Pop stars Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) and Jay Chou (周杰倫), as well as rock band Mayday, were included on Forbes Asia’s inaugural list of “100 Digital Stars,” who maintained their status through social media amid a lack of physical events during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The list, published online on Tuesday, features a wide range of influential celebrities from the Indo-Pacific region, including South Korean supergroup BTS, Australian actor Hugh Jackman, Bollywood movie star Akshay Kumar and Singaporean pop star Stefanie Sun (孫燕姿).
Forbes Asia said that the list has been compiled to highlight celebrities who “raise awareness and inspire optimism” through various social media platforms, many of whom “used their influence to help worthy causes, especially those with a COVID-19 focus.”
Chou is mentioned by Forbes Asia as “the king of Mandopop” and the Taiwanese solo artist with the most Instagram followers — 6.2 million.
This year, the 41-year-old singer-actor launched a travel show on Netflix, crashed Chinese music streaming service QQ Music with the June release of his hit single Mojito and together with his wife donated 3 million yuan (US$458,260) to support frontline medical workers in Wuhan, China, at the beginning of the initial COVID-19 outbreak in January, Forbes Asia said.
Mayday was included on the list for holding a virtual concert in May that received 42 million views on YouTube, when most physical entertainment events were halted, Forbes Asia said.
After Taiwan in June relaxed restrictions on indoor gatherings, the band last month announced its “Mayday Fly to 2021” Taiwan tour, with concerts to be held from Dec. 26 to March 20, for which it would give 6,000 free tickets to medical personnel, Forbes Asia said.
Tsai was included as she resumed her “Ugly Beauty” tour last month, which initially started in December last year, but was postponed due to COVID-19, it said.
The 41-year-old singer, who has 4.16 million Instagram followers and 2.09 million followers on Facebook, is also mentioned on the list for a duet she sang with Hong Kong pop star Eason Chan (陳奕迅) to honor people contributing to the fight against COVID-19.
Taiwanses actor Eddie Peng (彭于晏) also made the list.
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