F4 is back—but where’s Ken Chu, and who’s Ashin?
The year 2026 is proving to be a big year for fans of F4, the four-member Taiwanese boy band whose popularity exploded in the early 2000s. This year marks the 25th anniversary of “Meteor Garden,” the hit Taiwanese television drama that launched the careers of members Jerry Yan, Vic Chou, Vanness Wu, and Ken Chu.
Making the year extra special for their fans, F4 announced that they will be going on tour. Called “FForever 1st World Tour,” the tour will head to different cities in Asia, including Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, and, of course, Manila.
The news that F4 was finally reuniting was met with thousands of comments, likes, and heart reacts on social media, reflecting the joy of fans who have waited for decades. Filipino fans, in particular, haven’t seen the boys together since their last visit in 2003.
But all the excitement and joy quickly turned into confusion and even disappointment. While Jerry, Vic, and Vanness have all been advertised for the tour, Ken is noticeably absent. Instead, in his place is a performer many people aren’t familiar with: Ashin.
But who’s Ashin? And also what happened to Ken?
From manga to television to real life
Jerry, Vic, Vanness, and Ken shot to stardom thanks to “Meteor Garden,” a Taiwanese drama series based on the manga “Hana Yori Dango” (“Boys Over Flowers”).
In this drama series, Jerry, Vic, Vanness, and Ken took on the roles of the members of F4, a group of rich but arrogant students who had control over the student population in their school. The status quo is broken when Shan Cai, played by the late Barbie Hsu, stands up against Dao Ming Si, played by Jerry. Hsu died last year due to pneumonia.
The series became an instant pop culture phenomenon, catapulting Barbie and the F4 boys into fame. What started as a fictional quartet of handsome boys became a reality when Jerry, Vic, Vanness, and Ken formed a boy group still carrying the F4 name. As F4 the boy group, they went on to amass a large following of loyal fans made up mostly of young girls.
F4 went on to release three studio albums, namely “Meteor Rain,” “Fantasy 4Ever,” and “Waiting for You.” The first two albums, in particular, became hits in the Philippines, with fans singing along to songs like “Can’t Lose You,” “Meteor Rain,” “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and more despite not understanding any of the lyrics, as they were in Chinese.
Myx, the music channel of ABS-CBN, even aired a special edition of their show, “Myx International Top 20,” that did a rundown of the best F4 songs. Vendors in markets sold song hits books with F4 on the cover containing the lyrics to help fans memorize. Even school notebooks sold in stores and Pepsi ads had F4 on them. That’s how popular they were.
Sadly, their time as a group ended in 2009 when they decided to disband. Still, the members went on to have individual careers. Jerry and Vic, in particular, have become very popular as actors. Vanness continued his career as a performer, while Ken has focused on online content creation.
The reunion tour fans waited for
After the disbandment, it took four years before the F4 boys appeared together again onstage, where they performed at Jiangsu TV’s Spring Festival Gala in China. They hinted at touring in the country, but despite the fervent hopes of fans, nothing really came out of it.
Public interactions between the members have been few and far between since then, including Jerry and Vanness’ appearance at Ken’s 2016 wedding to Han Wenwen. Any chatter about an F4 reunion happening eventually died down.
Then 2025 happened. Much to the shock of fans, F4 reunited once again for the first time in 12 years, performing as a guest of Taiwanese rock band Mayday’s “5525 Back to That Day Tour” in Taipei on July 12, 2025.
The frontman of Mayday is Chen Hsin-hung—better known as Ashin—who revealed that it took two years to get all four members to reunite for that performance.
It didn’t take long for fans to clamor once again for a reunion concert or tour, and this time, F4 did not disappoint. F4 launched a concert tour last December in Shanghai—but something was not quite right. Why was Ashin part of the tour instead of Ken?
What happened to Ken Chu?
Ken’s absence sparked numerous speculations on social media. On Reddit, users debated on the issue as many talked about Ken’s alleged attitude problems. One even commented that Ken and Jerry did not get along at one point. Meanwhile, others speculated that Ken’s removal was due to his tendency to reveal details about the tour that was meant to be kept under wraps. This, according to speculations, led to the producers to remove him altogether.
It didn’t take long before Ken addressed his absence online, claiming that he only knew about his removal from the tour through online reports. Sharing a video to his Instagram page, Ken said that he has no existing contract with recording company B’in Music, who is behind the project.
He also addressed the comments he made about details of the tour. “What I shared online with everyone a while ago was also me discussing the intentions we have been discussing from several months ago after I formally rejected their three demands,” he says in the video.
Ken went on to confirm that he will not be participating in the tour and expressed his hopes that all four members of F4 could reunite one day.
“Well, I also hope there will be a day when the intentions of all four of us can be consistent,” he adds. “Then we can truly bring everyone a great event. I hope everyone still looks forward to it, because I’m quite looking forward to it, too.”
But is Ashin replacing Ken?
With Ken officially out of the reunion tour, many fans were left wondering if this meant that Ashin was meant to be a replacement for him. To address the conclusion and speculation, Ashin himself took to social media to clarify his role.
In a post published on his verified Facebook page, Ashin said that “I’m not a member of F4, but just like you, I’m a huge fan of F4.”
“In 2025, I invited F4 to join Mayday’s concert as special guests, marking their legendary return to the stage,” he continued. “Now, in 2026, at the invitation of Jerry, Vic, and Vanness, we are embarking on a brand-new journey titled: ‘FForever.’”
Ashin expressed his commitment to showing a memorable performance, saying that “To honor this privilege, I will pour in all the passion and persistence I’ve gathered from 25 years of non-stop performing and touring.”
Why the upcoming F4 tour still matters
While many fans are disappointed that not all F4 members are participating in the tour, this has not diminished the excitement for a tour that has been more than two decades in the making. Concert organizers have yet to reveal a date and a venue, but fans say they are already preparing their hearts—and their wallets—for it.
Those aiming to watch the concert are doing so for different reasons. Nostalgia is a strong factor that drives the excitement. It’s not a stretch to say that “Meteor Garden” defined a generation of Filipinos.
There are also those who were either too young or were not even born yet when “Meteor Garden” first aired. And if you really think about it, “Meteor Garden” and F4 never really went away. From reruns and remakes to TikTok parodies, new generations are constantly introduced to the enduring love story depicted in the show.
And while there have been other versions of F4, there is bound to be curiosity about the OGs the titas are now raving about.
Whatever the reason fans may have for wanting to watch the concert, there will surely be long lines and long waiting times once ticket sales begin. And when that joyful day of the F4 concert finally arrives, thousands of fans, regardless of age, will happily sing “Oh baby, baby, baby, my baby, baby” and the rest of F4’s songs at the top of their lungs. Even if they still don’t understand anything, they’re singing.
