From strength to strength
Updated: 2011-09-20 11:23
(China Daily)
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When Wu Bai pursued his musical dreams in Taipei in the early 1990s, his guitar skills attracted the attention of drummer Dean Zavolta, Chu Chien-hui and Yu Ta-hao.
Wu debuted with two songs on the Dust of Angels soundtrack in 1992, on which he used his real name, Wu Chun-lin, and credited his band as China Blue for the first time. The same year, he released his first album, Loving Others is a Happy Thing.
His fan base grew as he and China Blue gave live shows across Taiwan. His second album, Wanderer's Love Song, in 1994, was his first success, commercially and critically.
He continued in this vein with the hit album The End of Love, which featured one of his most famous songs, Norwegian Forest. The album sold more than 6 million copies.
Following albums such as Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird, won him the titles of Best Male Singer and Best Music Producer at the Taiwan Golden Melody Awards. The 2005 album, Two Faced Man, won him awards at the Golden Melody Awards again.
In the summer of 2011, Wu performed at the Kama Love Music Festival in Beijing, the first time he participated in an outdoor music festival on the mainland. He performed five of his hit songs for more than 20,000 people.
"The fans were so excited watching Wu Bai's performance, even though the weather was bad, with a big wind and some rain. Nobody wanted to leave," recalls Zhang Youdai, artistic director of the music festival.
"He likes experimenting and he is sure that his fans will keep up with his pace.
"He is also the kind of rock musician whose music reflects his living environment. You can hear the sound of Taiwan from his songs," Zhang adds.