Liu Wen-cheng had indeed suffered a heart attack in 2022, but has since recovered. Photo: Weibo
Reclusive Taiwanese singer Liu Wen-cheng, who was reported to have died in November, is alive.
His good friend and agent Hsia Yu-shun had announced that Liu had died of a heart attack, but has since confirmed to Taiwanese entertainment portal ETtoday that Liu, 70, had told him to fake his death.
“He is still in this world,” Hsia said. “However, he will never meet the public, so he asked me to release news of his death to avoid constant requests for him to make a comeback.”
He added that there had been lucrative offers from China recently for Liu, a superstar in the 1970s and 1980s, to perform again.
He also clarified that Liu had indeed suffered a heart attack in 2022, but has since recovered and is now in Las Vegas.
However, according to Liu’s aunt Lily Lee Levin, 94, he is in the Philippines.
She spoke to him on Wednesday after news broke of his death and verified that he is still alive, according to a report in Taiwan’s United Daily News.
She also said that he was a little upset that the news of his death had blown up to such a degree and wished only to be left in peace.
Liu, who was famous for songs such as The Promise (1975) and The Drizzle In March (1981), was known for his signature look of wearing a hat and scarf.
He was wildly popular in Taiwan as well as Hong Kong, China and South-East Asia, but retreated from the limelight in 1991. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
