Joker Xue

Xue Zhiqian (Chinese: 薛之谦; pinyin: Xuē Zhīqiān, born July 17, 1983), also known professionally as Joker Xue, is a Chinese singer, songwriter, producer, and businessman. Known for his distinctive ballads, "Xue Style Love Songs" (薛式情歌/薛氏情歌), and emotive live performances, he is recognized as a leading figure in Chinese popular music and one of the most-known artists in the Chinese-speaking world. Xue signed with Shang Teng Entertainment in 2005 after appearing on the reality competition My Style, My show (我型我秀). His debut album, Jacky (2006), featured the hit song "Serious Snow" and won him the Best New Artist title at eight Chinese music award ceremonies. Despite achieving success with How Are You? (2007) and Deeply Loved You (2008), his career stagnated due to lack of financial support from Shang Teng Entertainment, forcing him to launch several businesses to fund his next album Several Of... (2012). In 2015, Xue gained significant popularity on Weibo, marking the start of his career resurgence. His album, Beginner (2016), produced the immensely popular song "Actor". He continued to experience critical acclaim and commercial success with the release of The Crossing (2017) and Freak (2018), Dust (2019), and Extraterrestrial (2020). In 2020, Xue established his own label and production company, Chaoshi Music, releasing Countless (2022) and The Guardian (2024). Chaoshi Music produces Xue's tours as well as tours for other artists and music festivals. In 2023, Xue set a new precedent for concert refund policy when he offered to refund or exchange the tickets and fully reimburse non-local concertgoers' travel and lodging expenses. His action has since spurred other artists to provide similar compensations for concert cancellations. Though initially known for his distinctive emotional ballads, Xue has shifted his songwriting focus to address societal issues, such as cyberbullying and marine pollution, and incorporated electronica and rap elements into his music. Since his debut, he has embarked on four concert tours, including the Extraterrestrial World Tour (2021-2025), one of the most-attended concert tours of all-time with more 5 million tickets sold. In 2025, NetEase Cloud Music named Xue as the most-streamed artist in the platform's history.