Alien Huang (28 November 1983 – 15 September 2020), also known as Xiao Gui (Little Ghost), was a Taiwanese singer, actor, television presenter, illustrator and fashion designer.
He was a member of Japanese TV Asahi's disbanded boy band HC3 in 2002 and Taiwanese Rock Records' disbanded boy band Cosmo (丸子) in 2003. He went on to release five solo albums and acted in movies and television dramas. He was known as the host of popular Taiwanese variety entertainment show 100% Entertainment, which he left in early 2016.
Huang was the founder and designer of AES (Alien Evolution Studio), a clothing brand which he established in 2008. He also published three illustration books.
Alien Huang was born in Taipei. He grew up living with his father, younger sister and paternal grandmother. Although he lived separately from his mother due to his parents' early divorce, they still maintained a close relationship. Ever since primary school, his talent in arts and crafts had been evident as his grades were always within the top three for poster-designing projects. When he was in middle school, his father intended to train him to become a professional golf player.[1] However, due to his interest in performing, he decided to apply to HuaGang High School of Performing Arts, where he was accepted after achieving first place out of thousands of applicants. There, he met classmate Rainie Yang, and they dated for three years.[2][3] Their relationship ended when Rainie made her debut in the entertainment industry and dropped out of high school. He also put his hosting talents to use by serving as the MC of all major events held at school. In his spare time, he even worked in a fast-food restaurant.[4] He obtained a lifeguard licence at the age of 18,[5] and a swimming coach qualification when he was 20 years of age.
Huang chose his English name "Alien" because he hoped to be an indefinable and unique character, like aliens are, full of creativity and not confined to normality.[6] He previously also had various other English names, including "Janson"[7] when he was in high school and "Harry"[8] when he was in primary school.
While still in high school, Alien Huang was chosen to take part in a pre-casting training course for the film Blue Gate Crossing. Although in the end he did not participate in the film, it was during this time that he was discovered by his first manager, and he officially entered the entertainment industry at the age of 18.
In 2002, he began hosting a nature-discovery show for children named Follow Me, Go!. He then joined the Japanese-Taiwanese boy band HC3. They released their debut single "We Are Friends"《我們是朋友》, but disbanded not long afterwards.
In 2003, he became part of the boy band Cosmo, but due to a problem with the contract of one of the members, Richard（綠茶）, they disbanded after releasing their debut album《關東煮》.
In 2004, he played one of the main roles in the film Holiday Dreaming《夢遊夏威夷》.
In 2005, he started hosting various entertainment shows, and in 2006 he officially became a fixed host of the show 100% Entertainment《娛樂百分百》.
In 2007, he released a duet, "The Melody of Love"《愛的主旋律》, with co-artist Genie Chuo. He also released his first book《搞什麼鬼?!》the same year.
In 2008, he starred in the drama series Mysterious Incredible Terminator《霹靂MIT》 as one of the main roles, 747黃輝宏. He also released his first single "Fooling Around"《鬼混》 along with his second book《鬼怒穿》that year.
In July 2009, he released his first mini album Disdain《不屑》 and in December of the same year he released his first full album titled Love & Hero《愛&英雄》.
In 2010, he released another single, "Heart Amulet"《御守之心》, along with his third book,《赤鬼流》.
In 2011, he took on leading roles in the drama series Love You《醉後決定愛上你》 and "Lin Bei"《珍愛林北》, as well as the Singaporean film Already Famous《一泡而紅》. In August, he released the single "Transformers Cuz of You"《金剛變形》. In December, he released his second full album Break Heart, Black Heart《黑心傷品》.
In 2012, he starred in Taiwanese film Din Tao: Leader of the Parade《陣頭》, which earned a box office of NTD 315 million, as well as the highly rated Singaporean drama series Joys of Life. He also starred as the lead role in the Taiwanese television drama Sweet Sweet Bodyguard《剩女保鏢》, which gained high local popularity. His debut Asia concert tour G·host Tour 2012 also took place towards the end of the year, starting in Taiwan on his birthday (28 November) and continuing to Hong Kong and Singapore.
In 2013, he released his third full album, Make Sense《超有感》. He also held concerts in Taipei and Shanghai in the latter part of the year. He won “Most Popular Male Artiste” at the 2013 Singapore Hit Awards, as well as “MeRadio Top Downloaded Hit Award (Male Artist), for which the winning female artist for the same award was Singapore singer songwriter Serene Koong (龚芝怡).[9] He also won two awards at the 2014 HITO Radio Music Awards,[10] namely "hito网路首播人气” and “hito舞台演绎”.
In 2016, as his focus in the entertainment industry shifted to musical and acting careers, Alien left 100% Entertainment, the only show he was hosting at the time.
In 2018, he returned to hosting when joined Jacky Wu as hosts of Mr. Player. In 2019, he joined Shiny Zhang as hosts for I'm the Best In Taiwanese, an educational program about teaching Taiwanese to the public. At the time of his death, the show finished airing its second season, totaling 26 episodes.
At 11:27 a.m. on 16 September 2020, the police received a call from Huang's father, who reported that Huang was unresponsive.[11] Huang was discovered lying between the bedroom and bathroom in his Beitou District apartment,[12][13][14] with external injuries to the head.[15][16] The paramedics who arrived at the scene pronounced Huang dead, with the body reported to already be at the stage of rigor mortis.[15] The preliminary results of an autopsy suggested that Huang had cardiovascular disease.[17] The autopsy concluded that Huang died of aortic dissection, but found no history of cardiovascular disease and no external injuries.[18][19]
At the time of his death, Huang had been dating Wu Han-chun, a member of the cheerleading team The Passion Sisters,[20] for a year and a half.[21] Their relationship had been rumored, but was not confirmed until Wu made an Instagram post acknowledging Huang's death.[22][23]
Acting in music videos of songs by other artists: