Zhang Lu (
Chinese: 張露; January 21, 1932 – January 26, 2009), often written Chang Loo, was a Chinese singer and actress, known as a pioneer in Chinese pop beginning in the 1940s.
Biography
She was born Zhang Xiuying (张秀英) in
Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
in 1932.
Her family moved to
Shanghai when she was a young child.
Zhang was discovered in the mid-1940s by her neighbor, a broadcaster, who recommended her to sing at a local radio station. She started out singing covers of popular
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 ...
songs. By the late 1940s, she had signed with
EMI.
She released a series of hits songs, becoming popular in both Shanghai and
Hong Kong.
"给我一个吻" ("Give Me a Kiss"), a Mandarin cover of "
Seven Lonely Days," became one of her best-known songs.
Other hits included "小小羊儿要回家," "不许他回家," and "迎春花" ("Little Lamb is Going Home," "Don't Let Him Go Home," and "Winter Jasmine," respectively).
She was considered a pioneer of
Chinese pop music in this period, singing in both Chinese and English and incorporating
jazz styles.
Zhang also worked as an actress, including in the films ''Prisoner of Love'' in 1951 and ''The Lark'' in 1965.
In 1952, she moved to Hong Kong.
She married the Filipino musician
Ollie Delfino
Ollie is a given name and a nickname, often as a shortened form of Oliver (given name), Oliver, Olive (given name), Olive, Olympia, Olga (name), Olga or Olivia (name), Olivia. Variants include Olie, Oli, Oly (disambiguation), Oly and Olly (disambig ...
, whom she had met while performing in
Singapore, in the late 1950s. The couple had two sons, Orlando and
Alex To.
Zhang retired in 1975 and moved to Canada in the following decade.
She returned to Hong Kong when her son Alex became a successful performer, and she occasionally returned to the public eye to perform with him.
She died in Hong Kong in 2009, at age 76.
Her music saw a revival in popularity in 2003, when her songs "All the Stars in the Sky" and "The Plough Song" were remixed for the compilation ''The Original Shanghai Divas''.
In 2019, her song "Tiao Yi Ge Man Bo" appeared in Season 3 of the American show ''
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Lu
1932 births
2009 deaths
Chinese women singers
20th-century Chinese actresses
Chinese pop singers
People from Suzhou
Chinese emigrants to Hong Kong
Chinese Civil War refugees
Pathé Records (China) artists
Pathé Records (Hong Kong) artists