Mao Amin (Chinese: 毛阿敏; pinyin: Máo Āmǐn; born 1962)[1] is a Chinese singer known by the "honorific title" of Dajieda ("Big Sister"), "was one of China's most famous and senior female pop stars" by "the mid-1990s."[2] In 2001, she was one of 36 Chinese athletes and entertainers who were depicted on a series of postage stamps issued "in support of Beijing's bid for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games."[3]
Mao Amin | |
|---|---|
毛阿敏 | |
| Born | 1962 (age 61–62) Shanghai |
| Nationality | Chinese (Hong Kong) |
| Occupation | Singer |
Musical background in the mid-1980s
editMao along with fellow singer Liu Huan, "both household names among Chinese around the world," were "disciples" of "renowned vocal educator" Deng Zaijun.[4]
Popularity in the late 1980s
editWhile Nimrod Baranovitch writes that Mao became famous because of her "powerful and uninhibited" voice,[5] All China Women's Federation contends that she "became famous after winning third place in the Yugoslavian International Musical Eisteddfod with Green Leaf and the Root. It was the highest honor a Chinese pop singer had ever been given in an international competition. But Mao became even more well known by singing in the Spring Festival Gala."[6] Moreover, her performance in 1988 for the Chinese New Year TV Celebration "made both song and singer extremely popular in Mainland China."[1] By the late 1980s, Mao "earned two thousand yuan for a single performance as China's biggest pop star..."[7] The New Straits Times described her as "China's most popular singer," who "retains a nationalistic flavour in her songs," and "China's top pop singer for the past four years" before 1990.[8]
Legal troubles in 1989
editIn 1989, "Mao, China's biggest pop star, was caught lying to the Beijing Evening News about under-the-table payments for performances in Harbin. In the ensuing scandal, she was fined 34,000 yuan and forced to pay 15,000 yuan in back taxes."[9]
Transformation in 1990s
editFollowing her legal troubles, Mao underwent a transformation towards seemingly feminist music, such as her 1994 single "Real Woman" off of her self-titled album. These mid-1990s efforts received criticism as lacking the spirit and power of her 1980s work.[2]
Filmography
edit- Love on the Cloud (2014)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Zu-yan Chen, Robert Daly, and Hong Zhang, Chinese Through Song (2001), 1994.
- ^ a b Nimrod Baranovitch, China's new voices: popular music, ethnicity, gender, and politics, 1978–1997 (2003), 146
- ^ "Chinese Stars to Be on Stamps to Support Olympic Bid," People's Daily (4 June 2001).
- ^ Lin Shujuan, "SWEET NEW SINGER Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine," China Daily (22 July 2005): 6.
- ^ Nimrod Baranovitch, China's new voices: popular music, ethnicity, gender, and politics, 1978–1997 (2003), 145
- ^ 10 Epoch-making Women Singers in China over the Past Three Decades[permanent dead link]," All-China Women's Federation (14 November 2008).
- ^ Richard Curt Kraus, The party and the arty in China: the new politics of culture (2004), 195.
- ^ ST, "China's Best Artistes," New Straits Times (8 February 1990): 10.
- ^ Deborah Davis, Urban spaces in contemporary China: the potential for autonomy and community (1995), 186.