Stefanie Sun, mainland China's most popular female artist

Singer-composer Stefanie Sun is better known in Mandarin-speaking areas as Sun Yanzi. This 28-year old Singapore-born star sings both English and Mandarin songs. In her seven-year career, she has recorded an astounding 13 albums and has earned numerous musical awards.

Sun Yanzi is the second of three sisters. She studied marketing at Nanyang Technological University and music at the famous Lee Wei Song music school. The Lee brothers, who run the school, produced Stefanie's debut album, Yan Zi, in 2000. The album was a multi-platinum, instantly catapulting Stefanie to music superstardom.

Just a few months later, Stefanie cut her second album. In December 2000, her album My Desired Happiness gave her an even broader fan-base. Her next album, Kite, released at the beginning of 2002, featured covers of famous songs like Venus and Hey, Jude.

In 2002 and 2003, Stefanie was given the honor of singing the theme song for Singapore's national day parade. The second song, "We Will Get There," is included in her fifth album, Leave.

In 2003, Stefanie felt that she had begun to lose her musical direction and took a year off from the music business. The break seemed to have done her good, as in the end of 2004, she released another album, with the same name as her debut album, to symbolize a new start. The album received critical acclaim. Tired of commercialization, Stefanie decided to put up her own music company, Make Music.

In the fall of 2006, Chinese media reported that Stefanie Sun was moving to another record label. Her contract with Warner Music had ended and she moved to EMI Records. The current head of EMI/Capitol Chen Zeshan had been involved in the making of eight of Stefanie's albums and he was in the process of changing record labels, too. Stefanie's good friend, Jolin Tsai, also belongs to EMI's roster of talents. Asked if competition was affecting their friendship, Stefanie would only say that positive competition is always welcome.

Last year, Stefanie Sun won, among other awards, the most popular female artist at the prestigious Global Chinese Music Awards. Her album, Perfect day, was awarded album of the year.

Stefanie's first album under the EMI label, Backlighting, went on sale on 22 March and has already sold quite well. The title single was released at the end of February and has been filling the Asian airwaves since.