Jonathan Lee Chung-shan ( zh, t=李宗盛, p=Lǐ Zōngshèng; born 19 July 1958) is a Taiwanese musician and producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential and respected figures in the world of

Mandopop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; later influences came from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkien pop ...

music.

Life and career

Lee began his career in the music industry during the 1970s, during

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 ...

's popular " campus folk song" era. He was a member of the "Wood Guitar" band. In 1983, Lee made his debut as a music producer for the album ''Light Rain Just Comes in Time'' by Zheng Yi, which became an instant hit. The eponymous single "Light Rain Just Comes in Time" ranked No. 1 for 13 consecutive weeks on Taiwan's main music chart; the first single "End", a duet with Yvonne Jeng, written, composed and sung by Lee, also became a huge hit. In 1984, Lee joined Rock Records, and has been credited with catapulting

Rock Records The Rock Records Co., Ltd. () commonly known as Rock Records (), is a record label based in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in the 1980s as the Rock Music Publishing (滾石有聲出版社; ) by Tuan Chung-tan and Tuan Chung-i, It is the largest record ...

into one of the foremost independent music labels in Asia. He helped pave the way for the golden era of Chinese pop music in the 1990s and 2000s, during which he wrote and produced many classic hits popular until today, setting impressive sales records, plus winning numerous accolades, such as

Sarah Chen Sarah Chen or Chen Shu-hua ( zh, t=陳淑樺, s=陈淑桦, p=Chén Shúhuà, first=t; born 14 May 1958) is a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese singer who was active from the 1970s to the late 1990s. The recipient of the "Best Female Artist" award at the ...

's "Dream to Awakening" ( zh, t=夢醒時分, labels=no),

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born Chan Kong-sang; 7 April 1954), known professionally as Jackie Chan,; is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker, known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically perf ...

's "The Sincere Hero" ( zh, t=真心英雄, labels=no),

Wakin Chau Wakin Chau (; born 22 December 1960), better known by his stage name Emil Chau during the 1980s and 1990s, is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese people, Taiwanese singer and actor, popular throughout Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and parts of Sou ...

's "You Make Me Happy and Sad" ( zh, t=讓我歡喜讓我憂, labels=no), Jeff Chang's "Love is Like Tidal Wave" ( zh, t=愛如潮水, labels=no), Sandy Lam's "It Doesn't Matter Who I Am" ( zh, t=不必在乎我是誰, labels=no),

Winnie Hsin Winnie Hsin (; born 8 February 1962) is a Taiwanese singer. She is best known for her crystal clear soprano voice. Biography In 1976, Hsin was admitted to the Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School, and in 1979 she studied music in the Chinese Culture Un ...

's "Understanding" ( zh, t=領悟, labels=no), Karen Mok's "Overcast" ( zh, t=陰天, labels=no), and many more, which have all been hugely popular. As such, Lee has been hailed as the "million-dollar" producer, and deemed as the Godfather of

music, reaching and touching hundreds of millions of Chinese-speaking music fans around the world. He has been and remains one of the most successful and sought-after record producers in Chinese pop music scene. Given his iconic status in the Chinese music world, Lee's songs have influenced artists across Asia. More than music production, Lee has also been involved in movie theme songs and OST projects, and having collaborated with many famous directors, including Hou Hsiao-hsien,

Sylvia Chang Sylvia Chang (born 21 July 1953) is a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese actress, singer, director, screenwriter, and producer. Early life Chang was born in Chiayi County, Chiayi, Taiwan. She dropped out of school when she was 16 and started her career ...

, Chen Kaige, plus others. In 2002, he founded his own guitar brand "Lee Guitars", and has been personally involved in the design and production of hand-made guitars ever since. In 2009, Lee formed " Superband" with three other popular artists from

, Luo Dayou and Chang Chen-yue. Lee also occasionally produces solo albums for himself and have recorded duets with many artists. His own songs "Jonathan's Song" in 2011 and "Hills" in 2013, both won "Song of the Year" and "Best Lyricist" awards at the 22nd and 25th Taiwan

Golden Melody Awards The Golden Melody Awards (), commonly abbreviated as GMA, is an honor awarded by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka, and Formosan-languages popular and traditional music ...

respectively. From 2013 to 2015, Lee embarked on his ''Even If Youth Is Never Lasting'' world tour, which kicked off in Taiwan, then toured on to China, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, the U.S., and U.K., etc., covering dozens of cities around the world, including two consecutive performances at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

in New York, a first for a Chinese-speaking musician. He also held a concert at the famed

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in London, also a first for a musician from Taiwan. Lee also served as Chief A&R Consultant for Sony Music in Greater China from 2013 to 2016. In addition, Lee was also a driving force in introducing the renowned Blue Note Jazz Club to Beijing, China. In September 2016, Lee was joined by famous American jazz pianist and composer

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

, for the grand opening of Blue Note in Beijing. His hope is to introduce the great American jazz music and culture, plus the many great jazz musicians, to the Chinese-speaking world. In September 2017, it was announced that the Tony-winning Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, will help develop "Road to Heaven: The Jonathan Lee Musical", an original Chinese musical — in both Mandarin and English, based on music written by Lee. Adapted from the novel by Li Xiuwen, the original musical will feature music by Lee with English lyrics by Tony Award winner Richard Maltby Jr. (Ain't Misbehavin', Miss Saigon, Fosse) and a book by John Dempsey (The Pirate Queen, The Witches of Eastwick). The musical will then be translated back into Chinese for a world premiere in Shanghai in 2018. English-language productions are also planned for New York and other cities throughout the U.S. following the Chinese premiere.

Discography

Key productions

} , , Zheng Yi , - , 1984 , , ''Rock'n Roll Stage'' zh, t=搖滾舞台, labels=no , , Xue Yue , - , 1985 , , ''Busy and Blind'' zh, t=忙與盲, labels=no , ,

, - , 1986 , , ''New Love/Old Love'' zh, t=舊愛新歡, labels=no , , Michelle Pan , - , 1987 , , ''Direction of the Heart'' zh, c=心的方向, labels=no , ,

, - , 1988 , , ''Heart of a Woman'' zh, c=女人心, labels=no , ,

, - , 1989 , , ''Talk to You, Listen to You'' zh, t=跟你說聽你說, labels=no , , Sarah Chen , - , 1991 , , ''The First Time'' zh, t=第一次, labels=no , ,

, - , 1993 , , ''Worrying'' zh, c=心事, labels=no , , Jeff Chang , - , 1994 , , ''Understanding'' zh, t=領悟, labels=no , ,

, - , 1995 , , ''Scar'' zh, t=傷痕, labels=no , , Sandy Lam , - , 1999 , , ''Growing Up'' zh, t=一夜長大, labels=no , , Fish Leong , - , 2000 , , ''Twelfth Floor'' zh, t=十二樓, labels=no , , Karen Mok , - , 2001 , , ''Day Lilies'' zh, t=忘憂草, labels=no , ,

, - , 2002 , , ''Princess-D'' OST zh, t=想飛, labels=noOST , , Various , - , 2004 , , ''20/30/40'' OST zh, c=女人二十三十四十, labels=noOST , , Various , - , 2009 , , ''North Bound'' (EP) zh, t=縱貫線北上列車, labels=noEP , , Superband , - , 2010 , , ''Go South'' (EP) zh, t=縱貫線南下列車, labels=noEP , , Superband , - , 2011 , , ''Pure'' zh, c=原色, labels=no , , Aska Yang , - , 2014 , , ''What's Next'' zh, t=接下來是什麼, labels=no , , Ann Bai , - , 2017 , , ''Still An Outlander'' zh, t=仍是異鄉人, labels=no , , Li Jianqing

Discography

} , - , 1989 , , '' Works of Jonathan Lee'' 1984–1989 zh, t=李宗盛作品集, labels=no , - , 1993 , , ''2 X Man Life / Jonathan Lee & Lowell Lo'' zh, t=李宗盛＆盧冠廷／我們就是這樣, labels=no , - , 1994 , , ''Reluctantly'' zh, t=李宗盛的音樂旅程-不捨, labels=no

Film theme songs/score productions

* 1983 '' Growing Up'' * 1983 '' The Boys from Fengkuei'' * 1984 ''Ah Fei'' * 1987 ''Listen to Me'' * 1991 ''Sisters of the World Unite'' – nominated for Hong Kong Film Awards "Best Original Film Score” * 1992 '' Police Story 3: Super Cop'' * 1992 ''Three Summers'' * 2014 ''Dream Flight''

Television theme songs productions

* 1991 ''Farewell'' (TV drama) – theme song / TTV ( Taiwan Television Enterprise) * 1991 ''Eternal Love Like Ocean (碧海情天)'' (TV drama) theme and ending credit songs – "Ordinary Man" (凡人歌) and "Eternal Love Like Ocean"/TTV * 1992 ''The Last Emperor'' (TV drama) theme song – "Infatuation"/TTV * 1993 ''Young Heroes'' (TV drama) theme song – "Happy Like Gods"/TTV * 1993 ''Happy Building'' (TV drama) theme and ending credit songs/CTS ( Chinese Television System) * 1994 ''Chivalry Under the Blue Sky'' (TV drama) ending credit song/TTV * 1996 ''The New Longmen Roadhouse'' (TV drama) ending credit song/TTV

Songs for advertisements/commercials

* 1986 Little Cook Instant Noodles – Beef Flavor * 1987 Laurel Frozen Dumpling * 1989 Sprite and

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

* 1990 PECOS Soy Milk * 1991 FUJI COLOR Fuji Films * 1992 Yamaha Corporate Song * 1992

China Airlines China Airlines (CAL; zh, t=中華航空, poj=Tiong-hôa Hâng-khong, p=Zhōnghuá Hángkōng, first=t, c=, s=) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan). It is one of Taiwan's two major airlines, along with E ...

*1992 Paolyta-B (energy drink) * 1993 HeySong Sarsaparilla Drink * 1993

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

* 1993 Maxwell House Coffee * 1999

Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...

Whisky * 2016 Apple China – Send you a Spring Festival Song

Filmography

Film

* 1983 ''Growing Up'' zh, t=小畢的故事, labels=no * 1983 '' The Boys from Fengkuei'' zh, t=風櫃來的人, labels=no * 1984 ''Ah Fei'' zh, t=油麻菜籽, labels=no * 1985 ''My Favorite Season'' zh, t=最想念的季節, labels=no * 1986 ''The Lock of Hearts'' zh, t=心鎖, labels=no * 1987 ''Listen to Me'' zh, t=我有話要說, labels=no * 1988 ''Friendly Shock (Yaya)'' zh, t=天崩地裂, labels=no

Television

* 1985 ''What''/TTV * 1990 ''Sunday Fever – Apocalypse'' (variety show)/TTV

Concerts

* 2006–2009 Sense and Sensibility World Tour (11 Shows) * 2009–2010 Superband World Tour (58 Shows)

Radio programs

* "Talking Past Each Other" – Host / Taiwan PBS (Police Broadcasting Service) – nominated for Taiwan's

Golden Bell Awards The Golden Bell Awards () is an annual Taiwanese television and radio production award presented in October or November each year by the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, a division of Taiwan's Ministry of Culture (Taiwan), M ...

for "Popular Music Radio Program" and "Best Radio DJ” * "Appointment After Dusk" – Host / PBS * "Musician" – Host / i like radio ( Broadcasting Corporation of China) – won

Best Radio DJ Award

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Lyrics of songs composed by Lee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jonathan 1958 births Living people 20th-century Taiwanese male singers 21st-century Taiwanese male singers 21st-century Taiwanese singers Musicians from Taipei Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriters Taiwanese record producers Superband (band) members