Qian Lin (born March 11, 1991), better known in Japan as , is a Chinese singer. She is a former

Morning Musume , formerly simply and colloquially referred to as , are a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most top ten singles with an ...

member and leader of the

Hello! Project is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups under Up-Front Promotion, a subsidiary of Up-Front Group. The name was initially used as Michiyo Heike and Morning Musume's fan club name in 1999, but ...

sub-group Shin Minimoni. She was announced to be joining as the eighth generation of Morning Musume on March 15, 2007. Along with

Li Chun Li Chun or Lichun may refer to: People Given name "Chun" surname "Li" *Emperor Xianzong of Tang (778–820), personal name Li Chun, emperor of the Tang dynasty *Li Chun (warlord) (1867–1920), Chinese general * Li Chun (diplomat) (1892–1948), C ...

, she is one of the only two members in the history of Morning Musume that are of non- Japanese origin.

Biography

Linlin was born in

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, wh ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by ...

, China. In the second grade of

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

(1999), she was spotted by a local

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the ear ...

. Since then, she has been active in the entertainment industry, appearing in many

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

s and other shows as a host in China. Through the recommendation of a friend of

Tsunku , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer, record producer, and songwriter. He is the lead singer of the rock band Sharam Q. As a songwriter, Tsunku is the primary producer for Morning Musume and other Hello! Project acts, such as Cocon ...

, the producer of

(which Morning Musume is under), Linlin joined

as a part of

Hello! Pro Egg (formerly known as until January 2012) is a pre-debut training group established by Japanese entertainment agency Up-Front Group within Hello! Project is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and grou ...

, a training center for practicing

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung accompaniment, wi ...

and

dancing Dance is a performing art art form, form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolism (arts), symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its chor ...

. On March 15, 2007, she (along with

Junjun Junjun may refer to: * JunJun, a character from the ''Sailor Moon'' franchise *Junjun (singer) (born 1988), former member of the all-girl J-pop group Morning Musume *Hilario Davide III (born 1964), Filipino politician *Jejomar Binay Jr. (born 1977 ...

) were officially announced to be joining the eighth generation of all girl

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the ...

group Morning Musume, as a "foreign student". After seeing her perform at

concerts A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety an ...

was impressed and believed that she and Junjun would be key for Morning Musume's planned expansion into

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

in 2007. Three days later, on March 18, 2007, she made her Japanese

debut on

Hello! Morning was a weekly Japanese TV show featuring members of Morning Musume, and sometimes other Hello! Project members on TV Tokyo. It was also known by the shorter name of . On April 1, 2007, the show ended after seven years of broadcast. A new show f ...

. Within the same week, she moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. After two years performing with Morning Musume,

announced on his

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

that Linlin would become the

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

of the new

Minimoni was a sub-unit of the Japanese idol girl groups Morning Musume and Coconuts Musume. It was formed by Up-Front Promotion in 2000 and associated with Hello! Project. The group was founded by Morning Musume members Mari Yaguchi, Nozomi Tsuji, and ...

. In the Morning Musume 2010 ~Rival Survival~ fall

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

tour, Linlin graduated from Morning Musume and Hello Project along with

and Eri Kamei. Due to her graduating from Morning Musume and Hello Project, she also left the group

. On August 12, 2011,

Takamasa Sakurai was a Japanese pop culture and anime expert. Sakurai was a strong proponent for the promotion of Japanese popular culture internationally as a means of cultural exchange and cultural diplomacy. His projects promoted Japanese anime, fashion and m ...

Tweeted that Linlin and the former

member

Akari Saho is a Japanese singer. She is a member of Up-Up Girls and a former member of Hello! Pro Egg, a Japanese idol trainee program under the Hello! Project umbrella. She was also an original member of Shugo Chara Egg!, and played the role of Amulet ...

, would be forming a special unit. They will be performing a mini live at a Harajuku fashion show in Harbin, China.

Personal life

On June 25, 2016, Qian revealed on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that she had been married in November 2014 after three months of dating and gave birth to a child in September 2015.

Discography

EPs

References

External links

Qian Lin's official Blog on Sina.com.cn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qian, Lin 1991 births Japanese female idols Japanese-language singers Chinese pop singers Chinese women singers Living people Chinese expatriates in Japan Morning Musume members Minimoni members Musicians from Hangzhou Japanese-language singers of China