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Outstanding Rockers in China
Cui Jian
Born in 1961, Cui Jian became smitten by Western rock and roll in his early 20s. He has vigorous creativity and passion, continuously attempting fresh styles. From punk, jazz, and African music to rap, all can be found in his songs, adding to the special Cui-style appeal and power.
In 2002, Cui Jian organized and played at the Snow Mountain Music Festival in Lijiang, Yunnan-dubbed the "Chinese Woodstock." The event has been the highest altitude music festival in the world.
In the last part of the year Cui Jian launched his "Anti-Lip Synching Movement" - a series of music seminars at universities and other venues throughout China aimed at raising public awareness about the insidious practice of lip synching pervading China's media.
Beyond
Hong Kong has no rock 'n' roll. Instead it has Beyond, some say.
It's no exaggeration to say rock group Beyond is the flagship of Hong Kong rock music. Despite being sung in Cantonese, their songs resonate with Chinese all over the world. Formed in Hong Kong in 1983, Beyond's progressive and fervent music has made them idols, especially among university students.
Their songs involve the themes of love, culture, humanity, society and politics. Their album, Glorious Days, dedicated to Nelson Mandela, opposes racial discrimination and calls for world peace. In 1993, the lead singer Wong Ka Kui fell off the stage in Japan on June 24 and died on June 30, beginning Beyond's downturn. With over 30 albums in Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese, Beyond and their songs have inspired and influenced a whole generation.
Panthers
Formed in 1987, the Panthers were once the highest-selling rock band in China.
It was the band's album No Place to Hide that really popularized rock music among Chinese youngsters. After the departure of its lead singer Dou Wei in 1992, the Panthers continued to make albums, but their influence began to fade.
Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty formed in 1988 and was named after one of the most glorious period, the Tang Dynasty (618-907), in ancient Chinese history. It was the first heavy metal band in China and its first record, Tang Dynasty sold two million copies in Asia, demonstrating the commercial potential of Chinese rock music.
Tang Dynasty is distinguished as being very Chinese, using Chinese bamboo flutes, gongs and the like in its orchestration, and composing lyrics with a unique old flavor.
'Solitary Poet' Zhang Chu
Zhang Chu was born in 1968 in Xi'an, capital of Northwestern China's Shaanxi Province. A university dropout and known as China's most solitary rocker with intense and deep feeling towards life and society, Zhang writes and composes most of his sentimental and bleak songs. His care for social issues and reality rather than personal feelings outshines other rockers of his time.
Dou Wei 'In Black Dreams'
Born in 1969, Dou Wei was once the lead singer of the Panthers. He left the band in 1992 at its peak. Before long, Dou hit a lonely road, and his new inspiration gradually materialized.
He released his album Black Dreams in 1994, which features shadowy music and aims to bring dreams to life by using special sound effects to give a hallucinatory effect.
Earliest Punk He Yong
He Yong is known as the pioneer of punk music in China. He signed with Rolling Stone's Magic Stone Company together with rockers Dou Wei and Zhang Chu. Known as "the Magic Stone Big Three," they represented the height of China's rock and roll in the 1990s.
But his music rushed too far too fast for fans whose ears were slow to follow. His career quickly went downhill beginning in 1996.
Xu Wei
Xu Wei, born in northwestern City of Xi'an in 1969, began to play guitar while he was still a high school student. Before his rise to fame, Xu was constantly short of money, but unflinchingly pursued his rock dream. His earliest songs are truthful expressions of the oppressive conditions he lived in, while music in the second stage demonstrates the contradictions in his mind and life. His style changed to a more peaceful and tranquil one in later albums.
(Source: ChinaCulture.org) | 
