F4
Years active2001–2009 · 2025–present
WebsiteSony Music Taiwan
AliasJVKV
Backgroundgroup_or_band
OriginTaipei, Taiwan
GenreMandopop
LabelSony Music Taiwan (2001–2007)
Current membersJerry Yan
Vanness Wu
Vic Chou
Past membersKen Chu

F4 (Flower Four), later JVKV, is a Taiwanese boy group consisting of Jerry Yan, Vanness Wu, Ken Chu, and Vic Chou. The group was formed in 2001 after their fictional group of the same name in the Taiwanese drama Meteor Garden (2001) had propelled them to pan-Asian popularity. Together they have starred in the sequel Meteor Garden II (2002) and released three albums, Meteor Rain (2001), Fantasy 4ever (2002), and Waiting for You (2007). In 2007, due to copyright issues, the group changed its name to JVKV, using the first initials of its members' names in descending order by age.[1] The group disbanded in 2009, but has reunited several times for performances since then.[2]

In 2025, the group announced their reunion and embarked on a concert tour as a three-member group without Ken Chu, titled the F Forever City of Stars Tour, beginning in Shanghai, China in December.

History

2001: Meteor Garden and Formation

The group formed as a result of the success of a Taiwanese drama series, Meteor Garden. The series is an adaptation of the Japanese shōjo manga series Hana Yori Dango. Yan plays the lead role of Dao Ming Si, an extremely arrogant and rich college student who meets his match in the poor but proud girl, Shan Cai. Chou, Wu and Chu play his friends Hua Ze Lei, Mei Zuo, and Xi Men, respectively. In the series, the four men were identified as a group called "Flower Four" due to their dreamy appearances, often shortened as F4.

Meteor Garden was released in Taiwan in 2001 and propelled its leads to pan-Asian fame.[3] A sequel, Meteor Garden II, was released in 2002.

2001–2004: Meteor Rain and Fantasy 4ever

In 2001, F4 became a boy band and signed a record deal with Sony Music Taiwan. In the same year they released their debut album, Meteor Rain, and in the following year they released Fantasy 4ever. The album includes the Mandarin version of "Can't Help Falling in Love" that they recorded for the Asian version of Walt Disney's Lilo & Stitch soundtrack,[4] a Mandarin version of "Yo Te Amo" by Chayanne, and a Pepsi advertisement theme song "Ask For More".

From 2002 to 2003, F4 held the Fantasy Live World Tour spanning 19 shows across 12 cities, which attracted a total audience of 570,000 to 600,000 people.[5][6] In 2003, they embarked on an Asian tour to support Fantasy 4ever, and went on an unannounced hiatus in 2004 afterwards as the members began to focus on their solo careers.

2007–2009: Waiting for You and name change to JVKV

On April 29, 2007, Meteor Garden producer Angie Chai announced that the group would no longer be known as F4. The change in name stemmed from copyright-related issues. Japanese publisher Shueisha, who owns the copyright to Hana Yori Dango allowed the group to use F4 as its band name in 2001. However, as Japan had filmed and aired its own live action version of the manga, to avoid confusion over the name in different countries,[7][8] the Taiwanese group was renamed JVKV using the initials of each member, by the order of their birth dates from oldest to youngest.[1] However, the name JVKV has never gained recognition, nor has it replaced F4 in popular usage.

Three F4 members appeared in Wish To See You Again, starring Chou and Chu, while Wu made a few guest appearances in a few episodes. Due to scheduling conflicts, Yan did not star in the series; his part was played by Kingone Wang. Despite rumours of disbanding,[9] JVKV released their third album, Waiting For You, on December 28, 2007.[10] Their third album still bore the name F4, instead of JVKV. In 2008, F4 held a tour in Japan, making them the first foreign artists to host 7 consecutive concerts in the country, which attracted around 80,000 people.[11]

2010–present: Solo careers and reunions

F4 had performed twice together after their announcement of disbanding in 2009. In January 2013, the group was confirmed to perform at Jiangsu TV's Spring Festival Gala in China along with Harlem Yu.[12] The performance was taped in Beijing on January 30, 2013,[13][14] and was aired on February 10, 2013. During the show, they hinted that they were going to have a concert tour in China, which did not come to fruition. On October 30, 2020, at Jiangsu TV’s "1001 Night Festival" concert, Wu appeared live on stage, while his bandmates’ pre-recorded performances were projected via holograms, allowing them to share the stage with him during the broadcast.[15]

On July 12, 2025, the group reunited at the Mayday concert 5525 Back to That Day Tour in Taipei, Taiwan.[16] In December 2025, three F4 members, Yan, Chou, and Wu, launched a concert tour without Chu, beginning in Shanghai. The tour’s music producer and chief planner was Ashin of Mayday.[17]

Members

Current Line Up

Past Members

Tour Members

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, showing selected details, selected chart positions, and sales
TitleDetailsPeak chart positionsSales
TWN
[18]		JPN
[19]		SGP
[20]
Meteor Rain (流星雨)—101
Fantasy 4ever (煙火的季節)
  • Released: December 18, 2002 (TWN)
    July 20, 2005 (JPN)
  • Label: Sony Music Taiwan
  • Formats: CD, digital download, cassette
—173
Waiting for You (在這裡等你)
  • Released: December 28, 2007 (TWN)
    February 6, 2008 (JPN)
  • Label: Sony Music Taiwan
  • Formats: CD, digital download, streaming
217—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Compilation albums

TitleDetails
F4 Five Years Glorious Collection
Fabulous
  • Released: September 24, 2008 (JPN)
  • Label: Sony Music Japan
  • Formats: CD, digital download

Live albums

TitleDetails
Meteor Garden F4 Music Party
F4 Fantasy Live Concert World Tour in Hong Kong
  • Released: July 1, 2003
  • Label: Sony Music Taiwan
  • Formats: CD, digital download

Video albums

TitleDetails
F4 Five Years Glorious Collection
  • Released: December 18, 2006 (TWN)
  • Label: Sony Music Taiwan
  • Formats: CD, digital download
Precious
  • Released: September 24, 2008 (JPN)
  • Label: Sony Music Japan
  • Formats: CD, digital download
Precious II
  • Released: February 18, 2009 (JPN)
  • Label: Sony Music Japan
  • Formats: CD, digital download

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2001Meteor GardenYan as Dao Ming Si
Chou as Hua Ze Lei
Wu as Mei Zuo
Chu as Xi Men		Drama series
2001Meteor RainMini series
2002Meteor Garden IIDrama series
2002Come to My PlaceYan as Zhong Yi Ye
Chou as Zhong Yuan
Wu as JJ
Chu as Guang Tian Jian		Drama series

Concerts

Main article: List of F4 live performances

Headlining tours

  • Meteor Garden F4 Music Party (2001–2002)
  • Fantasy Live Concert World Tour (2002–2003)
  • F4 Japan Tour (2008)
  • F Forever City of Stars Tour (2025–2026)

Awards

YearAwardsCategoryNominationResultRef.
2002Hong Kong TVB8 AwardsBest Group (Gold)F4
IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales AwardsTop 10 Selling Mandarin Albums of the YearMeteor Rain[24]
2003Fantasy 4ever[25]
MTV Asia AwardsInspiration AwardF4[26]

References

  1. ^ (in Chinese) F4嫌新称呼JVKV绕口 合体宣传用回本名. May 2, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  2. ^ "言承旭吳建豪承認F4互相嫉妒 決定解散反而鬆一口氣" (in zh-TW). Sing Tao Canada 星島加拿大. 2022-02-09. Retrieved 2025-04-03.
  3. ^ "CNN.com – F4 Talkasia Transcript – Jun 16, 2006". CNN. CNN. June 16, 2006. Archived June 28, 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  4. ^ "F4主唱《星际宝贝》横袭好莱坞 F4 singers hit Hollywood in Lilo & Stitch" (in Chinese). NETandTV.com. June 26, 2002. Archived from the original on June 27, 2007. Retrieved December 15, 2007.
  5. ^ "F4傳出道25週年將合體開唱! 仔仔鬆口曝內幕" [F4 will reunite for concert on their 25th anniversary! Zai Zai reveals the inside story] (in zh-Hant-TW). Yahoo News. 2025-06-05. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
  6. ^ "F4要合体开演唱会了，青春回忆值多少钱？" [F4 is going to reunite for a concert. How much are the memories of youth worth?] (in Chinese). www.163.com. 2025-06-05. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  7. ^ Wang, Vivien (April 29, 2007). "Boy band changes name F4 into JVKV". China Daily. Archived June 2, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 31, 2007.
  8. ^ "Boys over Flowers Forces F4 Idol Band to Rename Itself". Anime News Network. May 14, 2007. Archived May 16, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  9. ^ "F4 to Formally Disband in October". CRI English. August 31, 2007. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved December 15, 2007.
  10. ^ ":: 新力博德曼音樂 [新聞] :: SONY BMG Music Entertainment (Taiwan) ::". www.sonymusic.com.tw. Archived May 29, 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
  11. ^ "F4、初の日本公演は「いままでと違う」" (in Japanese). Oricon News. 2015-03-04. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  12. ^ Belmonte, Maureen Marie (January 11, 2013). "'Meteor Gardens F4 To Reunite at China's Spring Festival". The Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  13. ^ "F4 arrives in beijing for spring festival gala". xinMSN. February 1, 2013. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  14. ^ "F4 performs in million dollar costumes". xinMSN. February 1, 2013. Archived from the original on July 1, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  15. ^ Merican, Sara. "Iconic Taiwanese Boyband F4 Makes An Unconventional Reunion". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-04-03.
  16. ^ "Meteor Garden's boy band F4 thrills fans with surprise reunion"
  17. ^ "“一秒售罄”背后的演唱会经济：F4与阿信合体，撬动消费热潮". m.yicai.com. Retrieved 2025-12-15.
  18. ^ "G-Music 風雲榜 (綜合榜)". www.g-music.com.tw. Archived from the original on January 5, 2008. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  19. ^ "F4のアルバム売上TOP3作品" [F4 ranking information] (in Japanese). Oricon News. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  20. ^ The RIAS album chart operated from December 2001 to June 2005. * "Meteor Garden". Archived from the original on 2001-12-29. Retrieved 2025-06-05. * "Fantasy 4ever". Archived from the original on 2003-02-06. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  21. ^ "F4的诱惑_三联生活周刊". old.lifeweek.com.cn. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
  22. ^ Benke, Benny (2003-01-11). ""Fantasy 4-ever" Benar-benar Fantastis" (in Indonesian). Suara Merdeka. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
  23. ^ "亚洲偶像团体F4当年到底有多红 创造的神话至今无人能及-明星-福州便民网" (in Chinese). www.fzbm.com. 2021-11-01. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  24. ^ IFPI Hong Kong 2002 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards winners list Archived July 2, 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved April 19, 2011
  25. ^ IFPI Hong Kong 2003 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards winners list Archived February 19, 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved April 19, 2011
  26. ^ "AVRIL LAVIGNE, LINKIN PARK WIN BIG AT MTV ASIA AWARDS", 2003-01-24, archived from the original on 2020-11-02, retrieved 2021-11-14 In other categories, Robbie Williams won Favorite Male Artist, Blue took Favorite Pop Act and F4 earned the Inspiration Award.