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Umm Kulthum, born Fatimah Ibrahim as-Sayyid al-Biltagi, on December 30, and who died February 3, 1975, was an internationally famous Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress of the 1920s to the 1970s.<br/><br/> Four decades after her death in 1975, she is still widely regarded as perhaps the greatest Arabic singer ever.
Umm Kulthum, born Fatimah Ibrahim as-Sayyid al-Biltagi, on December 30, and who died February 3, 1975, was an internationally famous Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress of the 1920s to the 1970s.<br/><br/> Four decades after her death in 1975, she is still widely regarded as perhaps the greatest Arabic singer ever.
Asmahan was an Arab Druze singer and actress of Syrian origins who lived in Egypt. Having immigrated to Egypt in childhood, her family knew the composer Dawood Hosni, and she sang the compositions of Mohamed El Qasabgi and Zakariyya Ahmad. She also sang the compositions of Mohammed Abdel Wahab and her brother Farid al-Atrash, a then rising star musician in his own right.<br/><br/> Hers was the only female voice in Arab music to pose serious competition to that of Umm Kulthum, who is considered to be one of the Arab world's most distinguished singers of the 20th century. Her mysterious death in an automobile accident shocked the public. Journalists spread gossip about her turbulent personal life and an alleged espionage role in World War II.
Asmahan was an Arab Druze singer and actress of Syrian origins who lived in Egypt. Having immigrated to Egypt in childhood, her family knew the composer Dawood Hosni, and she sang the compositions of Mohamed El Qasabgi and Zakariyya Ahmad. She also sang the compositions of Mohammed Abdel Wahab and her brother Farid al-Atrash, a then rising star musician in his own right.<br/><br/> Hers was the only female voice in Arab music to pose serious competition to that of Umm Kulthum, who is considered to be one of the Arab world's most distinguished singers of the 20th century. Her mysterious death in an automobile accident shocked the public. Journalists spread gossip about her turbulent personal life and an alleged espionage role in World War II.
Asmahan was an Arab Druze singer and actress of Syrian origins who lived in Egypt. Having immigrated to Egypt in childhood, her family knew the composer Dawood Hosni, and she sang the compositions of Mohamed El Qasabgi and Zakariyya Ahmad. She also sang the compositions of Mohammed Abdel Wahab and her brother Farid al-Atrash, a then rising star musician in his own right.<br/><br/> Hers was the only female voice in Arab music to pose serious competition to that of Umm Kulthum, who is considered to be one of the Arab world's most distinguished singers of the 20th century. Her mysterious death in an automobile accident shocked the public. Journalists spread gossip about her turbulent personal life and an alleged espionage role in World War II.
Yao Lee (姚莉), also known as Yiu Lei and Miss Hue Lee, was a Chinese singer from the 1930s to the 1970s. By the 1940s, she became one of the seven great singing stars.<br/><br/> Born in Shanghai, Yao began performing with a radio appearance there in 1935 at the age of 13. She was signed to Pathe Records. Yao was known as 'the Silver Voice' (銀嗓子) alluding to fellow Shanghai singer Zhou Xuan, who was known as 'the Golden Voice' (金嗓子).<br/><br/> Following the Communist seizure of power in China in 1949, popular music was considered ideologically suspect and Yao fled to Hong Kong in 1950 to continue her singing career there. She stopped singing in 1967 with the death of her brother, but took an executive position with EMI Music Hong Kong in 1969.<br/><br/> In 1970, she returned to performing and traveled to Taiwan to perform there for the first time and sought unsuccessfully to sign Teresa Teng to EMI for the Hong Kong market. She retired officially in 1975.
Yao Lee (姚莉), also known as Yiu Lei and Miss Hue Lee, was a Chinese singer from the 1930s to the 1970s. By the 1940s, she became one of the seven great singing stars.<br/><br/> Born in Shanghai, Yao began performing with a radio appearance there in 1935 at the age of 13. She was signed to Pathe Records. Yao was known as 'the Silver Voice' (銀嗓子) alluding to fellow Shanghai singer Zhou Xuan, who was known as 'the Golden Voice' (金嗓子).<br/><br/> Following the Communist seizure of power in China in 1949, popular music was considered ideologically suspect and Yao fled to Hong Kong in 1950 to continue her singing career there. She stopped singing in 1967 with the death of her brother, but took an executive position with EMI Music Hong Kong in 1969.<br/><br/> In 1970, she returned to performing and traveled to Taiwan to perform there for the first time and sought unsuccessfully to sign Teresa Teng to EMI for the Hong Kong market. She retired officially in 1975.
Yu So Chow (Chinese: 于素秋; pinyin: Yú Sù Qiū; Yale Cantonese: yū sou chāu) is a Chinese actress born in Beijing on July 9, 1930 to a Peking opera family. She is the daughter of late Master Yu Jim Yuen who ran the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School in Hong Kong, and teacher of many well-known actors.<br/><br/> She started her acting career in 1948 and made over 240 films in the wuxia, kung fu, action, detective and Cantonese opera genres. Her films were successful at the box-office and she was one of the most popular superstars of the 1960s in Asia and Hong Kong.
Wu was born to an intellectual family with her father a chemical engineer and mother a doctor. She enjoyed singing to radio tunes at an early age. She originally wanted to go to the Shanghai Academy of Music, but her parents opposed the idea and claimed that the music industry was for individuals with no real ambition. She later began singing for radio stations at night, particularly for the children's programs.<br/><br/> Wu had a soft singing voice that made her a success. She continued to sing without her family knowing so and used the stage name 'Wu Yingyin'. In 1945 she became a nightclub singer and garnered acclaim for her performances. Most of her vocal techniques were self-taught. At the age of 24, she participated in a nightclub competition. Winning the crown, she was discovered and immediately signed to a contract with Pathé Records (China) record company. Her first record (我想忘了你 'I Want to Forget You) became a hit. In total, Pathé Records produced 30 albums for her. She was affectionately nicknamed 鼻音歌后 ('Queen of the Nasal Voice').<br/><br/> She relocated to Hong Kong in 1957 where she continued her singing career. She returned to China for recordings in 1983 in Guangzhou. In July 1984, she moved from Hong Kong to Pasadena, California. At the age of 80, she was still singing in overseas Chinese neighborhood community events for charitable causes. At the time, she was regarded as one of the world's oldest active singers.<br/><br/> She would also sing in Singapore, and on January 3, 2003 she was invited to perform at the Shanghai Grand Theatre. Wu died in Los Angeles on 17 December 2009.
Li was born Qian Zhenzhen in Beijing, 1915. Her father, Qian Zhuangfei, was an important figure among the early heroes of the Communist Party. In 1927 she moved to Shanghai, where her father encouraged her to join the China National Song & Dance Troupe, later renamed Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe. Li Jinhui, later known as the Father of Chinese popular music, was the conductor of the troupe and adopted her as his god-daughter, and she adopted his surname.<br/><br/> The troupe were very popular in 1920s Shanghai. Li Lili, Wang Renmei, Xue Lingxian and Hu Jia were known as the Four Divas. The troupe joined the Lianhua Film Company in 1931, and disbanded the troupe the next year. Li became an actress, and starred in Sun Yu's 1932 Loving Blood of the Volcano. Set in the South Seas with plenty of dancing, this allowed Li to play to her strengths. She and Wang Renmei then acted together in Poetry Written on the Banana Leaf.<br/><br/> After war with Japan broke out in 1937, she joined the China Film Studio in Chongqing. There she met and married Luo Jingyu, a section head, who became head of the studio. In 1939 she filmed Cai Chusheng's Orphan Island Paradise in Hong Kong; it was another hit. Back in Chongqing, she starred in another hit film Storm on the Border, for which she was highly praised.<br/><br/> Li travelled to the United States in 1946, studying acting at Catholic University in Washington, language and singing in New York, and make-up at the University of California. She also observed filmmaking at Hollywood. She returned to China, and to acting at the Beijing Film Studio. In 1955, she studied at Beijing Film Academy, and later taught in the acting department. Her son, Luo Dan, married the daughter of Marshal Ye Jianying; Ye became China's head of state in the late 1970s.<br/><br/> During the Cultural Revolution, Li and her husband were denounced and tortured on the orders of Mao's wife Jiang Qing. Li had acted with her, and outshone her, in films such as Blood on Wolf Mountain. Li later told her family that she refused to denounce anyone. Luo, however, was killed.<br/><br/> In 1991, she was given the 'Special Honour Award' by the Chinese Academy of Motion Picture Arts. By the end of her life, Li Lili was the last living Chinese movie star from the silent era. She died of a heart attack in Xuanwu Hospital, Beijing on August 7, 2005, aged 90.
At a young age Bai joined the Bright Moonlight Song and Dance Troupe, where she entered the Shanghai entertainment industry. She used the stage name (白虹), which translates as 'White Rainbow'.<br/><br/> By the 1930s, she was a popular icon, known for her mastery of language and clarity in expressing lyrics, which helped her gain many fans. In the 1930s, she was recognized as one of the three great 'mandopop' singers with Zhou Xuan and Gong Qiuxia.<br/><br/> Her career peaked in the 1940s, when her music style changed more to uptempo jazz. She was married to the composer Li Jin Guang(黎锦光), though they later separated in a divorce in the 1950s. She stayed in China after 1949 and continued making films. During the Cultural Revolution her past association with the old Shanghai days caught up to her, and she was subjected to persecution and abuse. In 1992, she died at the age of 73.
Zhou was born Su Pu (蘇璞), but was separated from her natural parents at a young age and raised by adoptive parents. She spent her entire life searching for her biological parents but her parentage was never established until after her death.<br/><br/> According to later family research, a relative who was an opium addict took her at the age of 3 to another city and sold her to a family named Wang, who named her Wang Xiaohong. She was later adopted by a family named Zhou, changing her name to Zhou Xiaohong.<br/><br/> At the age of 13 she took Zhou Xuan as her stage name, 'Xuan' (璇) meaning 'beautiful jade' in Chinese. Zhou started acting in 1935, but she achieved stardom in 1937 in Street Angel, when director Yuan Muzhi cast her as one of the leads as a singing girl.<br/><br/> 'Golden Voice' (金嗓子) was Zhou's nickname to commend her singing talents after a singing competition in Shanghai, where she came in second. Zhou rapidly became the most famous and marketable popular singer in the gramophone era up to her death, singing many famous tunes from her own movies. Her light but eminently musical voice captured the hearts of millions of Chinese of her time.<br/><br/> After introducing 'Shanghai Nights' (夜上海) in 1949, Zhou returned to Shanghai. She spent the next few years in and out of mental institutions owing to frequent breakdowns. Through the years, Zhou led a complicated and unhappy life marked by her failed marriages, illegitimate children, and suicide attempts. In 1957 she died in Shanghai in a mental asylum at the age of 39 during an Anti-Rightist Movement.
Zhou was born Su Pu (蘇璞), but was separated from her natural parents at a young age and raised by adoptive parents. She spent her entire life searching for her biological parents but her parentage was never established until after her death.<br/><br/> According to later family research, a relative who was an opium addict took her at the age of 3 to another city and sold her to a family named Wang, who named her Wang Xiaohong. She was later adopted by a family named Zhou, changing her name to Zhou Xiaohong.<br/><br/> At the age of 13 she took Zhou Xuan as her stage name, 'Xuan' (璇) meaning 'beautiful jade' in Chinese. Zhou started acting in 1935, but she achieved stardom in 1937 in Street Angel, when director Yuan Muzhi cast her as one of the leads as a singing girl.<br/><br/> 'Golden Voice' (金嗓子) was Zhou's nickname to commend her singing talents after a singing competition in Shanghai, where she came in second. Zhou rapidly became the most famous and marketable popular singer in the gramophone era up to her death, singing many famous tunes from her own movies. Her light but eminently musical voice captured the hearts of millions of Chinese of her time.<br/><br/> After introducing 'Shanghai Nights' (夜上海) in 1949, Zhou returned to Shanghai. She spent the next few years in and out of mental institutions owing to frequent breakdowns. Through the years, Zhou led a complicated and unhappy life marked by her failed marriages, illegitimate children, and suicide attempts. In 1957 she died in Shanghai in a mental asylum at the age of 39 during an Anti-Rightist Movement.
Bai Guang (birth name Chinese: 史永芬; pinyin: Shǐ Yǒngfēn; 1921, Beiping, now Beijing, China – August 27, 1999 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) was a famous movie star and singer. Her stage name was (白光), which means 'white light'. In an age and culture where light, higher voices were usually favored, she had a slightly deep and hoarse voice, which helped her become a big star in Shanghai. People called her the 'Queen of the Low Voice' (低音歌后).<br/><br/> Bai's big screen career started in 1943. She was known for playing seductive roles due to her flirtatious image on screen and has also played villains at times. She lent a more dramatic tone or sexy attitude to her songs. Some of her hits include 'Autumn Evening' (秋夜), 'Without You' (如果沒有你), 'The Pretender' (假正經), 'Revisiting Old Dreams' (魂縈舊夢), and 'Waiting For You' (等著你回來).<br/><br/> After the Communist takeover in 1949, Bai moved to Hong Kong. In 1969 she resettled in Malaysia. On August 27, 1999 she died in Kuala Lumpur at the age of 78.