Lin was born in Singapore to a Hokkien family and studied at Jing Shan Primary School , Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Saint Andrew's Junior College before completing his National Service (NS). Lin's grandfather used to run a maritime transport business when Lin was young. Lin's father has a telecommunications-related business while his mother owns a family karaoke chain and has a background in Chinese classical music, hence influencing Lin's music. His brother, a manager in a European bank, was a major influence in his career choice.

In addition to Mandarin, Lin also sings in English, Hokkien and Cantonese using a romanized pronunciation system, and has released his songs in Cantonese. In Taiwan, he was awarded the Best New Artist award at the Golden Melody Awards.

After completing his NS, Lin signed with Ocean Butterflies International, which launched the then 22-year-old Lin's debut album in 2003. In 2011, Lin signed a new contract with the record label Warner Music Taiwan.

In Singapore, he was selected to perform the remixed version of "Home", the theme song of the National Day Parade in 2004. Lin has sold 1 million copies in less than a week and is extremely successful throughout Asia.In July 2007, he broke a Guinness record by signing 3,052 CDs in 2 hours and 30 minutes. During the signing, he was not allowed to drink or eat. The average time for him to sign a CD was 2.7 seconds.In May 2008, he performed at the CCTV charity event The Giving of Love, dedicated to helping victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Lin also donated a large sum of money to the rescue efforts and composed a song "Love and Hope" (Chinese: 愛與希望; pinyin: Ài Yǚ Xī Wàng) commemorating the tragedy.His own fashion line, SMUDGE, was opened in Singapore during 2008 Christmas with an unofficial launch. The store's official launch was on 13 March 2009...

Lin has appeared in various advertisements for brands such as Sprite, Dota 2, Beats and Cornetto Royale.
Heis also a tourist ambassador for Singapore.
On 14 August 2015, Lin was selected to be the advisor for Team Harlem Yu on The Voice of
China (season 4).
On 4 November 2016, Lin joined the variety show "Dream Voice" as one of the mentors
alongside A-mei Zhang, Jam Hsiao, Hebe Tian, and Yu Quan. He stayed on as a mentor for the
second season of the show, which was released in October 2017, and the third season, which
was released in October 2018.
In 2019, he took part in the Chinese food travelogue show Chef Nic.
On 24 February 2021, Lin performed a medley of songs ("A Whole New World", "Can You Feel
the Love Tonight", "Let It Go" and "Embark") to commemorate the official launch of the digital
streaming service Disney+ in Singapore, which launched a day earlier on the 23rd.

Lin has appeared in various advertisements for brands such as Sprite, Dota 2, Beats and
Cornetto Royale.
He is also a tourist ambassador for Singapore.
On 14 August 2015, Lin was selected to be the advisor for Team Harlem Yu on The Voice of
China (season 4).
On 4 November 2016, Lin joined the variety show "Dream Voice" as one of the mentors
alongside A-mei Zhang, Jam Hsiao, Hebe Tian, and Yu Quan. He stayed on as a mentor for the
second season of the show, which was released in October 2017, and the third season, which
was released in October 2018.
In 2019, he took part in the Chinese food travelogue show Chef Nic.
On 24 February 2021,Lin performed a medley of songs ("A Whole New World", "Can You Feel
the Love Tonight", "Let It Go" and "Embark") to commemorate the official launch of the
digital streaming service Disney+ in Singapore, which launched a day earlier on the 23rd.