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Artist
YAO SU-YONG
10+ albums
about
Yao Su Rong (姚蘇蓉, sometimes Yao Su Yong) was born in 1945. Her breakthrough came in 1969, with the title track to the movie "今天不回家" (Today I Won't Come Home). That one song swept her into fame, the song being sung by young and old alike, securing her a much-coveted Hong Kong record deal with 海山 (Haishan Records), selling 600,000 copies. Before that, she'd been singing songs for a while, a minor hit being a Mandarin-language rewrite of a Japanese popular song, "負心的人" (Cruel-Hearted Lover). No longer would she have to worry about success -- instantly, she was selling out shows and getting invited to concerts all across the Mandarin-speaking world. At the height of her popularity in the late sixties/early seventies, it is said that one Hong Kong nightclub owner offered her 60,000HKD for a month's worth of performances (now about USD$7600 or over $10,000 Canadian dollars -- I don't know how much it was really worth then). A ridiculous amount even by today's standards, it was even more extravagant back then, when the highest-paid Hong Kong singer was earning only about 10,000HKD a MONTH. Audiences said what set her apart was her complete immersion into the emotion of her songs. Most of her songs are sentimental love ballads, wistful, nostalgic melodies, and her entire composure and movements would reflect the mood of her music. She often cried as she sang on stage. However, there is a mark of controversy that stains her career. Though seemingly trivial now, it was enough to dr