After closing the chapter on a six-year world tour, Jay Chou steps out of the spotlight and returns to the rhythm where his creativity first took root. A quarter century into his career, he sees more clearly what he wants to carry forward, and what he&rsquo;s ready to reinvent. A new album, a new tour, and a wave of fresh ideas are already taking shape, waiting for the right moment to unfold.

PHOTOGRAPHY Paul
STYLING Takafumi Kawasaki

In Jay Chou&rsquo;s world, music has never been a singular craft. It is the way he connects with life. It ties him to memories, family, cities, travels&hellip; and to the generation that grew up alongside him. With Carnival &mdash; a tour spanning six years and countless cities &mdash; finally coming to a close, he returns to the studio and to family time, allowing inspiration to find its own natural rhythm again.
Three years since his last release, a new album is steadily in the works, while a fresh world tour is being mapped out for 2026. In this interview, Jay reflects on inspiration, fatherhood, directing, and the evolution of his mindset after 25 years in the spotlight.

You&rsquo;ve just wrapped the final show of Carnival in Shanghai. 110 performances over six years. What was the most unforgettable interaction with your audience? Any moments that deeply moved you?
The moments that stay with me most are always the song requests. You hear their stories&mdash;why that particular song mattered, whether it carried them through school days or a life chapter. Those stories move me every time. Some fans have listened to me since their teens and now bring their own kids to my concerts. That sense of &ldquo;passing it on&rdquo; hits especially deep.
You played three shows at the new Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong &mdash; the first male artist to announce a concert there. Did the passion of Hong Kong fans exceed your expectations? And did anything memorable happen while you were in the city?
Hong Kong has always been full of energy, but the volume of the sing-alongs this time truly surprised me! Friends and seniors from the entertainment circle also visited backstage to cheer me on. That warmth made every night special. Cultures and languages differ, but music really does bridge everything.

You announced a brand-new tour for 2026, also marking your 25th anniversary. Can you share anything about the concert or its concept?
There&rsquo;s a new approach this time: every city will have its own exclusive concert title. I&rsquo;ve written many songs, and a lot of the lyrics Vincent Fang wrote for me revolve around colours &mdash; &ldquo;Black Humour,&rdquo; &ldquo;White Windmill,&rdquo; &ldquo;Blue Storm,&rdquo; &ldquo;Pink Ocean,&rdquo; &ldquo;Golden Armour,&rdquo; &ldquo;Moulin Rouge,&rdquo; almost like a rainbow. I feel every city has a colour that belongs to it. Some cities even appear in my lyrics, like &ldquo;Shanghai 1943.&rdquo; Giving each city its own title makes the tour feel personal &mdash; like a keepsake for the fans.
It&rsquo;s been three years since your last release, and everyone&rsquo;s eager to hear what you&rsquo;re working on. Can you share anything about the direction of the new album?
The album is still in the works, and I tend not to reveal too much before it&rsquo;s ready. I like keeping a bit of surprise. Lately, while recording, I&rsquo;ve been reminded of practicing piano as a child, hearing other kids laughing and playing outside. That pain of not being allowed to join them is something I remember vividly (laughs). But I&rsquo;m also grateful for my mother&rsquo;s strictness back then; it taught me that every achievement requires discipline and effort.

Where do you usually find inspiration?
Inspiration doesn&rsquo;t come on command. It actually comes to me more often when I&rsquo;m on a break or just unwinding. When you&rsquo;re too focused, nothing flows. While filming J-Style Trip and travelling with friends, that relaxed state of mind really opened things up and ideas came naturally. Beautiful scenery makes me want to record it. Should I shoot a music video here? And once I think about filming, I need music, so I push myself to write something for that place.
Between touring, filming, and preparing an album, how do you maintain family life and balance your different roles?
In the early days, things were simple. I spent most of my time in the studio writing. But as life moved into new stages, family naturally became the center of my world. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean I&rsquo;ve lost creative passion. It just means family time now outweighs work time. Sometimes 24 hours simply isn&rsquo;t enough (laughs).

What&rsquo;s your go-to way of relieving stress &mdash; your signature &ldquo;Jay-style&rdquo; reset?
Honestly, the pressure can get pretty intense. Even on vacation, part of me is already thinking about next year&rsquo;s new songs. Because a new tour means I have to deliver new music. And I&rsquo;m a perfectionist in the studio, which doesn&rsquo;t help. Tennis is my best stress reliever. After being cooped up recording all day, I need to get out and move. But there&rsquo;s one condition &mdash; I have to win. If I lose, it doesn&rsquo;t count as stress relief at all (laughs).
After 25 years in the industry, you&rsquo;ve gained experience, memories, and companionship. Looking back, what do you think has changed or grown the most in you?
I&rsquo;d say my temperament. Music is so subjective, and I used to tune out criticism. If someone didn&rsquo;t like my work, I wouldn&rsquo;t listen; I only listened to myself. Over time, I&rsquo;ve become more open to other opinions, even if I don&rsquo;t always act on them (laughs). What hasn&rsquo;t changed is my drive to excel. Years in this industry have taught me to speak with more tact, but I remain committed to pursuing what I truly want.

Fans are eagerly awaiting your return to filmmaking. With Initial D recently re-released to enthusiastic reactions, do you have any upcoming film projects?
My interest in film started with Initial D, and having directed music videos, movies feel like a natural extension of that. It&rsquo;s been a long time since I last directed, and I hope to return to the director&rsquo;s chair. I want to create a film with true artistic value, one that could even win awards.
As 2025 draws to a close, what milestone do you hope to reach in 2026 for your music career?
I hope to release an album that everyone will love. Over the past 20-plus years, many of my fans who grew up with my music are now parents. I also hope the younger generation will connect with and enjoy my songs."

PRODUCER Dr. Calvin Choi
CO-PRODUCER Giampietro Baudo
PRODUCTION TEAM Aileen Soh, Angel Fong, and Carlos Mangubat
HAIR Emily Lin
MAKEUP ARTIST A-Do
PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANTS Harry Burmeister and Samuel Davis
STYLING ASSISTANTS Maddie Lim and Joelle Chai
TAILORS Anna Lee Zhang and Gretchen Geoghegan

Next Milestone: Jay Chou

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