Song Zuying

Song Zuying
宋祖英
Song Zuying singing Dragon Boat Melody (龙船调) in Miao costume at the East Meets West concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London in June 2012.
Born (1966-08-13) August 13, 1966 (age 60)
Guzhang County, Hunan, China
EducationChina Conservatory of Music
OccupationSinger
Years active1988-present
Political party
Chinese Communist Party
SpouseLuo Hao
RelativesSong Jialing (sister)

Song Zuying (Chinese: 宋祖英; pinyin: Sòng Zǔyīng; born August 13, 1966) is a Chinese classical/folk singer. In 2006, she received a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Crossover Album for Song Zu Ying: The Diva Goes To The Movies at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.

Early life

Song Zuying was born in August 1966 into a farming family in Guzhang County, in the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hunan. Her father died of a lung disease when she was 12. She is of Miao ethnicity. In 1981, without formal training, she joined the Guzhang County opera troupe, and in 1984, she moved to the Xiangxi Prefecture Song and Dance Troupe. In 1985, she entered the music and dance department of the Central University for Nationalities (now Minzu University of China), and after winning a national young singers' competition in 1988, she began studying with the vocal teacher Jin Tielin. She later took a master's degree at the China Conservatory of Music, and from 2009, she studied there under Jin for China's first doctorate in ethnic folk singing, which she completed in 2012.

Career

National fame and the navy

Song first appeared on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 1990, singing "Little Back Basket", and she performed at the gala every year for 24 years, until 2013. Her other well-known gala songs include "Spicy Girl" and "Good Days",[citation needed] and in 2009, she and Jay Chou performed a duet of his song "Herbalist's Manual". In 1991, she joined the People's Liberation Army Navy Political Department Song and Dance Troupe as a soloist. She became its deputy head in 2005, and in August 2013, she was appointed its head, the first woman to hold the post. Her civilian cadre grade is equivalent to that of a major general.

International concerts and events

On 20 December 2002, Song gave a solo concert at the Sydney Opera House, the closing event of celebrations of the 30th anniversary of China–Australia relations, becoming the first Chinese or Asian singer to give a solo concert there. In November 2003, she gave a solo concert in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. After her concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington on 12 October 2006, Mayor Anthony A. Williams proclaimed the day "Song Zuying Day" in the District of Columbia, and in May 2007, the Kennedy Center's international committee awarded her its Gold Medal in the Arts.

Her 2005 album of Chinese film songs, Song Zu Ying: The Diva Goes to the Movies, was nominated for Best Classical Crossover Album at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. At the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, she sang the theme song "Flame of Love" with Plácido Domingo, and in 2010, she and Jackie Chan opened the opening ceremony of Expo 2010 in Shanghai. In February 2014, she performed at the New York Philharmonic's Lunar New Year concert at Lincoln Center, which kept her from that year's Spring Festival Gala. In 2016, Song performed for Chinese military personnel at Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands, a disputed territory in the South China Sea claimed by China and several other neighbouring countries. The performance, accompanied by approximately 50 naval entertainers, took place amid tensions over China's land reclamation and construction of military infrastructure on the reef.

Public life

Song was a member of the 11th and 12th National Committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In 2006, she set up an education foundation in Hunan to support poor students in her home region.

Personal life

Song met her husband, Luo Hao, a television director, at a singing competition in 1988, and they married in 1992. They have a son, born in 2005.

Investigation for corruption

In January 2018 it was reported that Song was under investigation for corruption as part of General Secretary Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign in connection to an alleged misuse of public funds in the financing of her personal musical concerts in 2002, 2003, and in 2006.[needs update]

In February 2018 Song's name was removed from the list of attendees of the CPPCC.

Discography

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Song Zu Ying | Artist". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  2. 1 2 3 Ning Shaou (19 May 2016). 宋祖英：5元钱改变她的人生 忘不了《小背篓》 [Song Zuying: Five Yuan That Changed Her Life, and the Song She Cannot Forget]. Changsha Evening News (in Chinese). Retrieved 19 October 2026 – via Hunan Online.
  3. 1 2 3 Yu Wei (2007). 宋祖英：甜甜的辣妹子 [Song Zuying: The Sweet "Spicy Girl"]. Dǎngshǐ zònghéng (in Chinese) (7): 41–45.
  4. ↑ 宋祖英攻读中国首个民族声乐博士 [Song Zuying Studies for China's First Doctorate in Ethnic Folk Singing]. Sina Entertainment (in Chinese). 9 April 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  5. ↑ 宋祖英张艺谋张曼玉 揭秘你不知道的明星博士 [Song Zuying, Zhang Yimou, Maggie Cheung: The Celebrity Doctorates You Didn't Know About]. Sina Hunan (in Chinese). 20 December 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  6. 1 2 宋祖英谈24年首次缺席春晚：与个唱时间有冲突 [Song Zuying on Missing the Spring Festival Gala for the First Time in 24 Years: It Clashed with Her Concert]. China News Service (in Chinese). 3 February 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  7. ↑ 宋祖英周杰伦首次走台配合默契 表演长达三分钟 [Song Zuying and Jay Chou Rehearse Together for the First Time]. China News Service (in Chinese). 24 January 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  8. ↑ 宋祖英升任海政文工团团长 [Song Zuying Promoted to Head of the Navy Political Department Song and Dance Troupe]. People's Daily Online (in Chinese). 13 August 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  9. ↑ 宋祖英任团长级别等同少将 生活无忧配备警卫 [As Troupe Head, Song Zuying Holds a Grade Equivalent to Major General]. China News Service (in Chinese). 15 August 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  10. ↑ 宋祖英要在悉尼开独唱音乐会 成为亚洲第一人 [Song Zuying to Give Solo Concert in Sydney, the First Asian Singer to Do So]. Sina Entertainment (in Chinese). 6 November 2002. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  11. ↑ 宋祖英歌声飞进维也纳金色大厅中征服听众 [Song Zuying's Voice Wins Over the Audience in Vienna's Golden Hall]. Sina Entertainment (in Chinese). 25 November 2003. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  12. ↑ 华盛顿哥伦比亚特区将10月12定为“宋祖英日” [District of Columbia Names 12 October "Song Zuying Day"]. Sina Entertainment (in Chinese). 14 October 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  13. ↑ 宋祖英容获美肯尼迪艺术金奖 [Song Zuying Receives the Kennedy Center Gold Medal in the Arts]. China Daily (in Chinese). 24 May 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  14. ↑ 宋祖英获格莱美提名 入围“最佳古典跨界专辑” [Song Zuying Receives Grammy Nomination for Best Classical Crossover Album]. China Daily (in Chinese). 9 December 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  15. ↑ "Song Zu Ying". Grammy.com. Recording Academy. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  16. ↑ 宋祖英银光闪闪亮相 与多明戈演绎《爱的火焰》 [Song Zuying Shines as She Sings "Flame of Love" with Domingo]. Sina (in Chinese). 24 August 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  17. ↑ 宋祖英成龙献唱《和谐欢歌》 揭开世博开幕式序幕 [Song Zuying and Jackie Chan Open the Expo Opening Ceremony with a Song]. Sina Finance (in Chinese). 30 April 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  18. ↑ 宋祖英新春在纽约放歌 坦诚回应缘何未上春晚 [Song Zuying Sings in New York for the New Year and Explains Why She Missed the Spring Festival Gala]. China News Service (in Chinese). 2 February 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  19. ↑ "Rocking the boat, Song Zuying style". South China Morning Post. 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
  20. ↑ 全国政协委员彭丽媛、宋祖英、张艺谋等职务曝光 [Posts of CPPCC Members Peng Liyuan, Song Zuying, Zhang Yimou and Others Revealed]. China News Service (in Chinese). 28 February 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  21. ↑ 政协明星委员出席 宋祖英面带微笑 [Celebrity CPPCC Members Attend; Song Zuying Smiles]. People's Daily Online (in Chinese). 5 March 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  22. ↑ 宋祖英回湘资助理县学子 向贫困生捐款65万 [Song Zuying Returns to Hunan to Fund Students, Donating 650,000 Yuan to Poor Students]. Sina Entertainment (in Chinese). 24 October 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  23. ↑ 宋祖英谈感情生活 爱人曾改变她一生 [Song Zuying Talks About Her Love Life: Her Husband Changed Her Life]. Phoenix New Media (in Chinese). 20 October 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  24. ↑ DeAeth, Duncan. "Chinese starlet Song Zuying, many others, under investigation for corruption by CCP". Taiwan News. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  25. ↑ Nakazawa, Katsuji. "Downfall of a diva mirrors Beijing's backstage politics". Nikkei. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  26. ↑ ""Epics Of Love" - An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poetry". Stockfisch Records. Retrieved 2020-06-13.