''You Make Me Free Make Me Fly!'' () is the third studio album by Taiwanese singer

A-Mei Kulilay Amit (; born 9 August 1972), better known by her stage name A-Mei, is a Taiwanese singer and record producer of Puyuma descent. Born as Amit Kulilay in eastern Taiwan, she made her debut in 1996. A leading figure of the Mandopop music ...

. It was released on December 29, 1997, by

Forward Music Forward Music is a Lebanon based independent record label specializing in World Music. History Forward Music was established in 2001 by Ghazi Abdel Baki as a music label. Today, Forward Music is an independent label that produces and distribute ...

. The album was recorded as an in advance listen for A-Mei's 1998 live stadium concert. The record features

cover versions In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released ...

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

songs, except for the tracks "You Make Me Free" and "I Do Not Mind." ''You Make Me Free Make Me Fly!'' has sold 800,000 copies in Taiwan and over 4 million copies throughout Asia to date.

Background and production

On June 7, 1997, A-Mei released her highly anticipated sophomore album '' Bad Boy''. It became an immediate success and went on to become Taiwan's highest selling album of all time, with sales of approximately 1.38 million copies nationwide. Additionally, ''Bad Boy'' went on to sell more than six million copies across Asia, establishing A-Mei as a dominant force on the music charts. However, tragedy struck five months after its release date. Her manager and mentor

Chang Yu-sheng 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, Penghu, Taiwan on June 7, 1966. His mother was Atayal and his father was a veteran of ...

died on November 12, 1997, at age 31, after falling into a coma for 24 days due to a

car crash 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 ...

that occurred on October 20, 1997. Without Chang to be there as her guide, the

mainstream media In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large Mass media, mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Noam Chomsky, Choms ...

speculated that A-Mei would lose her way and eventually fade into oblivion. Shortly after Chang's death, A-Mei decided to take a huge leap in her career by formally announcing a solo stadium concert. This announcement broke the record for the shortest time a large-scale concert has been held by a Taiwanese singer since their debut (there was only 1 year and 28 days between the release date of the first album and the date of the concert). However, her first two records didn't have enough songs for a three hour live show. To pan out the songbook, Forward Music hurriedly released ''You Make Me Free Make Me Fly!'' which contained covers of both English and Mandarin songs; with the exception of two original numbers ("You Make Me Free" and "I Do Not Mind").

Live performances

On January 10, 1998, A-Mei held her first large-scale ticketed concert titled A-Mei Live in Concert 1998. It became the fastest-selling concert in Taiwan in the past 10 years and had a very fanatic audience, with both shows at the

Taipei Municipal Stadium The Taipei Municipal Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Taipei, Taiwan. The original stadium, built in 1956, was used mostly for track and field events. Entertainer Michael Jackson performed two concerts there during his '' Dangerous Worl ...

and Central Park Kaohsiung being full houses. On March 21 and 22, she held two ticketed concerts at

Hong Kong Coliseum Hong Kong Coliseum (), commonly and informally known as the Hung Hom Coliseum (, ) is a multi-purpose indoor arena, in Hung Hom Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong near Hung Hom station. It is in Yau Tsim Mong District. It was built by the Urban Council ...

, which won the hearts of Hong Kongese fans. The two

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

concerts were sold out within 8 hours after tickets going on sale, breaking the fastest ticket selling record in Hong Kong at the time. The 2 shows at the

Singapore Indoor Stadium The Singapore Indoor Stadium, known exonymously as the Indoor Stadium, is an indoor arena located in Kallang, Singapore. It is within walking distance of the Singapore National Stadium, and collectively form a part of the wider Singapore S ...

also set a number of records, including the record for the fastest sold-out concert: the first show was sold out within 10 hours while the second was sold out within 8 hours. Along with her gobsmacking vocals, her charismatic and infectious stage performances became her trademark, and further cemented A-Mei's status as the top

diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...

Chinese pop music C-pop is an abbreviation for Chinese popular music (), a loosely defined musical genre by artists originating from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan (the Greater China region). This also includes countries where Chinese languages are used by ...

. In all, the

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

Background and production

Live performances

Track listing

Charts

Sales

References