Seven Songstresses in the Bund of Shanghai

Chinese singer Yao Li (Sept 1922 - ). File photo

4. Yao Li (Sept 1922 - )

A young Yao Li accompanied her uncle to a recording session at a local radio station. Zhou Xuan and her husband, actor and composer Yan Hua, inadvertently heard Yao sing on the radio. The duo found the starlet, signed her to Baidai Recording Company and introduced her, later referred to as the "Silver Voice", to the audience. Yao is known for incorporating blues into her songs, a rare move by Chinese singers at the time, after she was heavily influenced by Patti Page. She also actively participated in singing theme songs for films. During her time on stage for 30 years, she released several hundred records. She was also the only one in the "great seven" who solely focused on her singing career and never tapped into acting.

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