Known as Flower Four in Taiwan, F4 is a boy group that was first introduced through the hit drama series Meteor Garden, which aired locally on ABS-CBN in 2003. Jerry Yan, Vanness Wu, Ken Chu, and Vic Chou weren’t a band before the drama but shortly after the success of Meteor Garden, they became one of the biggest acts the Philippines had ever seen in the early aughts.
Off the momentum of the show, F4 released three albums such as Meteor Rain in 2001, Fantasy 4ever in 2002, and Waiting for You in 2007. Their sound was dramatic, syrupy, and sharp in its hooks. They filled arenas and topped charts across Asia. In the Philippines, their presence was impossible to ignore: billboards in Quezon City, bootleg posters in the basements of Uniwide and Ever Gotesco. Their presence also includes Pepsi ads, school notebooks, and wallet-size photos. Every inch of pop culture had their faces on it.
The group’s most well-known ballads like “Can’t Lose You” and “Meteor Rain” played from tricycles, karaoke joints, pirated CDs, and cell phone ringtones. Their look sported long hair, soft features, coordinated outfits, and they all hit differently. Before P-pop had its moment, F4 had already laid down the model. The four-piece didn’t follow the K-pop formula. They beat it to the punch.
Each member filled a role in F4. There was the heartthrob, the rebel, the smooth talker, and the quiet one. Those specific roles balanced the show and the dynamic between the group, and it worked. Their fans picked favorites long before “bias” was a term. F4’s songs found permanent spots on radio countdowns and prom playlists. Even local rap battles dropped their name for punchlines in leagues like FlipTop.
The band changed its name to JVKV in 2007 after a copyright issue. Two years later, they disbanded. The group never had a formal goodbye with each member moving on to their solo endeavours. Jerry Yan kept acting, starring in Count Your Lucky Stars in 2020 with Shen Yue, the lead in the 2018 Meteor Garden remake. Vanness Wu stayed visible in the limelight. He performed with Karen Mok just last May. Ken Chu is set to begin a solo concert tour in July. Vic Chou leads the second season of The World Between Us, which drops this June. Then the news dropped from an official local news source in Taiwan that a full reunion is planned for 2026.
F4 changed how boy bands were seen in the Philippines. The four members cracked the surface and left a mark that never really faded. Some fans outgrew the posters. But their influence is still in the way new pop groups are built and presented in live performances.
The music was never groundbreaking in terms of boyband standards. But it worked. The emotions hit. The visuals stuck. The timing was perfect.
