The late singing sensation, who conquered most of Asia with her brand of effortless and beguiling folk songs and ballads, was famed for her vocal inflections and adorable, girl-next-door looks. She had begun singing when she was five years old and had often performed at informal parties and evening gatherings in her native Taiwan. She gave up her formal education in her third year of middle school and began a proper singing career.
During the 1970s, when China had just emerged from its cultural revolution, her soft singing voice could be heard everywhere in the world where Chinese immigrants lived. Subsequently, her songs, which were touted by Chinese authorities as being “spiritual pollution”, were banned.
In the meantime, Taiwan used her songs in anti-communist propaganda. During much of the ’70s and ’80s, the “eternal sweetheart” based herself in Japan and the United States. She died of a severe asthma attack while in Thailand and left a trail of grieving fans the world over.
Here are several interesting facts about the late singing sensation:
Teresa Teng never married but had been linked with several famous stars such as Jackie Chan. Her old house in Hong Kong, which she bought in 1986, has become a shrine for her fans. As a child from a military family (she is the daughter of an air force officer in Taiwan), she often returned to Taiwan to put on performances for the troops. Thus earning her the name of “soldier’s sweetheart”. After the mid-80s, Teng lived mostly abroad and kept a low profile. However, she was rather active in charity concerts. Teng won the Best New Singing Star award in the Japanese talent competition Red and White Song Competition in 1985. She also won the Golden Bell Award in Taiwan amongst many other awards She liked to dress in colours like purple, pink and white. During her lifetime, the songstress had recorded over 100 albums. In 1989, Teng performed in Paris during the Tiananmen student uprising, singing for students and proclaiming her support for democracy. Many singers have done a cover version of her most famous hit song Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin, including Faye Wong, David Tao, Andy Lau, the late Leslie Cheung, Linda Wong, Chinese singers Qi Qin and Huang Hong Ying as well as Chinese groups Qing Yan Zi and Piao Bai Yue Dui. Many popular singers have also belted out their versions of the tune during some of their live concerts – the F4 boy group sang the song during one of their concerts, as did Coco Lee and Sammi Cheng. Malaysian diva Siti Nurhaliza teamed up with Taiwanese heart throb Wang Lee Hom to sing the tune during the 15th Golden Melody Awards last year. Former silver screen goddess Lin Chin Hsia also sang this song to her father during his birthday as an expression of love and filial piety. (Source: http://www.sinosplice.com/music/yueliang)
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