Kelly Yu Wenwen (; born 7 November 1989) is a Chinese-Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, music producer and director. She is famous for starring in the romantic film The Ex-File 3: The Return of the Exes and for singing and composing the film song OST "Decency" ().
Personal life Kelly was born in Dalian, China and moved with her parents to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2004. She attended Killarney Secondary School and later moved to Boston, where she attended the Berklee College of Music. She majored in music, performance, Music Composition and studied acting.
Career At the age of 17, she released her first self-made album "Evil Child" with her band. In 2010, she served as a guitarist for Ku Youlun's band. In 2011, she went to Beijing Film Academy to study performance. In 2012, she made a cameo appearance in the film "To Our Dying Youth" directed by Zhao Wei. In the same year, she acted as the heroine of the movie "Let It Rain" and released the EP album "Let It Rain".
Yu's first movie was Under the Rain in 2012, directed by Liu Chen. Her first lead role was in 2014 in the television series One and a Half Summer co-produced by China and South Korea and pairing up with Nichkhun. In the same year (2014), Yu released her first album "Fighting Spirit".
She has collaborated with 윤종신 (Yoon Jong Shin) for 왠지 그럼 안될 것 같아 (Somehow I don't think so) in 2014. South Korean media reported that Yu became the first artist in the global project of Mystic89, led by South Korean singer-songwriter and artist Yoon Jong- shin. In the same year, she participated in the Beijing Satellite TV "The Most Beautiful Harmony" competition and entered the finals. In November of the same year, Taiwan released the album "Fighting Spirit". On 13 December of the same year, the first individual ticketed Kelly Show album concert was held on the bank of the Taipei Mansion.
In 2016, she participated in the third season of "Song of China" and was successfully selected with a song "Heartbeat". She became the top six student of Yuquan team. In the same year, she became the world's first female spokesperson for "Ibanez" and owned an electric guitar exclusively customized by the manufacturer. In April of the same year, she became one of the singers in the music season broadcast program "Avenue of Stars Super Edition" of CCTV Variety Channel.
In 2017, Yu starred as the lead actress in the romantic film The Ex-File 3: The Return of the Exes. She sang the theme song of the film called "Ti Mian". The song was downloaded over more than 60 million in Spotify. The theme song for the rom-com feature film The Ex-File 3: The Return of the Exes was #3 at iTunes Taiwan, and a YouTube audio file has attracted 65 million "views".
After "Predecessor 3", she released two new albums and sang a lot of film and television OSTs, such as the drama versions of "July and Ansheng" and "I". She sang for episodes, theme songs, and opening and ending songs such as "My True Friend", "Storm Dance" and "Illusory City". She also participated in a lot of music shows, such as "Infinite Ballad Season", "Voice of God", "Let's Band Together", "Masked Singer", "You Music List", "Longing For Life", "The Perfect Travel of Girlfriends" and so on.
In 2018, Yu released her self-composed full-length second album titled "Undefined" followed by her third self-composed album Intermezzo in 2020, it ranked first on TME Physical Album Sales Chart's June 2022 chart.
In 2022, Yu joined Sisters Who Make Waves Season 3 as a contestant and won as the 3rd winner. 5 August 2022, in Riding the Wind and Waves (Season 3) she has successfully formed a group after winning the 3rd place. On the same day, she released her first singing and dancing single "Hedgehog".
This is followed with a variety show called The Seaside Band 乐队的海边 on 11 November 2022. In 2022, she starred in a Hollywood film Moonfall. It is a 2022 American post-apocalyptic science fiction disaster film co-written, directed, and produced by Roland Emmerich. She also sang the film's promotional song of the same name.
On Christmas Day of 2022, Yu announced via Weibo that she will be reprising her role as Lin Jia from Ex-File 3 with other key members returning too. The Ex-file 4 was a success with 1 billion box office in the year 2023.
In 2023, Yu released her fourth studio album called "It's Me" on 31 March. It ranked first on that month's TME Physical Album Sales Chart. In July 2023, Yu started her world tour concert (Kelly Yu 3x3/World Tour 2023) in Beijing on 29 July 2023. In November 2023, two days after her birthday, she released a song call "Drowning" which was written, sung and composed by her. She became the director for the MV as well.
Filmography
Film YearEnglish titleChinese titleRoleNotes2012 Under the Rain 雨下吧 Yu Wenwen 2013 So Young 致我们终将逝去的青春 Cameo2016The Secret消失的愛人Bo Bo 2017 Young Pea 青春逗 Jiang Wanqing The Ex-File 3: The Return of the Exes 前任3:再见前任 Lin Jia 2018 Twenty 二十岁 Xie Wenyi 2019 Chasing Dream 我的拳王男友 Guest appearance 2021 Between Us 我没谈完的那场恋爱 Lin Shan Ni 2022Moonfall 月球陨落Michelle 2022 Back to Earth 重回地球 Chang E | 2022 || Moonfall || || Michelle ||TBABe Careful When Reversing倒车请注意2024China Top Arms: Mission Top Secret中国兵王之绝密任务Chen ZijingTBAEx: Fall in Love Again复合吧！前任Chen XingxingPrevious movie name was 'Fighting! Dude' (奋斗吧，青年)2023The Ex-File 4前任4:英年早婚Lin JiaReprising the main actress role from Ex-File 3
Drama series YearEnglish title Chinese title Role Notes 2014 One and a Half Summer 一又二分之一的夏天 Shu Qing2019Beijing Subway北京地铁Yao Tianlu 2021 Lost Promise 胭脂债 Bo Ye Jingxing2022The Disappearing Child消失的孩子Lin Chuping2023Hi Producer正好遇见你Yin Ping Ping
Television shows Year Title Role Notes 2021Never say NeverRegular Member2021Action!Regular Member2021Flash CafeGuestEp 17 2022 Sisters Who Make Waves Season 3 Contestant Chinese survival reality show that determined X-Sister membersFinished 3rd 2022The Seaside Band 乐队的海边LeadReality cooking show with live house performances2022Hello Saturday 你好,星期六Guest2022Rock & Roast Season 5GuestEp 42022The MewsGuest Ep 32022Masked Dancing King Season 3GuestEp 82023Friends TogetherGuest2023WOW! CLUBGuestEp 22023Infinity and BeyondGuestEp 4–72023It Sound Incredible Season 3GuestEp42023The Treasured Voice Season 4Regular MemberEp 1–42023Ring a BellGuestEp102023Time Concert Season 3Regular Member2023Wo Men Di Mei Hao Sheng Huo / Our Wonderful LifeGuestEp 5
Discography
Albums +Album informationTrack listingLost In Translation Released: 31 December 2007Urban Pie Released: 31 December 2008Under the Rain (雨下吧) Extended play Released: 21 November 2012 Label: 紫金山唱片Spirits (斗志) Studio Album Released: 7 November 2014 Label: Sony Music Entertainment Taiwan LtdWrite a Night of Heartbeat (写一夜心跳) Studio album Released: 11 April 2016 Label: Juicy MusicUndefined (尚未界定) Studio album Released: 6 November 2018 Label: Juicy MusicIntermezzo (于文文/幕间剧) Studio album Released: 16 September 2021 Label: Warner Music ChinaIt's Me (是我)
Studio album Released: 31 March 2023 Label: Warner Music China Scorpio (天蠍座) Studio album Released: 7 November 2024 Label: YWWStudio & Sony MusicBoundary (边界) Studio album Released: 13 July 2026 Label: YWWStudio & Sony Music
Singles YearEnglish titleChinese titleAlbumNotes2014"Always Be The Same For You"One and a Half Summer OST "Somehow" (왠지그럼안될것같아) 为何就是无法如此 Yoon Jong-shin's Monthly ProjectThe first artist lined up for the Mystic89 Global Project2016 "Death of the Premature Lotus" 莲殇 Ice Fantasy OST 2017"Decency"体面UndefinedThe Ex-File 3: The Return of the Exes OST2018奉陪Undefined 就差一个你 2019 "Black Horse" 黑馬 My True Friend OST 2020 "Ping & Pong" 小乒和小乓 2022"Moonfall"月球陨落Promotional Song for Moonfall"Nothing Can Stop Me Now"Promotional Song for Moonfall"Hedgehog"刺猬The first MV with singing and dancing"I Used To Be You"我也曾是你feat. CiCi Wang"Home in Time"时间里的家Hello, Brother OST"Beautiful"赴约而来2023"Shadow"影子"Be Careful"小心"It's Me"是我Titular debut for Kelly's 4th albumWhy bother何必The Ex-file 4: Marriage Plan OSTDrowning夕阳向晚The first MV as a director2024Left on read已读不回Scorpio《天蝎座》The second MV with singing and dancingWerewolf狼人Scorpio《天蝎座》For All I Care与我无关If We Meet Again如果重逢Promotional Song for "Venom: The Last Dance"Scorpio天蝎座Scorpio《天蝎座》Titular debut for Kelly's 5th album2025赌Promotional song for the series 鹦鹉2026Thorns荆棘Promotional song for the movie 绝密任务
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Recipients Result Ref. 201519th China Music AwardsChannel [V] Newcomer Award Most Promising Singer-SongwriterChina Top Hits 2015Most admired female singer-songwriterThe 10 most admired20181st GuitarChina AwardsBest Crossover Award23rd Huading AwardsBest Newcomer The Ex-File 3: The Return of the Exes Best Original Film Song"Decency (体面)" 2018 Fashion PopBest Movie Song"Decency (体面)"2018 Fashion PowerFashion Power Singer of the Year201914th KKBOX Music AwardsSinger of the Year23rd China Music AwardsChannel [V] Golden Song of the YearDeep ConversationMost Popular Female Singer (Mainland China)2018 Global Chinese Golden Chart AwardsMost Popular Female Singer-Songwriter of the YearTop 20 Golden Song of the Year"Decency (体面)"The 2nd Shui Di Chou Charity CeremonyGood Role Model Award2019 Asia Music FestivalBest Female Singer-Songwriter of the Year2022China TV Drama Awards 2022Outstanding Actress of the YearThe Disappearing Child2023Weibo Music Awards 2022Word-of-Mouth Singer of the YearChinese Top Ten Music Awards 2022National Listener's Choice of Gold Song"Hedgehog (刺猬)"Sohu Fashion Awards 2022Notable Person of the Year2022 Weibo NightOutstanding Singer of the YearWeibo Music Awards 2023Hot Singer of the Year20242023 Weibo NightAll-rounder musician of the YearWeibo Music Awards 2024Leap Producer of the Year20252024 Weibo NightAll-rounder musician of the Year
References
External links