Almost Leaving the Industry in 2004, Eason Now Asks "The 1st Eleven Years, What's Next?"

In 2004, Eason Chan was frozen by his former company and his father was involved with legal problems. With his career and family hitting a low at the same time, rumors surfaced that an angry Eason was contemplating leaving the industry for good. As for being where he is today, Eason credits it to "A new life and a daughter to push me forward."

Eason was in Taiwan promoting his latest 'best of' release The 1st Eleven Years 1997-2007 Mandarin Hits (The 1st Eleven Years 然後呢?), the album title and cover created by Eason himself, in late March. When asked what is the meaning of the title, Eason replies, "I have a song titled Ten Years 十年 and thought about naming the album "Eason Chan's Ten Years" but it was too simple. Then I thought about it and realized that the songs range from 1997 to last year (2007), which is 11 years. I also like prime numbers so that's what I named the album."

Looking back at his 11 years in the industry, Eason lets out a sigh. When asked about the high and low of his career, Eason answers, "I have yet to reach a high point in my career, so I can't answer that question. The low point? I first need to thank everyone for their concern, in terms of family my dad's situation has impacted me negatively and positively. As for other situations, it is personal so I'd rather not say."

When he was frozen by EEG in 2004, his father was involved in legal problems at the same time and rumors surfaced that an angry Eason was seriously contemplating leaving the industry for good. Looking back with a positive attitude, Eason responds, "I did not know how to respond to the situation at the time, when someone comes across something new they might not know how to react at first. Nevertheless, I was still hopeful about the world and maybe because I had a new life, a new treasure (his daughter Constance) that pushed me forward."

As for the next 10 years of his career Eason hopes he can perform in a musical, but not an ordinary musical, rather a musical that is has disco, is funky and has outfits that are weird.

Eason's upcoming Mandarin album is expected to be released in June. Always wanting to record an English song, this new album will feature Eason's first recorded English song titled Aren't You Glad.

Sources:
album photo: yesasia
article: mop 04.14.2008 & on.cc 04.15.2008