Preorders for 4th Zhang Yixing album exceed 1.5m copies

Pop singer-songwriter Zhang Yixing's fourth album Lit, which began welcoming preorders on May 29, sold over 1.5 million copies within eight minutes on major music streaming platforms under Tencent Music Entertainment Group, including QQ Music, Kugou and Kuwo.

With six songs, the new album consists of two chapters, representing a combination of traditional Chinese and Western styles of music. The musical instruments used for the songs are a fusion of old and new. Zhang has demonstrated his ability to sing and rap, and also to interpret his songs in different languages, such as Chinese and English.

Also known by his stage name, Lay, Zhang, who was born in Changsha, Hunan province, listened to a diverse range of musical genres since he was young. He gave his debut on-screen performance at age 6, appearing in the TV drama, We the People. The self-taught singer-songwriter later took part in a number of TV music talent shows before launching his musical career in 2008 after winning a global casting audition for the South Korean entertainment company, SM Entertainment. He rose to fame as a member of the K-pop boy band EXO in 2012.

Since 2015, he has shifted his focus to the Chinese market and has become a pop star with a career that has extended to film, TV dramas and reality shows, which has greatly widened his fan base. His Sina Weibo account has over 40 million followers.