Rocker Wang ready for new national tour

According to Xue Liping, CEO of Compass Culture Co, which has been running Wang's concerts for four years, ticket sales for the upcoming Beijing concert have totaled more than 10 million yuan ($1.47 million).

In 2014, the singer-songwriter became the first in China to broadcast his concert at the National Stadium online.

According to the Chinese video and movie streaming site LeTV.com, which exclusively streamed the concert, more than 75,000 users watched Wang's performance online within two days, each paying 30 yuan.

Gong Yu, founder and CEO of China's online video giant iQiyi, announced that his company will stream Wang's two concerts this year - the Beijing concert in September and the Xiamen concert on Dec 16.

Gong also says that a documentary, which was made by a team from the United Kingdom and centered on Wang's national tour in 2014, will also be broadcast on iQiyi.

Besides music, the documentary also captures Wang's private life, including interactions with his actress wife, Zhang Ziyi.

"I didn't want to expose my family life to the public but my team encouraged me to add this part because it's my real life, which inspires my music," says Wang.

He and Zhang celebrated the birth of a daughter in 2015.

It's Wang's third marriage and Zhang's first. Wang adds that his wife, who is known for her roles in The Road Home and the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, will come to his concert in Beijing.

In 2013, Wang became one of the four judges of the popular singing competition TV show Voice of China. He won't return for the upcoming season, however, to make time for the national tour, the new album and his family.

The Beijing native was introduced to music by his musician father, who put him through violin lessons at 5.

Although he didn't like the instrument at first, he studied and graduated from the Central Conservatory of Beijing.

At 17, he started to listen to songs by Michael Jackson, the Beatles, and Chinese rocker Cui Jian. In 1994, he formed a rock band, No 43 Baojia Street, along with his classical music-majoring friends, and moved on to a solo career in 2000.

"I am touched to find that people listen to my songs over and over again and they explore my music as they experience their own lives over years," he says.

"I am progressing and my music tells stories that can be shared by people of different ages. I can still do rock 'n' roll when I am 60."