Tom Chang Yu-sheng (; June 7, 1966 – November 12, 1997) was a Taiwanese pop vocalist, songwriter and record producer.

Biography

Chang was born in

Magong Magong (Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: ''Má-keng'') is a county-administered city and county seat, seat of Penghu County, Taiwan. Magong City is located on Penghu's main island. Name The settlement's Mazu temples, temple honoring the Chinese folk r ...

Penghu The Penghu ( , Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, about west of the main island of Taiwan across the Penghu Ch ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

on June 7, 1966. His mother was Atayal and his father was a veteran of the ROC military. As the eldest child, he had two younger brothers and two younger sisters. He graduated from the

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subsequently reestablished in 1954 in Taiwan as the first reestablished "National University". The u ...

. In his spare time, he was keen on music, basketball, swimming, and reading. He was known for his high vocals, capable of reaching notes up to D#6. His voice has been compared by some to Russell Hitchcock of

Air Supply Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975, consisting of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). With record sales of 100 million worldwide, they had a suc ...

. Chang died on November 12, 1997 at 31 years old, after being in a

car accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...

on October 20, 1997.

Career

Being influenced deeply by Western rock music, he had participated in two metal bands at university before he gained publicity with a beverage

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...

ballad "My Future isn't a Pipe Dream" in 1988. In that year, Chang also released his debut album, ''Always Missing You'', to success, selling 350 thousand records within the regions, before singing the soundtrack of a popular movie, ''Seven Wolves'', starring him in one of the leading roles. After his graduation in 1989, he was nominated for "Best New Artist" at the Golden Melody Awards for his second album, ''Miss Me'', with most songs co-written by himself. He then developed his career as a singer-songwriter, attempting to introduce different genres of contemporary music to the general public despite ups and downs. With moderate to low commercial successes of his subsequent albums, Chang focused more on backstage roles, including music production and songwriting for

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

performances. He introduced A-Mei, a Puyuma and

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

singer, to his record label. Believing in her potential, Chang became A-Mei's vocal tutor, producer and supervisor. Soon after producing her debut and second albums, which were released to a huge success in 1996 and 1997, he died at 31 years old. Renowned for his

sopranist A sopranist (also known as male soprano) is a male singer who is able to sing in vocal tessitura of a soprano, usually through falsetto or head voice technique. This voice type is a specific kind of countertenor. In rare cases an adult man may b ...

vocal range, significance to the development of the local music industry, and versatility, Chang is widely referred to as the "magician of music in Chinese" and is among the most prominent figures when it comes to Chinese language music, with most of his commercial failures later considered to be masterpieces.

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Chang Yu-Sheng memorial page

Internet Video and Recording Data Index of Chang Yu-Sheng
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Yu-sheng 1966 births 1997 deaths Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriters Taiwanese guitarists Taiwanese male songwriters 20th-century Taiwanese male singers 20th-century Taiwanese songwriters National Chengchi University alumni Road incident deaths in Taiwan People with disorders of consciousness People from Penghu County Musicians from Taichung Atayal people 20th-century guitarists Writers from Taichung