She is a prominent figure in Hong Kong music and popular culture and was once frequently referred to in the media as a "grass-roots diva"[1] and "goddess".

Tse's main claim to fame was her 2008 song, "Wedding Invitation Street" (囍帖街), which was widely successful and swept many prestigious year-end music awards.

[5] Tse attended Valtorta College, a state-funded Catholic high-school in Tai Po and obtained 21 points in her Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination.

On 23 December 2005, the album received a special re-release edition titled Kay One Plus, with a new bonus track called "Follow Me" (跟我走).

In addition, the album contains two non-Cantonese songs: The One and Only, an English cover of the second single; and "Plastic Rose" (塑膠玫瑰), the mandarin version of "Beauties".

[6] Shortly after signing with Cinepoly Records, Tse held a press conference on 26 November 2007 to announce that she had been three months pregnant, with plans to take a maternity leave after a farewell concert and a new album.

Following the birth of her son and almost a year's hiatus from music, Tse released a new songs and greatest hits compilation, 3/8, in December 2007.

The compilation's three new songs, "3/8", "Zhong Wu Yan" (鍾無艷) and "The Retired Life of Wonder Woman" (神奇女俠的退休生活) were all released as singles, with the latter two reaching number 1 on various charts.

Both "17 Degrees" and "Wedding Invitation Street" were released on the album Binary in July, to overwhelming critical and commercial success.

The former was released on 19 March, which spawned two hit singles "Zhu Ying Tai" (祝英台) and "Song of the Year" (年度之歌), further establishing her popularity.

She announced her first stadium concert, Kay Tse Yelling Live 2009 in support of the album, which was held at the Hong Kong Coliseum in May.

In fall 2009, HMV Hong Kong announced that Yelling was the 9th biggest selling album of the year, which sold in excess of 15,000 copies, rivalling long established female acts such as Joey Yung and Miriam Yeung.

On 23 August 2010, Tse held a press conference to announce her contract renewal with Cinepoly, reportedly a seven-figure deal spanning 5 years.

In the period between 2009 and 2010, Tse had faced some major setbacks in the Hong Kong market, not least including the HKRIA controversy which had caused her an important platform to promote herself, leading to a decline in popularity.

In 2012, Tse performed as a principal cast member in Loving the Silent Tears, a Broadway-style musical production at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, USA.

The musical is based on a poetry collection, Silent Tears by Supreme Master Ching Hai, a Vietnamese-born spiritual leader and entrepreneur.

She briefly signed with Herman Ho's record company, Stars Shine International before it closed, releasing the Cantonese single, "The Best of Time" (最好的時刻).

The song and the official MV on Chinese mainstream online music players and video websites were soon deleted respectively on the second day since its release.

Tse's first single in 2018 was the Cantonese version of the theme song to the Bollywood film Secret Superstar, released in Hong Kong on 12 April 2018.

In January 2022, local media reported that ten Canto-pop singers and groups had been put on a blacklist of government-funded broadcaster RTHK, with radio DJs having been ordered not to play their songs.