Jay Chou (born 18 January 1979) is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor and director. Chou was born in Taipei, Taiwan, to schoolteacher parents, Yeh Hui-Mei, who taught fine arts, and Chou Yao-Chung, a biomedical researcher. In 2000, Chou released his first album, titled Jay (2000), under the record company Alfa Music. Since then, his music has gained recognition throughout Asia, most notably in regions such as Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and in western Asian communities such as in the United States and Australia. He has sold more than 30 million albums since his debut. Chou continues to write songs for other artists, work on his album and went on to win numerous awards in the music industry. In 2003, he was the cover story of Time magazine (Asia version), titled New King of Asian Pop, acknowledging his influence on popular culture. He has since held five world tours, performing in cities around the world to more than 10 million people. Chou debuted his acting career and made his film debut in Initial D (2005), and also since ventured into many movie projects. He made his Hollywood debut in 2011 with The Green Hornet (2011), starring alongside Seth Rogen and Christoph Waltz. Chou also manages his own record and management company JVR Music.