Yao Lee (; 10 September 1922 – 19 July 2019), also credited as Yao Li, Yiu Lei and Hue Lee, was a Chinese singer active from the 1930s to the 1970s. She was the sister of

Yao Min Yao Min (, born 姚民 ''Yáo Mín''; November 1917 – 30 March 1967) was a Chinese popular music songwriter and singer and brother of Yao Lee. He was arguably one of the most prolific songwriters of the shidaiqu era in 1930s and 1940s Shanghai t ...

, also a famous singer and songwriter. She was considered one of the Seven Great Singing Stars of

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

in the 1940s.

Biography

Born Yáo Xiùyún (Mandarin)/Yiu Sau Wan (Cantonese) () and raised in Shanghai, Yao began performing on the radio in 1935 at the age of 13. When she was 14, she recorded her first single with Yàn Húa () called "New Little Cowherd" (, Xin xiao fang niu). After being introduced by singers

Zhou Xuan Zhou Xuan (; born Su Pu (); August 1, 1920 – September 22, 1957), also romanized as Chow Hsuan, was an iconic Chinese singer and film actress. By the 1940s, she had become one of China's Seven Great Singing Stars. She was the best known o ...

and Yan Hua, she was signed to Pathé Records when she was 16 in 1937, and the first record she released with the label was "Yearning for Sale" (, Mai Xiang Si). She married Wong Po Lo () in 1947 and stopped performing to devote time to her family. Following the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

seizure of power in China in 1949, popular music was considered ideologically suspect and Yao fled to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in 1950 but continued her singing career with Pathé Records (EMI). In addition to releasing hit records, beginning in 1955 with the film (''Peach Blossom River''), she was also a

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

for movie actresses. Many of her featured songs became popular hits. She stepped down from her singing career in 1967 after the death of her brother, Yao Min. In 1969, she accepted the invitation to become the General Manager and Producer at EMI Music Hong Kong. In 1970, she travelled to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

in an effort to sign Teresa Teng to EMI for the Hong Kong market but was unsuccessful. Yao produced records for many artists during her time as a producer and retired from this position in 1977.

Career

During the 1930s and 1940s, Yao Lee's high, soft singing style was typical of Chinese popular music of the time (influenced by her superstar idol,

). She performed numerous popular standards, such as '' Wishing You Happiness and Prosperity'' (), "I Can't Have Your Love" (), and "By the Suzhou River" () with her brother

, arguably the best-known Chinese pop songwriter of the shidaiqu era. She is famous for her 1940 version of ''

Rose, Rose, I Love You "Rose, Rose, I Love You" () is a 1940 Mandarin popular song composed by Chen Gexin and first recorded by Yao Lee. An English-language version whose lyrics have little in common with the original Mandarin was first recorded by Frankie Laine in 1 ...

'' (), later recorded by

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to hi ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with English lyrics. Her version was also released in the U.S. and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

credited to "Miss Hue Lee." Yao was known as "the Silver Voice" (), alluding to fellow Shanghai singer

, who was known as "the Golden Voice" (). With increasing Western influences in the region after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and her move to Hong Kong, Yao Lee's singing style changed. She was introduced to more Western popular music and became an admirer of American singer

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known professionally as Patti Page, was an American singer and actress. Primarily known for pop and country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female ar ...

, whom she emulated by lowering her voice and incorporating some similar vocal mannerisms. As a result, Yao is sometimes called "Hong Kong's Patti Page." One of her biggest '50s records was "The Spring Breeze Kisses My Face" (). Yao was extremely prolific with over 400

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

s attributed to her. Her 1959 song, "Rén Shēng Jìu Shì Xì"/"Life Is a Performance" (), is featured in the 2018 film, ''

Crazy Rich Asians ''Crazy Rich Asians'' is a satirical 2013 romantic comedy novel by Kevin Kwan. Kwan stated that his intention in writing the novel was to "introduce a contemporary Asia to a North American audience". He claimed the novel was loosely based on his ...

,'' in the scene when the matriarch grandmother, played by veteran Chinese American actor Lisa Lu, first appears.

Death

Yao died in Hong Kong on July 19, 2019.

References

External links

"Restoring China"

Photo of a Yao Lee and Yao Ming single
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yao, Lee 1922 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Chinese women singers EMI Records artists Chinese Civil War refugees Chinese emigrants to British Hong Kong Hong Kong business executives Music industry executives Women business executives Hong Kong Mandopop singers 20th-century Hong Kong women singers Singers from Shanghai Pathé Records (China) artists Pathé Records (Hong Kong) artists