Lay

Korean: 레이

Hometown:

Changsha, Hunan

Country:

China

Full name:

Zhang Yixing

Native name:

張藝興

Birthday:

October 7, 1991

Age:

29 years old

Blood type:

Height:

5'10" (177 cm)

Weight:

132.3 lbs (60 kg)

Group (2012-2021):

EXO

Introduction to Lay

"We are one! Hello, I'm Lay!

Zhang Yixing (张艺兴), known professionally as Lay Zhang or simply Lay, is a Chinese singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor. He is best known as a member of the boy group EXO and its Chinese sub-unit EXO-M under SM Entertainment.

Born in China on October 7, 1991, Lay became a child actor at the age 6. Growing up, he continued appearing on several Chinese shows and even competing in television shows. However, in 2008 Lay auditioned for SM Entertainment's global casting audition in China. Lay had his biggest break when he eventually debuted as a member of EXO in 2012.

In April 2015, Zhang established a personal agency for his solo activities, serving as an exclusive management and record label.

In September 2015, he released his autobiography, "Standing Firm at 24", which broke several online book records.

In July 2016, Zhang was appointed by the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) of Changsha as a publicity ambassador, the first celebrity to hold such a title.

On October 28, 2016, Zhang released his first EP "Lose Control" in South Korea and China. The EP was a commercial success, peaking at number one on the Gaon Album Chart as well as number four on Billboard's US World Albums chart, and made him the first Chinese artist to enter the iTunes Top 60.

In 2016, market research company Kantar and Chinese business magazine CBN Weekly launched the CelebrityZ Top 100 Most Valuable Celebrities list, where Zhang came in at the 23rd spot.

In September 2017, Zhang came in at the 20th spot on the 2017 Forbes China Celebrity 100 with estimated earnings of 120 million yuan. He came in the 11th spot in 2019.

SM Entertainment:

April 8, 2012 - present

Debut:

April 8, 2012

Active years:

2012-2021

Zodiac-sign:

Libra

Language(s):

Chinese, Korean, English

Training period:

2008-2012

Education:

Hunan Normal University High School

Kpopping rank:

235th

0 awards

12 pics

100 videos

19 albums

1.6K viewed

158 added

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Fun Facts about Lay

As an ambassador of high-end fashion brand Valentino, Lay has attended multiple fashion shows and events in Asia and Europe, as well as at the annual Met Gala.

In 2019, Lay was announced as Calvin Klein's first Chinese global spokesperson for Calvin Klein's underwear and jeans lines.

On September 18, 2014, the limited edition of Lay's autobiography "Standing Firm At 24" was published, while the standard edition became available on October 7. The book documents important events throughout his life and broke several online sales records

Lay speaks Chinese, Korean, and English.

On September 25, 2017, he released the music video for "I Need U", a pre-release track from his album "LAY 02 SHEEP". The music video ranked number one on Billboard's China Weibo Live Chart.

In 2019, Lay terminated his contract with Samsung as its ambassador for less than a year, after the brand violated the One-China policy.

Lay released his first mini-album ‘Lose Control’ on October 28, 2016, and all the songs were written and composed by him.

"The Assembly Call", the intro song for his 2018 album "NAMANANA", is an instrumental track which showcases different traditional Chinese sounds and music.

In January 2018, Lay starred in a public welfare movie called "I'm Beside You" in which he sang and composed the theme song.

Lay acted in the Chinese dramas “The Mystic Nine” (2016), “Operation Love” (2017), “The Golden Eyes” (2019), “Empress of the Ming” (2019), "The Island" (2018) and "To Be a Better Man" (2016).