Van Ness Wu was born in Santa Monica and grew up in Orange County, California, the once shy and chubby SoCal kid probably would have never thought that one day he would become a superstar on the other side of the Pacific! Calling Van Ness Wu multi-talented is an understatement. In addition to his flourishing music and acting careers, he is also a songwriter, music producer, video director, fashion designer, and a successful entrepreneur. His strong passion for music and artistic creativity paved the way for his solo singing career in the post-F4 era, and over the years Van Ness has released six Mandarin albums and two Japanese albums. Immersing in the surf and skate culture of Orange County, Van Ness grew up listening to different varieties of music from glam rock to grunge to metal punk. Dancing has been an undying passion of his since he was a kid, so Van Ness was also influenced by hip-hop, rap, urban music and Motown sound. Legendary artists like Michael Jackson, James Brown and Prince have brought him a lot of inspiration musically. Absorbing all kind of music like a sponge, Van Ness is always able to grasp the pulsation of pop music culture and trends. He was the first Mandopop artist who collaborated with global megastars, Bruno Mars and Ryan Tedder. Van Ness was also featured in Beyonce’s “Crazy In Love – Asian version” and Avicii’s “Level – Mandarin version” and opened for Kanye West’s Shanghai concert in China.