30-second overview: Hebe Tien (born 1983, Hakka from Hsinchu) is one of the rare "voluntary step-back" figures in Mandopop history. In 2001, she and Jen Chia-hsuan (Selina) and Chen Chia-hua (Ella) formed S.H.E, selling over ten million records in a decade4. In 2010 she released her debut solo album To Hebe, with a poster reading "super newcomer after ten years"6. From "Devil's Angel" and "A Little Happiness" to the 2020 album Unknown, made with producer Chen Chien-chi, which won Best Mandarin Female Vocalist at the 32nd Golden Melody Awards13 — her sales records grew steadily stronger with each release. But in 2020 she turned down a Chinese variety show offer reportedly worth nearly NT$100 million25; in 2022 she posted a photo of pasta on Instagram16; in 2025 she held a concert tour at a salt flat and a paragliding field with no roof overhead19; in 2026 she told reporters: "It's not a barrier — it's that I simply don't want to step there."21 An idol cultivated by the industry, returning what the industry gave her — one piece at a time.
The Hakka Girl in the Bathroom, on the Golden Melody Stage Twenty Years Later
August 21, 2021, evening. Taipei Arena. The 32nd Golden Melody Awards ceremony.
Hebe Tien walked onstage to accept the Best Mandarin Female Vocalist award. She said to herself: "I'm someone who has climbed a hundred peaks, yet climbing these few stairs made my legs go weak." Then she turned to the camera and said:
✦ "The microphone is my tree hollow — it lets me sing the secrets that no one knows, the things that cannot be spoken, pouring them into songs, giving them release. In this difficult era I want to wish everyone well. Everyone has their own hardships. I hope each of you finds your own tree hollow, that your body and spirit find peace, and that all is well."14
Then she added a joke: "Mom, I didn't waste the water bill — I won a Golden Melody Award."15
Only those who knew her childhood would understand. Hebe Tien was born in 1983 into a Hakka family in Hsinchu, Taiwan1, and from a young age would hide in the bathroom to sing at full volume, with her mother knocking on the door outside: "Are you done yet?" Thirty-eight years later she stood on the Taipei Arena stage shouting to her mother "I didn't waste the water bill" — that joke compressed her whole life into a single sentence: a girl in a small Hakka town's bathroom, who ultimately became a star of Mandopop.
📝 Curator's note
The arc from bathroom to Golden Melody is dramatic enough on its own. But this article is about the choices she made after reaching that Golden Melody stage: turning down a Chinese variety show offer worth nearly NT$100 million25, declining Sisters Who Make Waves year after year21, moving a concert to an open-air salt flat19. Someone successfully shaped by the industry, turning around and returning what the industry had given her — one item at a time.
Ten Years In, and Her First Solo Album
In 2000, Hebe Tien took part in "Universe 2000 Super Girl Contest" in Hsinchu, organized by Universe Records, the predecessor of HIM International Music. In the final she sang Chen Chieh-yi's "Like You," forgot the lyrics midway, and lost first place2.
But she didn't lose. After the competition the label brought her together with Jen Chia-hsuan (Selina) and Chen Chia-hua (Ella) to form the trio S.H.E, which released its debut album Girl's Dormitory on September 11, 20013. Each member had a defined role: Selina = gentleness, Ella = courage, Hebe = confidence, represented by the color green. Over the next ten years S.H.E released 13 albums, selling a combined total of over ten million copies4. They were the defining girl group of Mandopop from 2001 to 2010.
📝 Curator's note
Female singers of Hebe's generation rarely got solo albums. She was one voice, one face, one color of S.H.E. Thirteen albums in ten years, breaking ten million sales — the label had no reason to let her go solo. The risk of a solo album was breaking apart this profitable three-part harmony.
In 2010, things changed. On October 22, Selina was severely burned while filming Spring Comes Again in Shanghai — 54% of her body, with nearly 80% being third-degree burns5. S.H.E's performance schedule ground to a halt.
That same autumn, on September 3, Hebe Tien released her first solo studio album, To Hebe, with the tagline "super newcomer after ten years"6. In mid-August the label released the lead single "Lonely Lonely, That's Fine" on YouTube — audio only, no face shown6.
The "voice first, face later" strategy was itself an act of dismantling "face" — that essential commodity of an S.H.E idol. She had been in the industry for ten years, but she was re-debuting as a singer, not an idol.
While all this was happening, on the other side of that autumn, Selina spent 89 days in the hospital. According to later accounts, Hebe visited so frequently that Selina's family "simply stopped keeping track of her visits"26. During part of Selina's recovery, her mental state became distorted — she "hated everyone around her" and even refused to see her father. It was a single sentence from Hebe that pulled her back:
✦ "There are no perfect parents in this world."26
The bond between the three women of S.H.E, forged in the fire of that year, became the quietest but most legible part of their public appearances over the next decade.
From "Devil's Angel" to _Unknown_: A Solo Decade
2011 was still lit by the embers of S.H.E's crisis. In September, Hebe Tien released her second solo album My Love, led by the single "Devil's Angel," composed by Chen Hsiao-hsia and lyricized by Yao Jo-lung7. This song became her first phenomenon-level solo work, and from it emerged a vocal identity — something between sweetness and cool detachment. On October 31, six months after Selina was discharged from the hospital, Selina married her lawyer boyfriend Chang Cheng-chung; Hebe and Ella served as bridesmaids and sang together22. What those three had gone through in 89 days of hospitalization was rarely spoken of explicitly in their subsequent public appearances together — but every reunion was understood.
Over the following years she released an album every two to three years, each one pushing that vocal identity a layer deeper inward. In November 2013, Insignificance drew its name from Polish poet Szymborska's Under One Small Star, and from this album Chen Chien-chi became her permanent producer8. In 2015 she contributed "A Little Happiness" to the film Our Times, and by August 2016 the MV had become the first Chinese-language single to exceed 100 million views on YouTube9. In July 2016, Everyday was released with hand-assembled packaging and special fluorescent ink; that year her If concert run sold out three consecutive nights at Taipei Arena, earning NT$82.5 million over three days10. Her commercial records grew stronger album by album.
In October 2018 something that looked like a business story was actually the moment she reclaimed her agency. Her contract with HIM International expired; she established her own company, Le Lai Le Hao Co., Ltd., to manage her affairs27. The same year, Chen Chien-chi founded HoHo Music (Pourquoi Pas Music) to handle production11. The dual structure — her personal company plus HoHo Music — took shape and has continued ever since.
That structure produced the 2020 album Unknown, which earned seven nominations at the 32nd Golden Melody Awards12. On August 21, 2021, the results came in: Hebe Tien won Best Mandarin Female Vocalist, Ko Ta-wei won Best Lyricist, and Chen Chien-chi — in his seventh nomination as producer — finally took home Best Album Producer13. Three awards from one album: the night the market officially recognized the phrase "Hebe style."
In interviews, Chen Chien-chi described the working philosophy he shares with Hebe:
"Can a flaw be a form of emotional expression? Can imperfection also be emotional expression? Clearly, she agrees."18
This is the innermost sentence of "Hebe style": no smoothing out, no polishing, leave room for breath, leave the roughness, leave the temperature of the moment. From Insignificance in 2013 onward, Chen Chien-chi has shaped, note by note, a vocalist's voice that permits itself to be imperfect.
Hebe herself responded to the subject of "flaws" more directly. In a BIOS monthly interview during her Yi Yi tour, when asked how she uses vocal imperfections, she said:
✦ "How do I use flaws? I don't need to use anything — I'm just fundamentally a person full of flaws."28
📝 Curator's note
The producer says "she agrees that flaws are emotional expression." The artist says "I'm just fundamentally a person full of flaws." These are the same thing, spoken from entirely different positions: Chen Chien-chi articulates the philosophy from the production side; Hebe catches it from the existential side. Outside observers see "Hebe style" as a product of the producer's vision; from her own perspective it needs no deployment — "I'm just this way."
In the same interview, Chen Chien-chi described how different he found Hebe from his initial impression: he had expected her to be cold and distant, but "her laugh is ridiculously boisterous, she says whatever she means"18. Her band leader A-Gun put it more plainly: "Hebe is deadpan on the outside, but volcanic on the inside. When she finds something hilarious, she's laughing her head off internally — but she doesn't show it right away. There's a step."18
These details make an interesting contrast with the "literary queen" label the market gave her: the label was market-assigned; the person herself laughs very loudly.
A NT$100 Million Multiple-Choice Question
In 2020, the Chinese variety show Chinese Idol: Our Songs approached her twice. According to media reports at the time, the offer was NT$8.5 million per episode, with a 12-episode contract totaling close to NT$102 million, plus private jet transportation25.
She declined.
That year many of her contemporaries went the opposite direction. In 2021, Rainie Yang appeared on the second season of Sisters Who Make Waves, debuting in a seven-member group and finding renewed visibility in the China market29. Jolin Tsai, in mid-2025, participated in the Chinese variety show Singing 2025 and appeared at multiple satellite channel New Year galas30. Their careers found a second arc in the China market — the most common script for Mandopop female singers of that generation.
Hebe Tien was not in that script.
📝 Curator's note
Her not going to China in 2020 was initially just a quiet, uncelebrated decision. What turned that decision into a public event was a photo of pasta two years later.
One Plate of Pasta, Two Million Fewer Followers
On August 2, 2022, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. That day, Hebe Tien posted an Instagram story with a photo of herself eating pasta, captioned:
✦ "No need to save face — woke up from my nap with a puffy face. A swollen-faced girl, still has to strike her best influencer-with-pasta pose for a comeback."16
Chinese netizens, referencing Pelosi's Italian-American heritage, interpreted the pasta photo as an endorsement of Pelosi and a declaration of support for Taiwan independence. Her songs were removed from Chinese music platforms, and her Weibo lost over two million followers16. Her 2010 song "Lido" was singled out for removal because of lyrics like "separated by a stretch of sea, leaving each other undisturbed" and "I feel this distance is just right" — interpreted as pro-independence sentiment31.
In April 2024, she was originally scheduled to headline the Tianjin Bubble Island Music Festival on May 2. Chinese netizens mobilized again. On April 27, under public pressure, the organizer announced her cancellation from the lineup. Her response: two words — "Very regrettable."17
After the pasta incident in 2022, she never apologized, never explained, never expressed regret. Two years later, in an interview, a reporter asked: "How have you been feeling lately? Would you want to have a drink or two?" She replied: "Are you talking about the earthquake? Whether things are busy or not, I've always liked having a drink or two."32 She didn't pick up the pasta thread — she deflected the question elsewhere.
⚠️ Gray area
"China's boycott" and "her own refusal to do variety shows" are two qualitatively different things: the former is a passive consequence, the latter is an active choice. But both happened to Hebe at overlapping times, making it easy to narrate them as a single tragic story: "She was forced out of the big stage." Her actual situation is closer to the reverse. Before the 2022 pasta incident, she was already an exceptionally rare Mandopop singer who took no endorsements, no variety shows, no interview circuit appearances; the refusal of that nearly NT$100 million offer in 2020 came first25. The closing of the China market accelerated and sealed a path she had already chosen — it was not what left her with no path.
Columnist Guan Ren-jian of New Talk described this trajectory as "not kneeling, not licking." Many contemporaries chose to film Chinese dramas, join variety shows, or sign with Chinese management companies. Hebe Tien did none of these17.
And 2022 was a year of multiple difficulties for her: beyond the pasta incident, her Yi Yi concert in Kaohsiung was also cancelled due to an earthquake and was only made up in 2025 at Weiwuying outdoor theater33.
Salt Fields, Brick Kiln, Paragliding Field: The 2025 _Field Survey_ Tour
From May to June 2025, Hebe Tien mounted the most un-"megastar"-like tour of her career: Field Survey Live in Life — Field Mini Tour19.
The tour's first stop was the Jingzijiao tile-disc salt field in Beimen, Tainan, with two shows on May 17–18. Director Liu Po-chun's design concept was to "preserve the sense of reflected extension from the salt fields and salt mountains, and the enveloping quality of sky and earth"34. For the song "Hanging Sun" at the moment of sunset, he deliberately pushed the start time back by ten minutes. The first day's sunset was initially blocked by clouds — then, midway through the chorus, the sun slowly emerged. Liu described that instant with one word: "Insane."34
She then sang at the paragliding thermal field at Cuiwan Bay in Wanli, New Taipei; and at Lianfu Brick Kiln in Hengchun, Pingtung — inside the kiln, she collaborated with the Kongshan Festival team "Fake Fire Atelier," with fire-lamp installations shooting out from the kiln mouth34. At Weiwuying outdoor theater in Kaohsiung, she made up for the Yi Yi concert cancelled by the earthquake in 202233.
The most dramatic scene came at Husiao Shanlan paragliding field in Puli, Nantou, at 600 meters above sea level. The director had planned for a paraglider to take off during the third song, "Utopia" — but that day the wind picked up suddenly, requiring the instructor to launch early. The paraglider drifted into the sky right during "What, Where." The crew at the control station "were completely moved, all shouting and cheering"34.
Five locations, ten shows, drawing over twenty thousand attendees19. Liu Po-chun described Hebe:
"Hebe is very real, very disciplined. During performances she's at ease and genuine, yet at the same time professionally accomplished — very few artists can do both at once. Looking this effortless requires extraordinary effort."34
📝 Curator's note
A singer who could sell out five consecutive nights at Taipei Arena took her tour to places with no air conditioning, no roof, no comfortable seating. What the salt field, brick kiln, and paragliding field share is "uncontrollability": weather, sunset, wind direction, terrain. She transformed the concert from "a fully controlled industrial product" into "a real-time event negotiated with the environment." This connects to Chen Chien-chi's observation that she treats flaws as emotional expression, and to her own words that she is "fundamentally a person full of flaws" — different surfaces of the same aesthetic.
"It's Not a Barrier — It's That I Don't _Want_ to Step There"
March 30, 2026 was Hebe Tien's 43rd birthday. All three S.H.E members appeared together on a livestream. On her birthday she announced that her sixth solo album had "successfully implanted" and would be released within the year (as reported by media)20.
Two weeks later, on April 14, 2026, at an endorsement event, she addressed for the first time why she keeps declining Sisters Who Make Waves 2026:
✦ "It's not a barrier — it's that I simply don't want to step there. I like feeling light and free, relaxed and comfortable."21
She was 43 when she said this. Many contemporaries had used the Sisters Who Make Waves stage to regain visibility in the China market, to revive their careers, to earn peak income in the latter half of their professional lives29. Her reason for declining was equally clear: she could take that step — she just "doesn't want to."
📝 Curator's note
At a 2024 concert she quipped: "I want to help dispel the stereotype that Hakka people are stingy — because Teacher Luo Wen-yu is so generous, and S.H.E also has another Hakka person, Ella, so today we can help clear that reputation: we are just a little more economical."23 Her Hakka identity is something she rarely emphasizes publicly but occasionally turns into self-deprecating humor. She never marketed "Hakka female singer" as a brand — but the identity surfaces occasionally in how she describes herself.
The Person Who Shed the Idol System
From S.H.E's Girl's Dormitory on September 11, 2001, to "I don't want to step there" on April 14, 2026 — twenty-five years have passed.
The Hakka girl who sang in a Hsinchu bathroom while her mother knocked on the door — the list of what she has shed over these twenty-five years is long. In 2017 she held eleven endorsements in a single year and was valued at over NT$100 million, the typical peak for female singers of her generation in the latter half of their careers; within a few years the China market closed on her, and nearly all those endorsements evaporated35. In 2020 a Chinese variety show offered NT$8.5 million per episode, NT$100 million for twelve episodes plus private jet — she didn't go25. Sisters Who Make Waves has invited her year after year — she didn't go21. In the sixteen years since going solo, she has taken no drama or film roles, except for the song "A Little Happiness" contributed to Our Times1. And even the option of filling Taipei Arena for five consecutive nights — she shed that too, trading it for a salt field without air conditioning, a brick kiln without a roof, a paragliding field at the mercy of the weather19.
But she did not withdraw from singing.
What she kept: the breathing-room voice shaped over more than a decade with Chen Chien-chi; the obsession with "the present moment" that moved the concert into a salt field and a brick kiln; and the ability she displayed on the Golden Melody stage when she called out to her mother "I didn't waste the water bill" — the ability to shrink herself back to small-town girl scale.
She once told Womany:
"Equanimity isn't calm detachment — people feel anger, disappointment, dejection, optimism, joy, turning joy into sorrow, or finding joy in suffering. I think equanimity is allowing all emotions and feelings to happen, not being indifferent to everything."24
Hebe Tien's twenty-five years of choices may be the clearest possible definition, by negation, of what a "star" is supposed to be. A star's job is to smooth out all emotions, fit every contradiction into a PR soundbite, seize every opportunity. She did the opposite: she allowed emotions, allowed refusals, allowed stepping back, allowed "not wanting to step there."
Will the sixth album come out this year? In 2025 she already sang on salt fields, sang in a brick kiln, sang at a paragliding field 600 meters above sea level. Where does she want to stand next? She hasn't answered that question — but her entire twenty-five years of choices is the answer: she wants to stand somewhere nobody else decided for her.
Further Reading
- Chen Chien-chi — Hebe Tien's permanent producer since 2013; Best Album Producer at the 32nd Golden Melody Awards
- Taiwan's New Idol Generation — Twenty years of the broken idol-group pipeline after S.H.E
- Huang Shao-yung — A producer who, alongside Chen Chien-chi, defines one of the two sonic boundaries of Mandopop in the past decade
References
Footnotes
- Hebe Tien — Wikipedia (zh-TW) — Born March 30, 1983, in a Hakka family in Hsinchu; no drama or film performance record after going solo. ↩
- Hebe Tien — Wikipedia (zh-TW) — Entered the "Universe 2000 Super Girl Contest" in 2000, lost first place in the final for forgetting lyrics to Chen Chieh-yi's "Like You." ↩
- Hebe Tien — Wikipedia (zh-TW) — After the contest, formed S.H.E with Jen Chia-hsuan (Selina) and Chen Chia-hua (Ella); debut album Girl's Dormitory released September 11, 2001. ↩
- Hebe Tien — Wikipedia (zh-TW) — S.H.E positioning: Selina = gentleness, Ella = courage, Hebe = confidence, represented by green; S.H.E released 13 albums total, selling over 10 million copies. ↩
- 10·22 Shanghai Selina Burn Incident — Baidu Baike — October 22, 2010: Selina severely burned filming an explosion scene in Shanghai; 54% of body, nearly 80% third-degree burns, mainly on back and limbs. ↩
- Hebe Tien To Hebe Album — Books.com.tw — Hebe Tien released debut solo studio album To Hebe on September 3, 2010, billed as "super newcomer after ten years"; lead single "Lonely Lonely, That's Fine" ranked 8th on KKBOX 2010 annual chart; YouTube official MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyFIzKYQQYE ↩
- "Devil's Angel" — KKBOX — September 2011, second solo album My Love, lead single "Devil's Angel" composed by Chen Hsiao-hsia, lyrics by Yao Jo-lung, arranged by Wang Chih-ping; YouTube official MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na_xv5iFt2Y ↩
- Insignificance Album — Baidu Baike — Third solo album Insignificance released November 29, 2013, named after Polish poet Szymborska's poetry collection Under One Small Star; Chen Chien-chi became regular producer from this album; YouTube official MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BClZoVLwZCE ↩
- Hebe Tien — Wikipedia (zh-TW) — Sang theme "A Little Happiness" for Our Times (2015); MV became first Chinese-language single to exceed 100 million YouTube views, as of August 2016; YouTube official MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sQSXwdtxlY ↩
- Everyday Album — Wikipedia (zh-TW) — Fourth solo album Everyday released July 13, 2016, hand-assembled packaging with special fluorescent ink; Taiwan sales approximately 70,000 copies, third among female artists in 2016; title track YouTube official MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dBFK2fHjWg ↩
- HoHo Music — Wikipedia (zh-TW) — Chen Chien-chi founded HoHo Music (Pourquoi Pas Music) in 2018 as music director; Unknown produced by Le Lai Le Hao (Hebe's personal company) and released by HoHo Music. ↩
- Unknown Album — Wikipedia (zh-TW) — Fifth solo album Unknown released September 25, 2020; received seven nominations at the 32nd Golden Melody Awards; title track YouTube official MV (directed by Bill Jukes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtH0BAbUalk ↩
- Hebe Tien wins Golden Melody Best Mandarin Female Vocalist — CNA, 2021-08-21 — August 21, 2021: Hebe Tien won Best Mandarin Female Vocalist at the 32nd Golden Melody Awards for Unknown; Chen Chien-chi, in his seventh nomination as producer, finally won; Ko Ta-wei won Best Lyricist for the same album. ↩
- Hebe Tien wins Golden Melody Best Mandarin Female Vocalist — CNA, 2021-08-21 — Hebe Tien's acceptance speech "tree hollow" passage, verbatim. ↩
- Hebe Tien wins Golden Melody Best Mandarin Female Vocalist — CNA, 2021-08-21 — Hebe Tien's acceptance speech line "Mom, I didn't waste the water bill — I won a Golden Melody Award," echoing her childhood of singing loudly in the bathroom while her mother urged her to hurry up. ↩
- Hebe Tien boycotted in China over pasta photo — Mirror Media, 2022-08-03 — August 2, 2022, during Pelosi's Taiwan visit: Hebe Tien posted a pasta photo on Instagram Story, verbatim caption; Chinese netizens interpreted it as endorsing Pelosi due to her Italian-American heritage; songs removed from Chinese music platforms, Weibo lost over 2 million followers. ↩
- Hebe Tien — "Not kneeling, not licking" — New Talk, Guan Ren-jian column, 2025-07-11 — April 2024: Hebe Tien scheduled to headline Tianjin Bubble Island Music Festival on May 2; Chinese netizens mobilized; organizer announced cancellation on April 27; Hebe responded "very regrettable." ↩
- Hebe Style — Chen Chien-chi × A-Gun in-depth interview — BIOS monthly — Chen Chien-chi on the core philosophy of producing Hebe Tien — "can a flaw be emotional expression" — verbatim, plus his description of the contrast: "her laugh is ridiculously boisterous"; band leader A-Gun: "deadpan on the outside but volcanic inside." ↩
- Field Survey Live in Life Mini Tour — The News Lens, 2025 — May–June 2025 Field Survey tour: five locations, ten shows — Jingzijiao tile-disc salt field (Tainan Beimen), Husiao Shanlan paragliding field (Puli, Nantou), Cuiwan Bay thermal paragliding field (Wanli, New Taipei), Weiwuying outdoor theater (Kaohsiung), Lianfu Brick Kiln (Hengchun, Pingtung); over 20,000 attendees. ↩
- Hebe Tien announces sixth album on her 43rd birthday — Bella.tw, 2026 — March 30, 2026, Hebe Tien's 43rd birthday: S.H.E livestreamed together, announcing sixth solo album had "successfully implanted" and would be released within the year (per media reports). ↩
- Hebe Tien responds to declining Sisters Who Make Waves 2026 — Epoch Times, 2026-04-15 — April 14, 2026: first public response to declining Sisters Who Make Waves 2026 — "It's not a barrier — it's that I simply don't want to step there. I like feeling light and free, relaxed and comfortable" — verbatim; has declined Sisters Who Make Waves series invitations multiple times. ↩
- Jen Chia-hsuan — Wikipedia (zh-TW) — October 31, 2011: Selina married lawyer Chang Cheng-chung; Hebe Tien and Ella served as bridesmaids and sang; S.H.E wedding version "Love You" YouTube MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPUc7w3G-WM ↩
- Hebe Tien dispels "Hakka people are stingy" label at H³ RIZZ UP concert — CNA, 2024-04-14 — April 13, 2024, H³ RIZZ UP concert: Hebe Tien's verbatim remarks helping "dispel the Hakka stinginess label," mentioning Ella is also Hakka. ↩
- Hebe Tien interview — Womany — Hebe Tien on "equanimity is allowing all emotions and feelings to happen, not being indifferent to everything" — verbatim. ↩
- Hebe Tien reportedly turned down NT$100 million offer — SETN — In 2020, Chinese variety show Chinese Idol: Our Songs approached Hebe Tien twice: NT$8.5 million per episode, over NT$100 million for 12 episodes, plus private jet (per media reports; HIM International did not confirm at the time); Hebe confirmed on 2026-04-14 that she had received multiple Chinese variety show invitations but they were "not my choice." ↩
- Selina tearfully reveals darkest side of burn recovery — ETtoday, 2014 — After the burn, Selina's mental state became distorted, "hating everyone around her," refusing even her father's visits; friend Hebe's words "there are no perfect parents in this world" helped her break through; later reports indicate Hebe visited frequently throughout Selina's 89-day hospitalization (via accounts from Selina's ex-husband Chang Cheng-chung's memoir). ↩
- Hebe Tien leaves HIM, goes independent — ETtoday, 2018-10 — October 2018: Hebe Tien's contract with HIM International expired without renewal; established Le Lai Le Hao Co., Ltd. to manage personal affairs; held eleven endorsements in 2017, valued at over NT$100 million. ↩
- Hebe Tien — Yi Yi Teshima Museum exclusive interview — BIOS monthly — Hebe Tien's verbatim response: "How do I use flaws? I don't need to use anything — I'm just fundamentally a person full of flaws"; discussing Teshima Art Museum as the conceptual starting point for the Yi Yi tour. ↩
- Sisters Who Make Waves Season 2 — Wikipedia (zh-TW) — 2021: Rainie Yang participated in Sisters Who Make Waves Season 2 and debuted in a seven-member group; Na Ying, Zhou Bichang, Joey Yung, and other contemporaries also found renewed China market visibility through the series. ↩
- Jolin Tsai at 2025 Chinese satellite channel New Year galas — NowNews — 2025: Jolin Tsai participated in Chinese variety show Singing 2025 (2025-07-25) and appeared at multiple satellite channel New Year galas. ↩
- "Lido" labeled pro-independence — Mirror Media, 2022-08-05 — Hebe Tien's 2010 song "Lido" targeted by Chinese netizens for independence-coded lyrics: "separated by a stretch of sea, leaving each other undisturbed" and "I feel this distance is just right"; became the most cited song on the removal list. ↩
- Hebe Tien deflects question about mood to earthquake — Ush! Star News, udn, 2024 — Two years after the pasta incident, Hebe Tien was asked "how have you been feeling lately? Would you want a drink or two?" and replied "Are you talking about the earthquake? Whether things are busy or not, I've always liked having a drink or two"; she has never apologized, explained, or expressed regret over the pasta incident. ↩
- Hebe Tien's 2022 Kaohsiung Yi Yi concert cancelled due to earthquake — Threads @ting.car_, 2025 — 2025 Field Survey Kaohsiung Weiwuying outdoor show: the significance of making up the Yi Yi concert that was cancelled by the earthquake in 2022. ↩
- Salt field, hanging sun, stars overhead — Liu Po-chun on the Field Survey Tour — Blow StreetVoice — Director Liu Po-chun (Good Show Lab) verbatim interview on the Field Survey tour: salt field design concept, Puli paraglider emergency early launch to "What, Where," delaying "Hanging Sun" start by 10 minutes, Fake Fire Atelier fire-lamp installation in the brick kiln, describing Hebe Tien as "very real, very disciplined." ↩
- Hebe Tien leaves HIM — ETtoday, 2018-10 — Background on Hebe Tien holding eleven endorsements and being valued at over NT$100 million in 2017. ↩