Zhang Ju (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

: 张炬;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: ''Zhāng Jǜ'') (May 17, 1970 – May 11, 1995), was a Chinese musician, best known as the founding

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

and

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

for the seminal

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

band

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

Early life and career

Zhang was born into a Tujia family in

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

province. As a child, he showed an interest in athletics, winning second place in the national high jump competition. He received his first

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

as a birthday present during his first year of junior high school. In 1987, Zhang formed a band with vocalist

Gao Qi Gao Qi (, 1336–1374), courtesy name Jidi (), pseudonym Qingqiuzi (), was a Chinese poet who lived in the early Ming dynasty. He is generally acknowledged as one of the greatest creators of Ming poetry. Gao Qi was born and raised in the shore of ...

and guitarist Cao Ping, switching to bass as they did not yet have a bass player. The band soon broke up due to ego clashes and musical differences. Zhang founded

in February 1989 with

Ding Wu Ding Wu () (born December 30, 1962) is a Chinese musician, best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the seminal progressive metal band Tang Dynasty. His distinct, wailing falsetto draws influences from Beijing Opera. Early life ...

and

Kaiser Kuo Kaiser Kuo (; born March 7, 1966) is a Chinese American freelance writer and musician. Career Kaiser previously worked as director for international communications for Chinese search engine Baidu. Before that he was a technology correspondent fo ...

, serving as the band's lead vocalist until mid-1991. The band's eponymous debut album, released in December 1992 on Magic Stone Records, was an unprecedented success, selling around 900,000 legal copies, and is considered to be the first Chinese heavy metal album. Zhang sang lead and co-lead vocals on the track "Legend" and the band's cover of

The Internationale "The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of th ...

, respectively. He sang backing vocals live in addition to handling bass duties. Zhang Ju was very well-liked among the Beijing rock music circle. His apartment served as a gathering place for musicians, and was where the members of Tang Dynasty ate and slept from October 1989 through May 1990. Zhang also contributed the majority of bass tracks on

The Face The face is a part of the body, the front of the head. Face may also refer to: Film * ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face'' * ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film * ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...

's debut album, ''The Instinct of Fire'', released in 1995. It would be his last recording before his death.

Death

On May 11, 1995, Zhang was returning home via the Zizhuqiao Freeway Overpass after a rehearsal with The Face. At around 10 PM, his motorcycle collided with a truck at a poorly-lit intersection. Despite efforts to resuscitate him, Zhang died from his injuries, just six days shy of his 25th birthday. His death had a profound impact on the Chinese rock scene, elevating him to martyr-like status among fans. Zhang's funeral took place on October 26, 1995 at Lianggezhuang Palace in the

Western Qing tombs The Western Qing tombs (; ) are located some southwest of Beijing in Yi County, Hebei Province. They constitute a necropolis that incorporates four royal mausoleums where seventy-eight royal members are buried. These include four emperors of th ...

, and was attended by a roster of famous Beijing rock musicians, including his own Tang Dynasty bandmates. His motorcycle was subsequently displayed at Wang Yong's Keep in Touch rock club in Beijing. Zhang's death put Tang Dynasty in a tailspin. The band split with Magic Stone and developed conflicts regarding artistic direction, nearly breaking up in 1996. Eventually, Tang Dynasty replaced Zhang with

Breathing Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen. All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cellular ...

bassist Gu Zhong, who has since served as the group's bass player.

Tributes

In 1997, a two-disc tribute album entitled ''Goodbye Zhang Ju'' (), featuring interviews and songs by remaining members of Tang Dynasty as well as a number of Zhang's Beijing rock colleagues, was released. One track, "Your Vision", was rerecorded for Tang Dynasty's second album, ''Epic.'' In 2005, the compilation ''Gift'' ('')'' was released to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his death.

Discography

Tang Dynasty

Studio albums

* 1992 - 唐朝 (''

'') - bass (all tracks); backing vocals; lead vocals ("传说"); co-lead vocals ()

Live albums

* 1990 - 90现代音乐会 ('''90 Modern Music Concert'') - lead vocals/bass ("谁都希望" and "粉雾") * 1995 - 摇滚中国乐势力 (''Chinese Rock Forces: Live in Hong Kong'') - bass/backing vocals ("飞翔鸟" and "选择")

The Face

* 1995 - 火的本能 (''The Instinct of Fire)'' - bass (all tracks except "梦" and "欢乐颂")

Posthumous releases

* 1997 - 再见张炬 (''Goodbye Zhang Ju'') - two interviews and "无题"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang Ju Chinese male musicians Chinese bass guitarists 1970 births 1995 deaths Musicians from Hunan Chinese heavy metal musicians Progressive metal bass guitarists Motorcycle road incident deaths Male bass guitarists 20th-century bass guitarists 20th-century male musicians Tujia people Road incident deaths in the People's Republic of China