Yao Lee facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yao Lee
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Yao in the 1940s
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| Born |
Yáo Xiùyún (姚秀雲)
September 10, 1922 Shanghai, Republic of China
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| Died | July 19, 2019 (aged 96) |
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| Occupation | Singer | ||||||||||||
| Years active | 1930s–1970s | ||||||||||||
| Musical career | |||||||||||||
| Also known as | Silver Voice (銀嗓子) | ||||||||||||
| Genres | Mandopop, shidaiqu | ||||||||||||
| Labels | Pathé / EMI | ||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 姚莉 | ||||||||||||
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Yao Lee (Chinese: 姚莉; born September 10, 1922 – died July 19, 2019) was a very famous Chinese singer. She was active from the 1930s to the 1970s. People also knew her as Yao Li, Yiu Lei, or Hue Lee. Her brother, Yao Min, was also a well-known singer and songwriter. Yao Lee was one of the Seven Great Singing Stars of Shanghai in the 1940s.
Contents
Early Life and Career
Yao Lee was born Yáo Xiùyún in Shanghai. She started singing on the radio in 1935 when she was just 13 years old. At 14, she recorded her first song, "New Little Cowherd," with another singer named Yàn Húa.
In 1937, when she was 16, famous singers Zhou Xuan and Yan Hua helped her get a contract with Pathé Records. Her first song with them was "Yearning for Sale."
Life in Hong Kong
Yao Lee married Wong Po Lo in 1947 and took a break from singing to focus on her family. In 1950, she moved to Hong Kong due to political changes in China. She continued her singing career with Pathé Records (EMI) there.
Besides releasing many hit songs, she also became a playback singer starting in 1955. This meant she sang songs for actresses to lip-sync in movies, like in the film Peach Blossom River. Many of these movie songs became very popular.
Singing Style and Famous Songs
In the 1930s and 1940s, Yao Lee had a high, soft singing voice. This style was very common in Chinese popular music at the time. She looked up to the superstar singer Zhou Xuan.
Yao Lee sang many popular songs, including Wishing You Happiness and Prosperity and "I Can't Have Your Love." She also sang "By the Suzhou River" with her brother, Yao Min. He was one of the most famous Chinese pop songwriters of that time.
She is especially famous for her 1940 version of Rose, Rose, I Love You. This song later became popular in the United States when Frankie Laine recorded it with English words. Yao Lee's own version was also released in the U.S. and the United Kingdom under the name "Miss Hue Lee." People called her "the Silver Voice" because Zhou Xuan was known as "the Golden Voice."
After World War II and her move to Hong Kong, Yao Lee's singing style changed. She heard more Western popular music and admired the American singer Patti Page. Yao Lee started to sing with a lower voice and used some similar vocal styles, just like Patti Page. Because of this, some people called her "Hong Kong's Patti Page." One of her biggest hits in the 1950s was "The Spring Breeze Kisses My Face."
Yao Lee recorded a huge number of songs, over 400 in total! Her 1959 song, "Life Is a Performance," was featured in the 2018 movie Crazy Rich Asians.
Later Years
Yao Lee stopped her singing career in 1967 after her brother, Yao Min, passed away. In 1969, she took on a new role as the General Manager and Producer at EMI Music Hong Kong. She helped produce records for many other artists. In 1970, she traveled to Taiwan to try and sign the famous singer Teresa Teng to EMI, but it didn't work out. Yao Lee retired from her producer role in 1977.
Death
Yao Lee passed away in Hong Kong on July 19, 2019.
See also
In Spanish: Yao Lee para niños
