

Lim said: “The first thing he asked me was, ‘Do you have a cold?’ - because he was afraid that it would affect his upcoming concert performances.”