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F4 (band)
Taiwanese boy band From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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F4 (Flower Four), later JVKV, was a Taiwanese boy group consisting of Jerry Yan, Vanness Wu, Ken Chu, and Vic Chou. The group was formed in 2001 after their fictional group of the same name in the Taiwanese drama Meteor Garden (2001) had propelled them to pan-Asian popularity. Together they have starred in several Taiwanese drama series and released three albums, Meteor Rain (2001), Fantasy 4ever (2002), and Waiting for You (2007).
F4 embarked on several concert tours, including the Fantasy Live World Tour and the F4 Japan Tour, with the former attracting around 600,000 people. In 2007, due to copyright issues, the group changed its name to JVKV, using the first initials of its members' names in descending order by age.[1] The group disbanded in 2009.[2]
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History
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2001: Formation and Meteor Garden
The group formed as a result of the success of a Taiwanese drama series, Meteor Garden. The series is an adaptation of the Japanese shōjo manga series Hana Yori Dango. Yan plays the lead role of Dao Ming Si, an extremely arrogant and rich university student who meets his match in the poor but proud girl, Shan Cai. Chou, Wu and Chu play as his friends Hua Ze Lei, Mei Zuo, and Xi Men, respectively. In the series, the four guys identify themselves as a group called "Flower Four", or often shortened as F4.
Meteor Garden was released in Taiwan in 2001 and turned the leads into stars virtually overnight.[3] In 2002 Meteor Garden was released in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and Korea and in 2003 the Philippines. The series was aired on Xing Kong channel in 2008 and was later remade in China. A sequel, Meteor Garden II, was shot in Spain later and released in 2002.
2001–2004: Musical venture, Meteor Rain, and Fantasy 4ever
In 2001, F4 became a boy band and signed a record deal with Sony Music Taiwan. In the same year they released their debut album, Meteor Rain, and in the following year they released Fantasy 4ever. The album includes the Mandarin version of "Can't Help Falling in Love" that they recorded for the Asian version of Walt Disney's Lilo & Stitch soundtrack,[4] a Mandarin version of "Yo Te Amo" by Chayanne, and a Pepsi advertisement theme song "Ask For More".
From 2002 to 2003, F4 held the Fantasy Live World Tour spanning 19 shows across 12 cities, which attracted a total audience of 570,000 to 600,000 people.[5][6] In 2003, they embarked on an Asian tour to support Fantasy 4ever, and went on an unannounced hiatus in 2004 afterwards as the members began to focus on their solo careers.
2007–2009: Waiting for You and name change to JVKV
On April 29, 2007, Meteor Garden producer Angie Chai announced that the group would no longer be known as F4. The change in name stemmed from copyright-related issues. Japanese publisher Shueisha, who owns the copyright to Hana Yori Dango allowed the group to use F4 as its band name in 2001. However, as Japan had filmed and aired its own live action versions of the popular manga, with its own cast of four, the publisher felt that there may be confusion over the name in different countries.[7][8] Due to this conflict, the group was renamed JVKV using the first initials of each of the group's members. According to the producer, the members are listed in the new name by the order of their birth dates from oldest to youngest, thus Vanness Wu's name appears before Vic Chou's.[1]
Despite rumours of disbanding,[9] JVKV released their third album, Waiting For You, on December 28, 2007.[10] Their third album still bore the name F4, not JVKV. F4 were the first foreign artists to hold 7 consecutive concerts in Japan, which attracted around 80,000 people.[11] The individual members of the group developed solo careers in both acting and music. Three of them appeared in Wish To See You Again, starring Chou and Chu, while Wu made a few guest appearances in a few episodes. Due to scheduling conflicts, Yan did not star in the series; his part was played by Kingone Wang. Yan filmed a series in Taiwan alongside Wu Chun of Fahrenheit and Show Lo, called Hot Shot otherwise known as 篮球火 which was released in the Summer 2008.
2013–2020: Jiangsu TV reunions
F4 had performed twice together after their announcement of disbanding in 2009. In January 2013, the group was confirmed to perform at Jiangsu TV's Spring Festival in China along with Harlem Yu.[12] The performance was taped in Beijing on January 30, 2013,[13][14] and was aired on February 10, 2013. During the show, they hinted that they were going to have a concert tour in China, which did not come to fruition. On October 30, 2020, at Jiangsu TV’s ‘1001 Night Festival’ concert, Vanness Wu appeared live on stage, while his bandmates’ pre-recorded performances were projected via holograms, allowing them to share the stage with him during the broadcast.[15]
2025–present: Reunion
On June 4, 2025, it was reported that F4 had reached an agreement to reunite for a concert tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut, which would take place in 2026.[16] On July 12, 2025, the group reunited as a guest artist at Mayday concert in Taipei, Taiwan.[17]
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Members
- Jerry Yan (言承旭)
- Vanness Wu (吳建豪)
- Ken Chu (朱孝天)
- Vic Chou (周渝民)
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Live albums
Video albums
Filmography
Concerts
Headlining tours
- Meteor Garden F4 Music Party (2001–2002)
- Fantasy Live Concert World Tour (2002–2003)
- F4 Japan Tour (2008)
Awards
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References
External links
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