10 fun facts about EXO's Lay Zhang

If you didn't know, Lay Zhang is one of four Chinese members of Exo. Also known by his Mandarin name Zhang Yixing, he participated in Star Academy in 2005 and placed third. Since then, he became a local child star within Hunan and went on to appear in multiple variety shows.

South Korean boy band Exo debuted with 12 members in 2012 with the single Mama. In the following year, the group's first studio album XOXO sold over a million copies and marked the beginning of their meteoric growth that spanned millions of sales and numerous awards. The group also hit a stumbling block as three Chinese members - Luhan, Kris and Tao - all departed the group after filing lawsuits to terminate their contracts. Lay Zhang, however, stayed with the boy band.

He has since gone solo

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In 2016, Lay Zhang made his debut as a solo artist with the song what U need?. That was quickly followed by the extended play Lose Control released in the same year. Lose Control did so well that he became the first Chinese artist to enter the iTunes top 60. Other solo works include Lay 02 Sheep (2017), Producer (2021) and West (2022).

In 2020, Lay Zhang founded his own entertainment company Chromosome Entertainment Group. Two years later, he announced his departure from SM Entertainment and has been flying solo ever since.

Outside of music, Lay Zhang has also made inroads into the field of acting by starring in movies and television shows in China. Works include Kung Fu Yoga (2017), The Island (2018), The Golden Eyes (2019) and No More Bets (2023).

Lay Zhang has been a fixture on Chinese variety shows too. He started with Star Chef in 2014 and then went on other programs ranging from Idol Producer (2018) and Rave Now (2018) to Street Dance of China (2020-2021) and Back to Field (2021-2022).

In September 2015, Lay Zhang published his autobiography Standing Firm. The book commemorated his 24th birthday and delved into the 24 best moments of his life. The book went on to sell 68,537 copies in the first 24 minutes of presales and broke multiple online book sales records in China. You can read the fan-translated version here.

With fame that spans globally, it shouldn't be a surprise that Lay Zhang has been tapped as an ambassador for many brands. Not only is he one of the faces of Swiss watchmaker Hublot, but he also fronts other notable labels such as Valentino, Bang & Olufsen, Mac Cosmetics and Chaumet. He was also the first Chinese ambassador for Calvin Klein Jeans and Underwear in 2019. It was reported in 2022 that Lay Zhang had over 20 global active endorsements at that point in time.

Because of geopolitical conflicts, Lay Zhang had chosen to stand on the side of his country China whenever these disputes arose. As a result, he ended his contract with Samsung Electronics back in 2019 over issues regarding the One China policy. Two years later in 2021, Lay Zhang terminated his contract with Calvin Klein and Converse after controversies arose that led to the Chinese government calling for a boycott of Western brands.

He is afraid of birds

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In an episode of the Chinese variety show Go Fighting!, Lay Zhang revealed that he has a fear of pigeons, chickens, ducks and fish. In case you found that weird, he added that he doesn't like animals with sharp mouths or beaks and likely has ornithophobia or a fear of birds. You can watch the clip from the show above where they attempt to help him overcome his fear resulting in many funny moments.

Remember the 2017 film Kung Fu Yoga? Well, the action-adventure comedy film starred Jackie Chan and Lay Zhang. On the experience, Lay Zhang said, "I couldn’t even dream of making a mistake when I was filming with Jackie Chan." He added that the veteran actor helped co-actors and made the set a warmer environment. But besides that, it was reported that Jackie Chan taught Lay Zhang the practical skill of driving.

 

If you've never been to one, Madame Tussauds is a museum chain that honours famous celebs and icons with life-sized wax figurines of them. And because of his immense fame, Lay Zhang has become the "first post-90s artiste to have his likeness displayed at three locations." The first two is in the Beijing and Shanghai locations while the third was unveiled in 2019 in Hong Kong.