I REMEMBER those days clearly. I was in high school and after the bell rings, I immediately pack my bags and go home in a hurry so I could catch the F4 fever. I’m talking about Meteor Garden, the drama that took the world by a storm.
Although it was released almost twenty years ago, the effect still lingers. Many dramas are actually patterned after this iconic Taiwanese drama. And of course, the original still is legendary.
Let us look back at our favorite F4 members and what they did with their career after the legendary Meteor Garden series.
Jerry Yan
The pineapple-haired protagonist of the drama Meteor Garden had accomplished a lot after starring in the highly-acclaimed series. He focused on releasing studio albums, films and other dramas, capitalizing on his rise to international stardom.
He released his debut solo album, Jerry For You in 2004 which won the Best Album and Best Newcomer awards at the China Top Music Awards. This was followed by his second solo album Freedom in 2009 and My Secret Lover in 2010.
After Meteor Garden, he did several television series which includes The Hospital (2006) – a medical drama that portrays the power struggle in a national university affiliated hospital, Hot Shot (2008), a sports comedy drama, Starlit (2009), a story of star crossed lovers which won the “Best Overseas Drama” at the Sky Perfect TV Award. In 2010, he starred in a China-Taiwan collaboration series Down with Love.
He continued his career making various television series like My Splendid Life, Ripples of Desire, Loving, Never Forgetting, Our Times, My Best Ex-Boyfriend, Matchmaking Battle. His latest drama was with Shen Yue in the romantic comedy series Count Your Lucky Stars.
Vic Zhou
Vic was equally prolific in his projects after Meteor Garden Era. Just like Jerry, he allocated equal parts of his time putting out singles, movies, albums and series. Among the members of F4, he was the first one who released his solo album called Make A Wish in early January 2002, followed two years layer by another album called Remember, I Love You. In 2007, he then released his third album, I’m Not F4 which became part of Taiwan’s major music charts.
Although he appeared in multiple series after Meteor Garden such as Poor Prince, Love Storm and Mars, it was only in 2008 when he debuted in his first film project. The movie was called Linger together with the critically acclaimed actress, Li Bingbing.
He continued to star in films and series such as Love You 10,000 Years in 2010. This film has won him the “Most Popular with the Audience” Award at the 6th Osaka Asian Film Festival. In 2013, he won the Golden Bell Award for Best Actor for his portrayal in the television series Coming Home in 2012.
Vaness Wu
Vaness released his debut solo album, Body Will Sing in 2002. The album itself has been awarded among the top selling albums of the year. In 2004, he made his film debut in the movie Star Runner, an action romance film along with Korean superstar Kim Hyun-joo. For this film, he was nominated as the Best Newcomer in the Hong Kong Film Awards.
He also dabbled in ventures behind the camera. In 2010, he was the executive producer for the series Year of The Rain. He also has his own jewelry line called 3.V.O.7, where he functions as the director and the creator. He also serves as the creative director of the sports brand Reebok.
He, together with Anggun, David Foster and Melanie C became the judges of the Asia’s Got Talent in 2015.
Ken Chu
After Meteor Garden, Ken starred in the television series Sky of Love in 2003 and Tokyo Trial in 2006. Pursuing his singing career, it took him a few years before he released his solo debut album, On Ken’s Time in 2005. Aside from the books he released together with the other F4 members (such as F4@Tokyo, Comic Man – The First Anniversary of F4, Meteor in Barcelona, and F4 Music Party) he published his own cookbook called Delicious Relations which was also released in China and in Japan.
Capitalizing on his fanbase all over Asia, he staged his first solo concert 2007 [I-KEN] 1st Solo Concert in Japan in 2007 at the Tokyo International Forum Hall. This was followed the next year with 2008 [I-KEN] 2nd Solo Concert and 2008 KEN CHU CONCERT 2009 Freedom in 2009 where he performed in Tokyo and Osaka.
He also collaborated with Iza Calzado on the film “Batanes: Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan“ in 2007.
It’s very nostalgic to realize that it was almost 20 years ago. But looking at their careers and photos, they look like they’ve made good careers out of their Meteor Garden fame. As OG fans, we could only wish that they continue in making their fans all over the world happy with the projects they choose. Good luck to all four!
