Kris Phillips is a Taiwanese American pop icon and musical singer who was one of the biggest popular music acts in China during the 1980s. Born to an American father (diplomat) and a Chinese mother (writer) from Beijing, Fei Xiang spent his childhood in Taipei. He was the younger maternal half-brother of Anya Phillips. Fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese, he graduated from Taipei American School and entered Stanford University in 1978. After moving to New York and attending the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, he returned to Taiwan in 1981 to pursue an acting career. He made 3 movies in Taiwan in the early 1980s, but at the same time, his singing career took off in a much bigger way. Kris made 13 records in Asia from 1981 to 1989, and every one of them was a best seller. In 1987, because of his American citizenship, he became the first performer from Taiwan to perform in mainland China's New Year's Eve variety show. It was an overnight success, and Kris dominated China's pop music for the next 3 years. He made 5 records in China between 1987 and 1989. Kris moved to New York in 1990 and was in the original Broadway cast of Miss Saigon. He also appeared in a few other Broadway musicals and plays between 1990 and 1995, but none of them was particularly successful. In 1995, he joined Andrew Lloyd Webber's touring company, costarring Sarah Brightman, in Webber's The Music of Night concert. The concert started in New York's Radio City Music Hall and then toured 43 cities in the US. The same concert was moved to Beijing in September 2001, with Elaine Paige replacing Brightman. It was the first time Broadway musical being introduced to mainland China. Kris Phillips also made a big comeback as a recording artist in Asia in 2000. He made two records in 2000 and 2002. He still is one of the highest-paid stars in Asia today. Although he works extensively in Asia, Kris keeps an apartment in New York and considers himself a New Yorker.

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