At Tamkang Senior High School, he majored in piano and minored in cello. He had no friends and preferred to be alone, listening to music, contemplating and daydreaming. His parents divorced when he was 14 and he was teased by his classmates, which caused him to become reclusive and introverted.

Jay graduated from Taipei Jinhua High School.

His favorite composer was, and is still to this day, Chopin. He was an only child and loved to play piano, imitate TV actors, and perform magic tricks. In the third grade, he became interested in music theory and also started cello lessons. During his childhood, he was fascinated with capturing sounds and songs with his tape recorder, which he carried everywhere with him. His mother noticed his sensitivity to music and took him to piano lessons at the age of four. Both his parents were secondary school teachers: his mother, Yeh Hui-Mei ( 葉惠美 Yè Huìměi), who was an art teacher who taught fine arts, while his father, Chou Yao-Chung ( 周耀中 Zhōu Yàozhōng), is a biomedical researcher. Jay Chou (Chou Chieh-lun) was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan.

He has since starred in a number of movies, becoming known to Western audiences when he made his Hollywood debut in 2011 with The Green Hornet, starring alongside Seth Rogen and Christoph Waltz, followed by Now You See Me 2 (2016). As an actor, Chou made his acting debut in the film Initial D 頭文字D(2005), followed shortly by a starring role in the epic Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). Outside of music, Chou has served as the President of his own fashion brand PHANTACi since 2006. In 2007, Chou established his own record and management company JVR Music. Chou has embarked on six world tours, performing in cities around the world to more than 10 million spectators as of 2019. He has since further released twelve more studio albums, spawning a string of hit singles and gaining significant prominence in Asian communities such as Taiwan China, Hong Kong SAR, Chinese Mainland, Malaysia, and Singapore. The album won five Golden Melody Awards, including Album of the Year. Chou rose to fame with the release of his second studio album, Fantasy (范特西) (2001), which combined Western and Eastern music styles. In 2000, Chou released his debut studio album, Jay (2000), under the record company Alfa Music. Dubbed the ' King of Mandopop', and having sold over 30 million records, Chou is one of the best-selling artists in Taiwan and is known for his work with lyricist Vincent Fang, with whom he has frequently collaborated on his music. Jay Chou ( traditional Chinese: 周杰倫 simplified Chinese: 周杰伦 born January 18, 1979) is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, record producer, rapper, actor, and television personality.

Original Magic by Stephen E. Flowers