A veteran of the Mandopop world, Singapore’s Stefanie Sun Yanzi made headlines in 2022 when she held a virtual concert on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, amassing a record 240 million viewers. This figure surpassed even that of pop prince Jay Chou, who commanded 100 million viewers, reaffirming her iconic status in the music business.

Despite her fame and success––or perhaps because of it––Sun fell victim to an AI voice clone in 2023, with her AI counterpart going viral on Chinese streaming site Bilibili. The surge in interest in Sun’s music––“AI Stefanie Sun” was briefly a trending topic on WeChat––was somewhat of an ironic twist of fate for Sun, whose last studio album was in 2017 and who has stayed out of the limelight since.

This latest incident does not detract from Sun’s remarkable achievements over the last two decades, which began in 2000. Her debut album Yan Zi, launched shortly after she graduated from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), established her as a rising star. Two other albums quickly followed over the next year, and by September 2001, her first three albums had collectively sold 1.5 million copies.

In her private life––emphasis on “private”––Sun is a mother of two who is known to shy away from revealing the faces of her children on social media. She is married to Nadim Van Der Ros, the founder of brand consultancy Be An Idea.