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Xue Zhiqian (p=Xuē Zhīqiān, born July 17, 1983), Stage name as Joker Xue, is a Chinese singer-songwriter and record producer. One of the most-streamed and most popular Mandopop artists, he is known for his emotional vocal delivery with works that span various styles such as , rock music, and R&B. His song, "Actor" is one of the most viewed Chinese music video on YouTube.
Xue's Extraterrestrial World Tour, drawing more than 5 million people, is among the most-attended concert tours of all-time. He is one of five Chinese artists to surpass 100 shows, counting both arena and stadium venues, in a single tour and the only Chinese artist to surpass 100 stadium shows in a single tour.
In 2008, Xue was a torchbearer for the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay. The song "Once Upon a Time in Zurich" (苏黎世的从前) from his second album was adapted to pay tribute to Olympic athletes and renamed "Origin of the Dream" (梦开始的原点). It was included on his third album Deeply Loved You (深深爱过你) which was considered a critical and commercial success, making history with seven nominations at the Beijing Pop Music Awards and prompting his company to release an upgraded commemorative album in April of the following year. He closed out the year with his first concert in Shanghai on December 20.
In 2009, Xue released Unfinished Songs (未完成的歌), a compilation album composed of selected tracks from his previous albums with three new songs. Despite his successes, Shang Teng Entertainment's new management was unwilling to fund Xue's next album in 2010. During this period, he fell into depression, and lost weight sharply. (2026). 9787559623461, Beijing United Publishing Company. ISBN 9787559623461
In 2013, Xue signed with Ocean Butterflies and released his sixth album An Unexpected Journey (意外). It debuted at the top of Sino Chart and remained there for two weeks. In 2014, Xue appeared on many Chinese variety shows because "doing variety shows is to make money, and the ultimate goal of making money is to return to making music." He later called his style of humor during this period "hard humor" because he had to force himself to exaggerate his affectations for comedic effect.
In 2015, Xue founded his own streetwear brand Dangerous People. He gained significant popularity through sharing jokes on Weibo and later said the sudden fame was jarring but he was grateful for the chance to share his music with more people. On June 8, he released his first EP, Gentleman (绅士), which contained the highly popular song "Actor" (演员). On October 17, Xue released his second EP Half, which surpassed 100 million streams in less than a month.
In January 2017, Xue was hospitalized due to acute gastroenteritis and later stated he plans to shift his focus to music, working toward becoming "Eason Chan of mainland and shedding the variety show star persona. In April, he embarked on his first concert tour I Think I've Seen You Somewhere Tour (我好像在哪见过你巡回演唱会). In December, Xue released his acclaimed eighth album The Crossing (渡). By the end of 2017, the total stream count of his songs across all Chinese platforms exceeded 12.7 billion. In early 2018, Xue suffered from laryngitis for several months before making a full recovery. In July, he began his Skyscraper World Tour. On December 31, he released his ninth album Freak (怪咖), which was well-received. In 2017 and 2018, Xue ranked first amongst solo artists cumulative playback volume on QQ Music.
In 2019, Xue concluded the Skyscraper World Tour in Hong Kong on May 19, setting the record for highest concert box office by a mainland China male singer. From July to November, he headlined four music festivals, debuting the "Joker" stage persona that was later officially adopted in 2023. In December, Xue released his tenth album Dust (尘) and was named Male Singer of the Year at CMIC Music Awards. Billboard magazine included "Puppet" (木偶人), the lead single from Dust, on their The Global No. 1s You (Probably) Never Heard list.
In 2020, Xue held his first online concert Dust in the World on May 23. On December 31, he released his eleventh album Extraterrestrial (天外来物). The title track "Extraterrestrial" was named among the Best Songs of the Year and Xue was named Most Influential Male Singer of mainland China at the 2021 Tencent Music Entertainment Awards.
In February 2023, Xue held his second online concert , the total number of views exceeded 160 million. From March to December, he continued the Extraterrestrial World Tour with 75 shows in mainland China, England, France, and Malaysia. Quzhou, the first stop of Xue's 2023 shows, placed first as fastest-growing city in the country's box office rankings due to his concerts. From March to October, Xue also headlined 11 music festivals. In July and August, Xue briefly served as a judge on Sing! China before the show was suspended for alleged mistreatment of former coach Coco Lee. In December, Xue ranked number one in total number of fans across all music streaming platforms in China with 83.62 million fans and he was the 8th Most Streamed Mandarin Pop Male Singers Worldwide on Spotify.
From January to August 2024, Xue continued the Extraterrestrial World Tour with 60 shows in mainland China, Singapore, United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. On June 15, Xue was announced as the brand ambassador for GKART, with the theme song "Relieve Boredom" (解解闷) ranking first on QQ Music rap chart and marking Xue's first appearance on that chart. In September, Xue performed "Rent or Purchase" (租购) on Melody Journey (音乐缘计划), which quickly topped the charts on QQ Music. On October 15, Xue became the first mainland China artist to hold an international stadium tour when he extended the Extraterrestrial World Tour in order to bring the same production design as his shows in China to his overseas fans. On November 22, Xue released his thirteenth album, The Guardian. From August 25 to December 15, Xue performed at 18 music festivals, all were in China except for the One Love Asia Festival in Singapore.
On February 14 and 15, Xue performed two shows at the Singapore National Stadium as part of the extended Extraterrestrial World Tour, and received a positive review from Straits Times. On April 17, the physical version of The Guardian was released, selling more than 128,000 copies and exceeding Renminbi15 million (approximately $2 million) on QQ Music within 7 hours.Sales figure from the first day. QQ Music uses sales amount for certifications, ¥15 million is required to reach Palace Diamond certification, with the album priced at ¥117 each, that equates to 128,205 copies. On April 21, NetEase Cloud Music named Xue as the most-streamed Chinese artist with more than 34.1 billion streams and the artist with the third-highest number of songs surpassing 100 million streams at 64 songs in the platform's 12-year history. During the Labor Day Golden Week, Xue headlined five music festivals consecutively from May 1–5. On July 17, Xue continued the tradition of releasing a song on his birthday with the single "Leap" (跃), raising awareness for marine pollution. On August 5, Xue released "Axe Trick" (金斧子銀斧子), an industrial rock song based on Aesop's Fable The Honest Woodcutter. On September 20, Xue released the single "Farewell My Concubine" with Jane Zhang; it was named among the Best Songs of 2025 by Apple Music.
During the National Day Golden Week, Xue headlined seven music festivals from October 1-4 and 6-8. Beginning in October, Xue appeared on season 2 of Melody Journey and season 1 of Sing to Shine (中国唱将). On December 31, Xue appeared on Jiangsu TV New Year's Eve Concert for the 10th year in a row, performing a medley of six songs that ranked first in viewership at 1.943% with the lowest turnover rate at 0.95%.
On January 1, 2026, Xue headlined the Storm Electronic Music Festival, his first appearance at an electronic music music festival and a continuation of his recent experimentation with different music genres.
In addition to the ins and outs of love, Xue's songs also critique the distorted values of today's society and raise awareness for social issues because he believes "making music cannot be without a sense of responsibility." Examples include cyberbullying in "The Martian Has Come", materialism in "Skyscrapers, information disorder in "Cooperate", minority groups in "The Guardian", and marine pollution in "Leap".
His music often combines keyboard and string instrumentations with folk-tinged acoustic guitar and R&B beats. He has also incorporate other elements into his music, including Rock music, Chinese style, folk music, blues, classical music, urban contemporary music, electronica, rap, and industrial rock.
The Straits Times noted the use of metaphors in his lyrics, such as a relationship being a performance in "Actor" and a lover being a force of nature in "Like the Wind". Conversational narration, imagery, and personification are also utilized in his writing, such as "Yellow Maple Leaves", "What Do You Want from Me" and "Serious Snow", respectively.
Xue has stated that he enjoys writing but can be overly intense about the process, particularly about diction because he thinks "good lyrics must stand up to scrutiny, you can't have people get tired of them after listening to them twice." The majority of his songs carry a sorrowful or critical tone, as he revealed that he is "not very good at writing songs that are really happy, at all." In 2018, he revealed that he has not written a song that he is completely satisfied with.
The Straits Times praised Xue's "authenticity, spontaneity and the fact that he can sing" and the "duality in his persona has created an unpredictability, almost mystery, about what he is going to do or say next" for his concerts' success.
In 2023, Xue officially adopted the stage persona "Joker" after performing in a variety of Joker-inspired styles since 2019. Its origin can be traced back to 2018, when Xue composed and wrote the song "Freak" on Infinite Song Season (無限歌謠季); for the performance, Xue and his partner Di Yang donned makeup and outfits inspired by the Joker. In 2025, Xue began headlining consecutive days at music festivals as both Xue Zhiqian and Joker Xue, with the former's set list composed of ballads and the latter's set list composed of rock songs.
He made this decision because he wanted his fans to "just come and listen to my songs, no need to spend money or worry" and he felt he can be more sincere about his music if money was not involved. Because he provides his music digitally at no charge, his albums do not appear on any digital sales charts.
In April 2007, Xue participated in China Cultural Festival's key project "Friendship Tour along the Volga River", jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation Cultural Film Agency. In July 2008, he passed the torch for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Zhengzhou. In April 2016, Xue served as the lead runner for Meifubao's Sunshine Charity Run. In June 2018, Xue served as promotion ambassador for the "Run Beijing" charity project, aimed to raise awareness for the importance of physical and mental health.
Xue ranked 24th on the 2016 China Charity Celebrity List.
On September 10, 2023, Xue was forced to cancel the second show of the Chengdu stop of his Extraterrestrial World Tour due to a high fever. He announced the news and refund policy in person because he felt it was only right to do so given the fact that fans had already travelled to the stadium. He then stayed and chatted with the audience in an impromptu mini meet-and-greet session for an hour before leaving. Not only were fans offered to choice to refund or keep their tickets for a future show, but those from out of town could also be reimbursed for their travel and lodging expenses in full. This kind of comprehensive refund policy has never been done before and drew widespread praise. Tianjin Consumers Association voiced their approval of the decision, stating that "refunding the ticket of a cancelled concert is the basic responsibility of the performer," Xue's proactive reimbursement of travel and lodging expenses demonstrates "the social responsibility that public figures should have" and serves to "maintain a harmonious consumption environment." Other artists began providing similar refund policy, but with limits on travel and lodging reimbursement amounts, for concert cancellations in the following year.
Xue has stated multiple times that he is against Ticket resale. He will add one or two more shows at each stop to increase the likelihood that his fans can get tickets and decrease the chances of scalpers taking advantage. He has also urged his fans to only come to one show per tour and to spend their time and money on enjoying other things in life.
On December 24, 2021, Xue released a new single "Phoenix Feathers and Unicorn Horns" (凤毛麟角) through Chaoshi Music. On May 31, 2022, Xue posted a photo on his Weibo announcing the opening of Chaoshi Music. All of Xue's albums are acquired and currently owned by Chaoshi Music. Chaoshi Music produced and organized Xue's Extraterrestrial World Tour. In December 2024, Chaoshi Music served as the management company for Essay Wang's tour "The Sleepless". In March 2025, Chaoshi Music is announced as the organizer for Han Hong's "I Want To Become You" (我想成为你) tour, Roy Wang's "Under Universe" (宇宙超级无敌大狂欢) tour, and the newly established "New Bee" touring music festival (新蜂音乐节).
Throughout his career, Xue has been recognized by Chinese Top Ten Music Awards, Global Chinese Music Awards, Music Radio China Top Chart Awards, Migu Music Awards, CMIC Music Awards, Tencent Music Entertainment Awards and many more for his music and popularity.
Mars Intelligence Agency (火星情報局) is the longest-standing variety show Xue has appeared on, starring as a main cast member from the first season in 2016 to the final season in 2024. Xue has appeared on multiple singing competition shows, the most notable being The Coming One (明日之子) in 2017 and Sing! China (中国好声音) in 2023 due to both shows having controversy regarding fairness that Xue called out publicly.
Earlier in his career, Xue tended to be the host or a panel member on music-oriented variety shows, such as Hidden Singer (誰是大歌神), Golden Melody (金曲捞), and Golden Melody 2 (金曲捞之挑战主打歌), in exchange for a chance for perform. In recent years, he tended to be a collaborator or mentor on shows such as Singing with Legends 3 (我们的歌第三季), In China (中國潮音), and Melody Journey (音乐缘计划).
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