# G.E.M.
**G.E.M.** (邓紫棋; born Gloria Tang, birth name 邓诗颖, in 1991, in Shanghai) is a Hong Kong-raised singer-songwriter, record producer, and writer who debuted at 16 in [Cantopop](https://www.edgepedia.org/cantopop). She is unusual among Cantopop singers in drawing a larger audience in mainland China than in Hong Kong.[1](https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/uk_study/2015/11/151116_iv_gem_deng) • [2](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3294962/how-gem-became-chinas-taylor-swift-hong-kong-singer-songwriters-story) • [3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1991, Shanghai; raised in Hong Kong; native name 邓紫棋, printed birth name 邓诗颖[1](https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/uk_study/2015/11/151116_iv_gem_deng) • [3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526) • [4](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%e9%82%93%e7%b4%ab%e6%a3%8b/6798196) |
| Stage name | G.E.M., originally an acronym for "get everybody moving"[2](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3294962/how-gem-became-chinas-taylor-swift-hong-kong-singer-songwriters-story) |
| Debut | Won the competition Spice It Up in 2006; first mini-album *G.E.M.* released 2008 with songs in Mandarin and Cantonese[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526) |
| Mainland breakthrough | Rose to pan-Chinese fame in 2014 on Hunan TV's singing competition *I Am a Singer*[2](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3294962/how-gem-became-chinas-taylor-swift-hong-kong-singer-songwriters-story) |
| I Am Gloria World Tour | Announced November 7, 2023, opened in Guangzhou in December 2023 (sources give December 7 or 9); by early 2025 it had grossed US$424 million from 86 shows and drawn over 3 million fans[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526) |
| Career structure | Left Hummingbird Music after a 2019 lawsuit (a contract signed at age 15); signed with Sony Music; released the re-recorded album *I Am Gloria* on June 12, 2025[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526) |
| Recognition | 2024 box-office champion among large-scale commercial concerts in China (Beacon data); Spotify's most-streamed Mandarin-language female artist[4](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%e9%82%93%e7%b4%ab%e6%a3%8b/6798196) |
## Early life and background
Her native name is printed as 邓紫棋; she is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter born in 1991 who debuted at 16 with strong record sales and numerous awards.[1](https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/uk_study/2015/11/151116_iv_gem_deng) She was born in 1991 in Shanghai and was raised in Hong Kong; her Mandarin-form birth name is 邓诗颖.[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526) • [4](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%e9%82%93%e7%b4%ab%e6%a3%8b/6798196) Published romanizations of her birth name differ: the *South China Morning Post* gives Gloria Tang Tze-kei, while Tatler Asia gives Gloria Tang Sze-wing (邓诗颖).[2](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3294962/how-gem-became-chinas-taylor-swift-hong-kong-singer-songwriters-story) • [5](https://www.tatlerasia.com/people/gloria-tang-gem)
She started writing songs at age five and won her first recording contract while still at school.[5](https://www.tatlerasia.com/people/gloria-tang-gem) The industry entry point was the singing competition Spice It Up, which she won in 2006, catching the attention of the label Hummingbird Music, which offered her a contract.[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526)
## Debut and Hong Kong years (2008–2013)
Her first mini-album, *G.E.M.* (2008), carried songs in both Mandarin and [Cantonese](https://www.edgepedia.org/cantonese), establishing the bilingual format that defined her early catalog.[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526) She recorded her debut studio album *18…* in Los Angeles in 2009, followed by *MySecret* in 2010 and *Xposed* in 2012, which included the chart-topping single "What Have U Done".[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526)
## Mainland breakthrough and I Am a Singer (2014–2018)
The turn came in 2014, when she appeared on the Hunan TV singing competition *I Am a Singer* and shot to fame in mainland China.[2](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3294962/how-gem-became-chinas-taylor-swift-hong-kong-singer-songwriters-story) Her X.X.X. world tour carried that new audience internationally: on November 22, 2015, she performed at [Wembley Arena](https://www.edgepedia.org/wembley-arena) in London as part of the G.E.M.X.X.X. Live tour.[1](https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/uk_study/2015/11/151116_iv_gem_deng) Baidu Baike records that the 2013–2015 X.X.X. tour covered 49 cities with 73 shows and nearly 800,000 attendees, with the Beijing Workers' Stadium finale livestreamed to 480,000 paying online viewers.[4](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%e9%82%93%e7%b4%ab%e6%a3%8b/6798196)
## Label change and independent era (2019–present)
In 2018 she released the Fairytale Trilogy EPs (*My Fairytale*, *Fearless*, *Queen G*), and her final [Hummingbird](https://www.edgepedia.org/hummingbird) album *Happily Ever After* followed in 2019. She then signed with [Sony Music](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-music) and released *City Zoo* and the 2021 singles "Parallel" (平行世界) and "Double You" (两个你 / 两个自己).[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526)
On June 12, 2025, she stated publicly that she had received no royalties since her 2019 lawsuit with Hummingbird Music, attributing the situation to a contract signed at age 15. The same day she released her first re-recorded album, *I Am Gloria*, which excludes songs from *Heartbeat* (2015) and *Happily Ever After* (2019).[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526) Baidu Baike lists 12 re-recorded older works on the album, including 《泡沫》 ("Bubble") and 《光年之外》 ("Light Years Away").[4](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%e9%82%93%e7%b4%ab%e6%a3%8b/6798196) Tatler compares this move directly with [Taylor Swift](https://www.edgepedia.org/taylor-swift)'s re-recording project after her own departure from a former label.[5](https://www.tatlerasia.com/people/gloria-tang-gem)
## Musical style and songwriting
G.E.M. writes and produces her own material, a trait that underlies the "China's Taylor Swift" framing she receives in profiles; both artists are known for writing their own songs, often about love and romance.[2](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3294962/how-gem-became-chinas-taylor-swift-hong-kong-singer-songwriters-story) Her repertoire has moved across languages: bilingual Cantonese and Mandarin releases from the start, and later Spanish, with her seventh album *Revelation* released in both Mandarin and Spanish, preceded by the singles "Gloria" and "Wallfacer".[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526) In a 2015 BBC interview she described a three-month songwriting study trip across 10 countries that fed her album 《新的心跳》 (*Heartbeat*), on which she experimented with styles including EDM.[1](https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/uk_study/2015/11/151116_iv_gem_deng)
She has spoken for the album as a format over the single. "Albums provide us with an opportunity to properly express ourselves through music," she told Billboard China, saying a three-to-four-minute single "is too short to carry any real weight". Of *Revelation*, a love-inspired album, she said she settled for 14 songs because otherwise she would have had enough material for two albums.[6](https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/gem-interview-billboard-china-cover-story-translated-english-revelation-1235155039/)
## Tours and live performance
The *I Am Gloria World Tour* was announced on November 7, 2023, and began in [Guangzhou](https://www.edgepedia.org/guangzhou) on December 9; by early 2025 it had drawn over 3 million fans and grossed US$424 million from 86 shows, the highest-grossing tour by a Chinese artist in 2024 and the fourth biggest by a female artist globally at that point.[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526) • [5](https://www.tatlerasia.com/people/gloria-tang-gem) Baidu Baike records 69 stadium-scale shows in Chinese cities in 2024, mobilizing nearly 3 million people, including over 235,000 in [Shanghai](https://www.edgepedia.org/shanghai) and four nights at Beijing's Bird's Nest National Stadium from August 22 to 25; it gives the tour launch date as December 7, 2023.[4](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%e9%82%93%e7%b4%ab%e6%a3%8b/6798196) The tour opening date therefore differs across sources: December 7 (Baidu Baike) versus a December 9 Guangzhou opening following a November 7 announcement (Deezer).[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526) • [4](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%e9%82%93%e7%b4%ab%e6%a3%8b/6798196)
On July 13, 2025, she performed the 105th show of the tour in Shenyang, taking the record for the female C-pop artist with the most concerts on a single tour; the final concert, in Nanning, was the 133rd show, with about 3 million attendees in total.[5](https://www.tatlerasia.com/people/gloria-tang-gem)
## By the numbers
- **US$424 million** tour gross as of March 2025, then the fourth highest-grossing tour of all time by a female artist, from about 3 million attendees.[5](https://www.tatlerasia.com/people/gloria-tang-gem)
- **86 shows** on the [I Am Gloria World Tour](https://www.edgepedia.org/i-am-gloria-world-tour) by early 2025, the highest-grossing tour by a Chinese artist in 2024.[3](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526)
- **69 stadium-scale shows** in Chinese cities in 2024, mobilizing nearly 3 million people, per Baidu Baike.[4](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%e9%82%93%e7%b4%ab%e6%a3%8b/6798196)
- **105th show** in Shenyang on July 13, 2025, a single-tour record for a female C-pop artist; the 133rd and final show closed the tour in Nanning.[5](https://www.tatlerasia.com/people/gloria-tang-gem)
- **X.X.X. tour**: 49 cities, 73 shows, nearly 800,000 attendees (2013–2015), per Baidu Baike only.[4](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%e9%82%93%e7%b4%ab%e6%a3%8b/6798196)
## Market positioning: Hong Kong, mainland, and international audiences
Profiles identify G.E.M. as a rare Cantopop singer who is more popular in mainland China than in Hong Kong, a position cemented by the 2014 *I Am a Singer* appearance rather than by the Hong Kong market where she debuted.[2](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3294962/how-gem-became-chinas-taylor-swift-hong-kong-singer-songwriters-story) Internationally, her November 22, 2015 Wembley Arena show marked the final stop of the G.E.M.X.X.X. Live world tour.[1](https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/uk_study/2015/11/151116_iv_gem_deng) Baidu Baike notes she retained Spotify's title of most-streamed Mandarin-language female artist globally and, per Beacon (灯塔) professional data, became 2024's box-office champion among large-scale commercial concerts in China.[4](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%e9%82%93%e7%b4%ab%e6%a3%8b/6798196)
## References
1. [專訪香港歌手鄧紫棋：音樂是唯一語言, BBC News 中文 (2015)](https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/uk_study/2015/11/151116_iv_gem_deng)
2. [How G.E.M. became 'China's Taylor Swift', South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3294962/how-gem-became-chinas-taylor-swift-hong-kong-singer-songwriters-story)
3. [G.E.M.: albums, songs, concerts, Deezer artist biography](https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/450526)
4. [邓紫棋, Baidu Baike](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%e9%82%93%e7%b4%ab%e6%a3%8b/6798196)
5. [Gloria Tang (Gem), Tatler Asia](https://www.tatlerasia.com/people/gloria-tang-gem)
6. [G.E.M. Interview for Billboard China Cover Story: English Translation, Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/gem-interview-billboard-china-cover-story-translated-english-revelation-1235155039/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › East and Southeast Asian pop scenes › C-pop: Mandopop, Cantopop, and the Chinese-language popular music scene › Artists, groups, and people: C-pop: Mandopop, Cantopop, and the Chinese-language popular music scene › Cantopop artists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license