These 8 Icons Were Born in the Year of the Rabbit

Chinese New Year is upon us: January 22 marks the start of the Year of the Water Rabbit in the Chinese lunar calendar. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we present a list of eight celebrities born in the Year of the Rabbit.

1. Kendrick Lamar — June 17, 1987

Kendrick Lamar is a critically-acclaimed rapper and songwriter known for incorporating diverse styles into his music, including jazz, soul, and funk.

Lamar found fame with his 2012 album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. The album earned him four Grammy Awards nominations in 2014, including Album of the Year.

So far, Lamar has won 14 Grammys.

In 2018, he became the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize in the music category for his album Damn, marking a significant milestone for hip hop music.

2. Angelina Jolie — June 4, 1975

Angelina Jolie is a Hollywood A-list actress best known for her performances in blockbusters like Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). Her other notable works include Gia (1998), Changeling (2008), The Tourist (2010), and Maleficent (2014).

She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1999 film Girl, Interrupted.

Jolie is known for her charitable and humanitarian work when not on set. She began to work as a goodwill ambassador with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2001 and was promoted to a special envoy in 2012.

She has six children with her former husband, Brad Pitt, three of whom were adopted from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Ethiopia.

3. Elliot Page — February 21, 1987

Elliot Page is a Canadian actor, producer, and LGBTQ activist. Formerly known as Ellen, the actor came out as transgender in 2020. Then in March 2021, he became the first openly transgender man to appear on the cover of Time magazine.

The 35-year-old first gained attention with the 2005 film Hard Candy and earned an Oscar nomination for the 2007 film Juno. Page has also appeared in many other movies and TV shows, including X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and Tales of the City (2019).

4. Michael Jordan — February 17, 1963

Widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls through six NBA championships.

And as anyone who knows anything already knows: The NBA legend has also thrived off the court. In 1984, he signed a sneaker contract with Nike, which launched the Air Jordan sneaker line the same year, named after Jordan’s on-court moniker.

Many sneakerheads and collectors still consider the Air Jordan 1 “the most iconic sneaker of all time.”

5. Lionel Messi — June 24, 1987

Nobody can neglect football legend Linoel Messi when reflecting on 2022: the iconic Argentine athlete took the crown at his last World Cup in Qatar.

Dubbed the greatest player of all time, Messi has won the prestigious Ballon d’Or seven times — a record number of wins, as recognized by Guinness World Records. He is also the first footballer to receive the Laureus Award for Best Sportsman of the Year.

6. Liu Cixin — June 23, 1963

Dubbed China’s Arthur C. Clarke, Liu Cixin is arguably China’s most famous science fiction writer. He is a nine-time winner of China’s Galaxy Award, the first major science fiction award in China that started in 1986.

The first novel in Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, The Three-Body Problem, earned him the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and his novel Death’s End won the 2017 Locus Award.

Many of his sci-fi works have been adapted into comics, animated series, and blockbuster films, including The Wandering Earth (2019) and its upcoming prequel.

7. James Charles — May 23, 1999

James Charles is an internet personality, makeup artist, and mega beauty influencer who boasts 23.8 million subscribers on his self-titled YouTube channel.

Charles usually posts makeup tutorials, product reviews, reaction videos, and lifestyle vlogs. His channel has won numerous awards.

However, the 23-year-old YouTuber is a controversial figure. In 2021, he admitted to sending sexually explicit messages to two underage boys after being accused of grooming, although he denied knowing they were underage at the time.

8. James Hetfield — August 3, 1963

Unquestionably a god of American heavy metal, James Hetfield is the rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist for Metallica, a band he founded alongside Lars Ulrich in L.A. in 1981.

Metallica is among the most commercially successful bands of all time, having sold more than 125 million albums (as of 2018). The band has won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.

Outside of his music career, Hetfield is known for his love of customized cars and motorcycles and his passion for beekeeping.

Cover image via Weibo