Thanks from a lucky star

Jackie Chan has been making music since the 1980s, and his latest album is about the people he loves most, Chen Nan reports. 

We have watched him on the big screen playing heroes of morality and justice, but for the martial arts film star Jackie Chan that's still not enough-he has one more musical pinnacle he wants to achieve.

On Dec 20, he appeared in Beijing to promote the release of his new album, I Am Me, in which he performs nine songs and delivers a monologue for each song.

"Whenever people ask me about my favorite movie, I usually say it's The Sound of Music. Music is a powerful force in my life that I enjoy listening to alone as much as I do when I'm celebrating with friends. But this album is more than just about music. These songs are also my life stories," he says as he opens the album with a one-minute monologue.

Although Chan, 64, is one of the best-known Chinese actors in the world with a career spanning over five decades in the film industry, he is also recognized as a singer in his own right, having sold more than 1 million copies of about 10 solo albums he has released since the 1980s. He sings in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and English.

He has performed many of the theme songs for his films, including The Young Master in 1980, Police Story in 1985 and The Myth in 2005. His previous album was released in 2002, titled With All One's Heart.

"I am not a professional singer, and I never imagined I would have released so many albums. But I cannot let myself neglect this part of my work," says Chan at the Beijing event, adding that he has spent the past four years preparing for this new album along with Chinese songwriters Wang Pingjiu and Zhao Jialin.

Chan sings about brotherhood in the song, Childhood Stories, which he dedicated to his team of stuntmen, known as the JC Stunt Team, which he established in 1976. The team is now in its ninth generation of stunt artists working in the film industry worldwide.