Biography
Fei Yu-ching (費玉清; b. 17 July 1955), born Chang Yen-ching (張彥亭), is a retired Taiwanese singer-songwriter and television host.
Fei Yu-ching was born Chang Yen-ching in Taipei on 17 July 1955, to Mainlander parents, being the youngest of three children. His eldest sister Chang Yen-chiung (張彥瓊) was a singer professionally known as Jenny Fei (費貞綾) before becoming a Buddhist nun in 1991 with the dharma name Heng Shu (恆述法師). His elder brother Chang Fei (張菲) is also a singer and a television personality.
Chang's career began in 1973, and he began to build a large fan base along with his brother. He performed several theme songs for television shows, some of which were more successful than the shows themselves. He has sung numerous hits such as "Yi Jian Mei" (A Trim of Plum Blossoms), "Ode to the Republic of China", and "Good Night Song"(晚安曲 ;Wǎn'ān Qǔ), which was composed by the Taiwanese songwriter Liu Chia-chang. This song was chosen by China Television to end each day's broadcast in 1979. It was dubbed "打烊歌" (Closing Shop Song) to announce breaktime. In 1996 at the 7th Golden Melody Awards, his album Good Night Song (晚安曲) won Best Mandarin Album and he was nominated for Best Mandarin Male Singer.
From 1993 to 1998, Fei hosted and produced the Taiwan Television prime time variety show The Fantastic Brothers (龍兄虎弟) with his brother Chang Fei, and was famed for his witty dirty jokes, improvised singings and celebrity impersonations, for which he was nicknamed the "myna bird".
In 2006, he was featured in a duet,「千里之外」(Faraway) with Jay Chou released in his album Still Fantasy. In February 2008, he performed it during CCTV-4's Chinese New Year special, singing a solo version of 「千里之外」 (Faraway), which was also performed by Chou later in the program.
Chang announced his retirement from the entertainment industry in September 2018, stating that his final concert tour was scheduled for February, March and May 2019 in Macau, Shanghai, Singapore, and Taipei. His final concert encore concert show was extended up to October. He also competed in his final show "Our Song" with his apprentice Ayanga until January 2020.
In 2020, the song "Yi Jian Mei" (commonly known as "Xue hua piao piao bei feng xiao xiao") became a viral internet meme that reached the top spots on the Spotify Viral 50 chart in countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland, and New Zealand.
In 1981, he was engaged to Chie Yasui, a Japanese actress, but he called off the wedding because the Yasui family expected Fei to enter a matrilocal residence, switch to Japanese citizenship and give up his career in Taiwan. He remained single thereafter.
References:
1. (in Chinese) GIO, Taiwan 7th Golden Melody Awards winners list Archived 9 July 2012 at Archive.today 28 March 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2011
2. (in Chinese) GIO, Taiwan 7th Golden Melody Awards nomination list 6 January 1996. Retrieved 10 June 2011
3. Chang, Eddy (4 October 2018). "Veteran singer Fei Yu-ching to retire following farew". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
4. "Event Detail Page | Singapore Sports Hub". www.sportshub.com.sg. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
5. "How a hit Chinese song from the 80s became a global meme". South China Morning Post. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
6. 吳品瑤. "引退多時〈一剪梅〉突歐美爆紅 費玉清情路至憾「永不可得心愛的她」 – 娛樂". China Times (in Chinese). Retrieved 23 June 2020.
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