Wei Wei (; born 28 September 1963) is a Chinese
mandopop
Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Standard Chinese, Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Ta ...
singer, philanthropist, and current Standing Committee Member of the
Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party since 2010. She previously served as Standing Committee Member of the
All-China Youth Federation
The All-China Youth Federation (ACYF; zh , s = 中华全国青年联合会 ) is a people's organization founded on 4 May 1949 that represents many youth groups in China, including the Communist Youth League of China. Former paramount leaders ...
from 2005 to 2010,
as China's Forestry Ambassador to the United Nations of the
National Forestry and Grassland Administration
The State Forestry and Grassland Administration () is an administration of the People's Republic of China, in charge of the national forestry affairs. It was founded in 1949 as Ministry of Forestry and Farming. On November 5, 1951, it changed to ...
from 2009 to 2010, and as Ambassador of the
Chinese Football Association
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams and administers the country's ...
from 2008 to 2009. In 2022, she was appointed Visiting Professor of Music and a doctoral advisor specializing in
vocal music
Vocal music is a type of singing performed by one or more singers, either with musical instruments, instrumental accompaniment, or without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella), in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which ...
at
Shinawatra University
Metharath University or Shinawatra University (SIU) is a private international university in Thailand, established by Dr.Thaksin Shinawatra and his colleagues. The campus was designed and developed by Soontorn Boonyatikarn in 1997. The Ministry o ...
,
a private international university in Thailand established by former Prime Minister of Thailand,
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra ( th, ทักษิณ ชินวัตร; ; ; Chinese: 丘達新; cnr, Taksin Šinavatra; born 26 July 1949), is a Thai businessman, politician and visiting professor. He served in the Thai Police from 1973 to 1987, a ...
.
Her breakthrough came in 1986 when she won the National Young Singers contest on Chinese television and The 24th
Sopot International Song Festival
The Sopot International Song Festival or Sopot Festival (later called ''Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix'', ''Sopot Top of the Top Festival'' from 2012–13 and ''Polsat Sopot Festival'' in 2014) is an annual international song contest held in S ...
in Poland, when she also won the "Miss Photo Category", and four years later, she was chosen to perform at the 11th
Asian Games
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...
in Beijing, singing a duet with Spanish singer
Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...
at the
1993 East Asian Games in Shanghai.
Largely associated with sports and the Olympics, Wei has been an Olympic Ambassador for China since 1993 when the
Chinese Olympic Committee
The Chinese Olympic Committee (; IOC code: CHN) has been the officially designated body of the People's Republic of China (PRC) regarding the Olympic Games and other affiliated international sport federations since 1979, when the Nagoya Resolu ...
applied for the games for the first time. She supported the
Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics by performing at major Olympic events in China and abroad, and in an internet survey conducted in 2004 regarding who should sing the theme song of the Chinese Olympics, she received the most votes. She was the only representative for Asia at the 100 Year Anniversary Show for the
Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA in 1996,
and has previously performed at the opening ceremony of the
Shanghai World Expo
Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in the tr ...
, the closing ceremony of the
Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, and at the opening and closing ceremonies of the
11th National Games in
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, China. Her songs have become the official theme songs for major Chinese sporting events, such as in 2006 when her single ''I Want to Fly'' was appointed as the official theme song for the 2008 Olympic Sailing events held in
Qingdao
Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
by the
Chinese Olympic Committee
The Chinese Olympic Committee (; IOC code: CHN) has been the officially designated body of the People's Republic of China (PRC) regarding the Olympic Games and other affiliated international sport federations since 1979, when the Nagoya Resolu ...
and the Sailing Committee of Qingdao, and in 2007, she was named the "Queen of Sports" by the All-China Women's Federation.
Early life
Wei was born to a
Zhuang family in
Hohhot, Inner Mongolia to Zhang Yu, a
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
veteran and Wei Xiuqun. While in kindergarten, she began practicing the
performing arts
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
. When she was 7 years old, her family moved to
Liuzhou
Liuzhou (; , IPA Pronunciation:) is a prefecture-level city in north-central Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. The prefecture's population was 3,758,700 in 2010, including 1,436,599 in the built-up area made of 4 urban ...
in Guangxi, and at the age of 14, she moved to Beijing and started to work for the China National Song & Dance Ensemble. As a young unit member her education in the performing arts continued, and included dancing, singing, playing instruments, choreography, stage design, and lighting. The unit traveled all over the country, often doing several live performances in one day. She finished her education at the
Central Conservatory of Music
The Central Conservatory of Music () is a prestigious leading public music school of China and a member of Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211. Its campus is in the Xicheng District of Beijing, China, near Fuxingmen Statio ...
in Beijing, China.
Career
1986–1987: Breakthrough and National Qualification
In 1986, Wei won the National Young Singers contest on Chinese television with the song ''Wanna Take One More Chance to Look at You''.
In 1987, she won the
24th Sopot International Music Festival in Poland as China's first representative to an international pop competition. In 1986 at the age of she was awarded a ''"2nd Level National Performer Professional Qualification Certificate"'' by the
Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Culture (MOC) was a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of China which was dissolved on 19 March 2018. The responsibilities of the MOC, which were assumed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, encompassed cultur ...
. A year after, the ministry awarded her with a ''"1st Level National Performer Professional Qualification Certificate"'', the highest professional qualification of her field in China, equal to a
Professional Doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' l ...
, and which enabled her to teach at professor level in music academies in China.
1988–1992: ''Dedication of Love'' and Rise to Stardom
In 1988, Wei sang the theme song for China Central Television's
New Year's Gala, ''Gathering of the Year of the Dragon.'' In 1989, her rendition of the Chinese song ''Dedication of Love -'' a performance credited with truly starting her career
– became a national hit in China, and she became a symbol for charity and fund-raising activities as her performance had raised enough funds to help a rural
migrant worker
A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant worker ...
from
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
to recover from spinal surgery.
In the same year, her song ''Today is Your Birthday'' won the Gold Medal at the Jian Brand Cup and Beijing Radio Song Competition, and has since been used as a theme song to celebrate China's National Day. In 1990, her new single ''Asian Mighty Winds'' was selected as the theme of the
1990 Asian Games
The 1990 Asian Games also known as the XI Asiad and the 11th Asian Games ( zh, c=第十一届亚洲运动会, p=Dì shíyī jiè yàzhōu yùndònghuì), were held from September 22 to October 7, 1990, in Beijing, China. This was the first Asian Ga ...
, and she performed it alongside Chinese singer
Liu Huan
Liu Huan (born August 26, 1963, in Tianjin) is a Chinese singer and songwriter. He is one of China's modern era pioneers in pop music. He combines his music career with teaching the history of Western music at the Beijing University of Interna ...
. The song quickly became another national hit, and Wei was dubbed the "Queen of Sports" by the Provincial Government of
Guangxi
Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
, Liuzhou. That same year, she starred in the film ''The Story of A Songstress'' alongside Chinese actor
Zhang Guoli
Zhang Guoli (born 17 January 1955) is a Chinese actor and film director who was a ''xiangsheng'' actor before he started working on films and television series. He is mostly known for his roles playing the Emperor in various dramas involving Qin ...
, and performed at the ''
Miss Asia Pageant ATV Miss Asia Pageant () is an annual Hong Kong-based beauty pageant organized and broadcast by Asia Television (ATV). Originating in 1985 as a local Hong Kong pageant, the contest went on hiatus from the 2000 through 2003, and was re-branded as an ...
'' show in Hong Kong in 1992,also becoming the lead singer in the first concert tour in American major cities arranged by the China Central Song and Dance Group.
1993–2000: Carnegie Hall and International Recognition
![Wei Wei Sichuan Earthquake](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Wei_Wei_Sichuan_Earthquake.jpg)
In 1993, Wei was the lead singer at the
1993 East Asian Games opening and closing ceremonies together with Spanish singer
Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...
. She then performed her single ''Asian Mighty Winds'' again at the
1994 Asian Games opening show in
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
, Japan, and the lyrics of her songs became the subject of academic discourse and analysis in Japan. Later that year, she represented the People's Republic of China visited
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
to campaign for the Beijing Summer Olympic Games,
and a year after, in 1994, she was named Star of the Night after her performance of her hit single ''Dedication of Love'' at the
CCTV New Year's Gala
The ''CCTV New Year's Gala'', also known as the ''Spring Festival Gala'', and commonly abbreviated in Chinese as ''Chunwan'', is a Chinese New Year special produced by China Media Group (CMG). It is broadcast annually on the eve of Chinese ...
in
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
, New York. In the same year, the song ''Wind Coming From the East'' became a hit at a show in Shanghai Oriental TV, and subsequently became the TV station's theme song. Her first English album was released, titled ''The Twilight''.
In the year after her performance at Carnegie Hall, she started her concert tour "Wei Wei and the World", which included visits and performances in the major cities in Mainland China, including Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, and
Kunming
Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...
. She represented Asia and performed in front of 60,000 people at the centennial anniversary of the Olympic Games in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
in 1996, and was portrayed in a
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
fifteen-minute special as the only Asian representative for the Olympic anniversary show. In 1999, Wei's
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
''Wei Wei's Devotion'' was the most popular pop music album in China,
and she held a concert at Caesar's Palace in Paris, France to further promote the album. In 2000, she joined the
Chinese Olympic Committee
The Chinese Olympic Committee (; IOC code: CHN) has been the officially designated body of the People's Republic of China (PRC) regarding the Olympic Games and other affiliated international sport federations since 1979, when the Nagoya Resolu ...
and represented the People's Republic of China in campaigning for the
Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, and performing with the
Sydney Opera and
Shanghai Opera
Shanghai opera (), formerly known as Shenqu (), is a variety of Chinese opera from Shanghai typically sung in Shanghainese. It is unique in Chinese opera in that virtually all dramas in its repertoire today are set in the modern era (20th and 21 ...
.
Her rendition of ''The Same Song'' won her a Golden Phoenix Prize at the 6th China Music Television Competition.
2000–2013: ''Go, Girl Go!'' and The 2008 Beijing Olympics
In 2003, Wei was invited as a special guest at galas arranged in Beijing in the honor of healthcare staff after the SARS epidemic, and initiated an international management company, ''Wei Wei International Management'', in Stockholm for the purpose of further developing her international career. In 2004, she continued her performances for Olympic and sports related events, and inaugurated the construction start of the new
Beijing National Stadium
The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...
. During this time, she was also the main performer at the opening ceremony show for the Formula 1 Racetrack in Shanghai. At a show for the international unveiling of China's Olympic slogan "One World, One Dream", she performed
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...
's song ''Love Changes Everything''.
![Wei Wei Qingdao](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Wei_Wei_Qingdao.jpg)
In 2006, she celebrated twenty years on stage, highlighted by the release of twenty new recordings of her 20 greatest hits. The first one, a medley that consists of parts of her five greatest hits, was launched on 8 May: the ''20X20 Dance Loop''. She also released worldwide on digital download distributor iTunes Music Store, and commenced an international tour for the celebration of the Chinese New Year, which included performances in Los Angeles,
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, Barcelona, and
Roger's Center in Toronto, where she was welcomed by China's Ambassador to Canada, Lu Shumin and Consulate General of Toronto Chen Xiaoling. During this time, she also served as a judge on China's largest singing competition, The National Young Singers Grand Awards, and performed the Olympic theme song ''One World, One Dream'' at an Olympic Show at the Great Wall together with Olympic athletes.
In 2007, she was appointed Ambassador for the
Chinese Football Association
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams and administers the country's ...
, and her single ''Go, Girl Go!'' was appointed the official theme song of the
2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Founded ...
players
Carles Puyol,
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...
,
Deco
Anderson Luís de Souza (born 27 August 1977), known as Deco (), is a retired professional footballer who primarily played as an attacking or central midfielder. Born and raised in Brazil, he acquired Portuguese citizenship and played for Po ...
and others joined Wei in the ''Go, Girl Go!'' music video as a salute to women's football players.
In 2008, she performed as part of the
Fairchild Media Group
The Fairchild Group ( zh, t=新時代集團, s=新时代集团, p=Xīnshídài Jítuán, j=San1si4doi6 Zaap6tyun4, first=t) is a Canadian business conglomerate, with headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Fairchild Group operates ...
, and
Shanghai Media Group
Radio and Television Station of Shanghai (RTS), a Shanghai-based state media outlet, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Shanghai Media Group (SMG), represent one of China's largest state-owned media and cultural conglomerates, with the most compl ...
's ''Chinese New Year All Star Show 2008''. The show was filmed in
Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, Canada, on 18 January 2008, and included a duet from Wei and classical-crossover soprano
Giorgia Fumanti
Giorgia Fumanti (born February 22, 1975) is an Italian soprano singer of operatic pop and crossover music based in Montreal, Canada since 2002. She is also a composer, producer and arranger. Her debut EMI album ''From My Heart'' reached the top 20 ...
. As the year drew to a close, she collaborated with
BoA
Kwon Bo-ah (; born November 5, 1986), known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actress. One of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers, she has been dubbed the " Queen of K- ...
,
Ruth Sahanaya,
Despina Vandi
Despina Vandi - ΣΤΑ 'ΔΩΣΑ ΟΛΑΑ ( el, Δέσποινα Βανδή, ), born as Despina Malea () on 22 July 1969, is a Greek singer. Born in Tübingen near Stuttgart, Germany, Vandi's family returned to Kavala, Greece when she was six ye ...
,
Sonu
Sonu is a given name. People with this name include:
*Sonu Shamdasani (born 1962), British male writer
* Sonu Walia (born 1964), Indian Bollywood actress
*Sonu Shivdasani (born 1965), British male hotelier
*Sonu Nigam (born 1973), Indian male playb ...
,
Daniela Mercury
Daniela Mercury (born Daniela Mercuri de Almeida on July 28, 1965) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, actress and television host. In her solo career, Mercury has sold over 20 million records worldwide and had 24 Top 10 single ...
and others to remix her original hit song ''Dedication of Love'' in English.
At closing ceremony of the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
held in Beijing, Wei performed ''Surpass'' alongside Chinese singer
Sun Nan
Sun Nan (; born February 18, 1969) is a pop singer from Dalian in mainland China. His songs include "Be there or Be Square", "The Wind Goes to North", "Save", and his song for the 2008 Summer Olympics, "Forever Friends". Sun's album ''Crescent ...
.
2014-2022: I Am A Singer and The 2022 Winter Olympics
In 2014, Wei competed in
I Am a Singer (Chinese season 2)
''I Am a Singer'' (season 2), is the second season of the Chinese TV series ''I Am a Singer'' produced by Hunan TV, produced by Hong Tao, and the show's music director is Kubert Leung.
The season premiered on January 3, 2014 and concluded on Apr ...
alongside
Phil Chang
Phil Chang (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Chong Yí, born 30 April 1967) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, television presenter and actor.
By the time he graduated from Feng Chia University in Financial Services, he was already known as an accomplished fol ...
,
Gary Chaw
Gary Chaw (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Tshâu Kak; born 9 July 1979 in Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia), also known as Gary Cao or Cao Ge or by his alter ego Cao Xiaoge, is a Malaysian Chinese singer-songwriter based in Taiwan, who has had achieved success in ...
,
G.E.M.
Gloria Tang Sze-wing (born 16 August 1991), professionally known as G.E.M. (backronym of Get Everybody Moving) or Tang Tsz-kei (), is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter originally from Shanghai, China. She made her debut in the Hong Kong music in ...
,
Han Lei
Han Lei (; born February 23, 1968), also known in Mongolian as Senbor, is a Chinese folk and pop singer-songwriter.
Music Appearance
Han rose to prominence in 1997 on the CCTV New Year's Gala, performing a song called "1997, A.D." (公元一 ...
and others.
In 2022, she reappeared after a 8 year hiatus as one of the lead singers for the
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...
' theme song "Together for the Future". On February 18 2022, Wei's online encouragement of her eldest son Symington to "learn from" Olympic skier
Eileen Gu
Eileen Feng Gu (born September 3, 2003), also known by her Chinese name Gu Ailing ( zh, s=谷爱凌), is an American-born freestyle skier. She has competed for China in halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air events since 2019.
At age 18, Gu becam ...
became a trending topic on
Weibo and made headlines in the Chinese press. The same year, she was appointed Visiting Professor of Music and a doctoral advisor specializing in
vocal music
Vocal music is a type of singing performed by one or more singers, either with musical instruments, instrumental accompaniment, or without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella), in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which ...
at
Shinawatra University
Metharath University or Shinawatra University (SIU) is a private international university in Thailand, established by Dr.Thaksin Shinawatra and his colleagues. The campus was designed and developed by Soontorn Boonyatikarn in 1997. The Ministry o ...
,
a private international university in Thailand established by former Prime Minister of Thailand,
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra ( th, ทักษิณ ชินวัตร; ; ; Chinese: 丘達新; cnr, Taksin Šinavatra; born 26 July 1949), is a Thai businessman, politician and visiting professor. He served in the Thai Police from 1973 to 1987, a ...
.
Charity work
Throughout her career, Wei has performed at a variety of charity shows. In 1991, she performed her song ''Dedication of Love'' at a charity fundraising show in China for victims of the
1998 China floods at the
Great Hall of the People
The Great Hall of the People is a state building located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the ruling Chinese Co ...
in Beijing. In 2004 she performed ''Dedication of Love'' together with Yang Haito, a blind Chinese artist, at a charity ball for the handicapped hosted by
Deng Pufang
Deng Pufang () (born 16 April 1944) is the eldest son of former Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping.Pearson, Veronica. Royal College of Psychiatrists. 995(1995). RCPsych Publications. . pg 88 He is mostly known for being injured by the Red Guar ...
, son of the former Chinese leader
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
. In 2005 she performed at the charity show "The Happiness Project" for mothers in
Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
, China.
In 2012, she attended a charity auction in Beijing alongside her three children to auction the dress she wore during her performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It sold for a record CNY ¥300,000 (US$42,800), and all proceeds were donated to charity. In 2013, to raise funds for cancer research and to spread awareness for cancer patients, she performed ''Dedication of Love'' at the 15th Beijing Hope Run & Dash held in
Chaoyang Park
Chaoyang Park () is a park located on the site of the former Prince's Palace in Beijing's Chaoyang District.
The park's construction began in 1984 and it became Beijing's largest park. It is approximately 2.8 km in length and approximately 1.5 ...
, Beijing to an audience of over 5585 people, for which she was awarded a world record for "the most number of people who sang ''Dedication of Love'' using sign language at the same time in the world" by the World Record Association of Hong Kong.
Personal life
Wei married American composer
Michael Joseph Smith in 1995, and the couple had three children, Symington W. Smith, Remington W. Smith & Vinson W. Smith. They divorced in 2005, and she moved with her children from Stockholm, Sweden to Beijing, China.
Wei has been a long-time friend of Hong Kong actor
Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
, who appeared with her and her children at a charity event in Beijing, and Chinese-Singaporean actress
Gong Li
Gong Li ( Chinese: 巩俐; born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese actress. She starred in three of the four Chinese-language films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
Gong was born in Shenyang, Liaonin ...
, who in pictures released by
Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
in 2014 showed Gong embracing Wei's eldest son, Symington, at Wei's home in Beijing.
In December 2009, Swedish tax authorities accused Wei of owing an estimated SEK 80–104 million
Swedish kronor (approximately US$10 million) in taxes to the Swedish government for incomes earned in China during the years 2003–2008. In response, she released a public letter addressed to then-Prime Minister of Sweden,
Fredrik Reinfeld, asking for help and arguing that the tax authorities had illegally confiscated her assets because the tax authorities had proceeded with confiscation without a warrant or court order. The Swedish tax authority's accusations were ultimately rejected by Swedish courts due to a lack of concrete facts.
Legacy
Wei is largely considered a national treasure in China, and one of its most iconic singers. Wei is the first
Mainland Chinese
Mainland Chinese or Mainlanders are Chinese people who live in or have recently emigrated from mainland China, defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) except for Hong Kong ( SAR of the PRC), Macau (SAR of the PRC), ...
pop singer after the
reform and opening-up
The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of Ch ...
period initiated under
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
to have competed abroad officially representing the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
the first
Zhuang ethnic minority artist to represent China internationally, the first woman to be selected as China's Olympic Ambassador, and one of China's earliest artists to use the internet for the digital release of music. In 2015, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the
East China University of Political Science and Law
East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL; ) is a public university in Shanghai, China, founded in 1952.
It has two campuses, one in Songjiang University Town in Songjiang District, and the other in Changning District.
History
Th ...
and appointed Honorary Dean, and she holds a world record for the largest number of people to perform a sing-along using
sign language
Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...
.
She has sold an estimated 200 million records, making her one of the best-selling
Mainland Chinese
Mainland Chinese or Mainlanders are Chinese people who live in or have recently emigrated from mainland China, defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) except for Hong Kong ( SAR of the PRC), Macau (SAR of the PRC), ...
artist during the 1990s, and leading her to be referred to as "China's Whitney Houston",
and "China's Madonna".
Discography
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wei, Wei
1963 births
Living people
English-language singers from China
People from Hohhot
Chinese Mandopop singers
Zhuang people
Singers from Inner Mongolia
20th-century Chinese women singers
21st-century Chinese women singers