Two years ago today, in Shunyi, Beijing, a middle-aged man with a melancholy face slowly walked into the basement where he could not see the sun for many years, took out a rope, and used it to end his life.
As his family poured into the cramped, cramped basement, the lean man hung there, and on the floor were his beloved drum racks, drum scores, and drumsticks.
Behind this man, there were countless brilliant battle achievements. Music critic Zhang Xiaozhou once described him as "the first generation of drummers since China's reform and opening up" and "the originator of Chinese drummers".
His name is Zhang Yongguang, and he also has a name in the famous rock circle "Drum San'er".
Zhang Yongguang was born in Beijing in 1962, the third oldest in his family. This is also the origin of the later title of "Drum Three".
Because of his father, he began to learn musical instruments at a very young age. At the age of 16, after returning from the army, he was successfully admitted to the Central Song and Dance Troupe and played as a cheerer in the troupe.
In an interview with Vista Looking at the World, Zhang Yongguang once talked about the beginning of his drumming career. At the age of 21, he went to Suzhou to collect wind, and at a young age, he was shocked by an old artist who played small drums.
The old artist flipped his hands over, and each stroke seemed to look at the hearts of the onlookers with hatred, Zhang Yongguang felt the charm of the drum for the first time, and he felt that this instrument could truly vent the tension of his life.
Indeed, Zhang Yongguang, who took over the drumstick, was out of control. Benches, wooden barrels, iron barrels, in that era of material scarcity, what could be used to replace drums, were almost all beaten by him.
Some people recall that this young man often broke a lot of things with foreign songs on the tape recorder.
This diligence also tempered his skills, and in 86, he formed the ADO with Liu Yuan and others. Their album "Rock on the New Long March Road" with Cui Jian has also become an immortal classic.
He once recalled that old Cui went to his house with a friend of his that night and asked him if he would like to make music together. Zhang Yongguang was originally a bold person, and agreed without saying a word.
At that time, in an era full of vitality, the two of them quickly ushered in their peak. That peak was Cui Jian's 1992 North Exhibition concert.
In the face of thousands of spectators, Zhang Yongguang looked serious, he raised his green tendons and burst his arms and struggled to wave the drumsticks in his hands, and in the audience's continuous applause, he almost overturned the roof!
Black Panther drummer Zhao Mingyi said that after returning to the scene, the audience was shouting another name, "Drum San'er", in addition to calling Cui Jian. He said with emotion: "This is the highest affirmation that a drummer can get." ”
Cui Jianbei Exhibition Concert "Nothing"
For a while, Zhang Yongguang inadvertently contracted drugs. Over the years, his body was gradually eroded by drugs, and both his physical function and mental state became very bad. He was like a martial arts master with severe poison in his body, watching himself lose his martial arts little by little.
He thought about drug rehabilitation, which was his most difficult time, and it was said that he would hit his head and bleed because he could not control his addiction, and he would travel to various drug rehabilitation centers to seek help.
It wasn't until 2000 that he said goodbye to drug addiction once and for all. The day he quit his addiction, he truly felt that his new life had begun.
Five years later, Zhang Yongguang once again regained his drum skills, and in front of countless audiences, he once again proved that he was worthy of the title of "Drum King".
That day, he participated in Xu Wei's "Out of Print Youth" concert...
Xu Wei's "Elsewhere" introduces Zhang Yongguang
That concert was one of the most classic scenes in the history of Chinese rock and roll, and tens of thousands of fans poured in that night. Before singing "Elsewhere", Zhang Yongguang wore sunglasses in the midst of deafening cheers, Solo made a piece of drums, majestic, a royal style.
When Xu Wei introduced him to the audience, he respectfully called him a "good teacher and good friend".
In 2006, he stood with Cui Jian again and performed a classic unplugged scene. Halfway through the show, he took off his clothes on stage, revealing his strong arms.
Standing with this group of old friends, he looks particularly relaxed, he has been groping and playing for so many years, experiencing booms and cold scenes, and life encounters are also ups and downs. But in the midst of countless trade-offs, he chose to continue rocking.
Behind the drums he laughed like a teenager...
Later, he chose to leave, some people said that he could not bear the bottomless loneliness in reality, and some people said that he was afraid that he would grow old and would never be able to keep up with this era, no matter what the real situation was, he still left without resignation.
At his memorial service, his decades-old friends came one after another. Zhang Youjiao choked up several times as soon as he opened his mouth, Wang Yong rushed to the scene with the hat that Gu San'er sent him, and Liang Heping, who was paraplegic in a high position, recorded a passage on the bed and specially entrusted someone to bring it to the scene.
On that day, Cui Jian arrived in white and white hats, and he performed a song "From the Beginning Again", and the drum part was extracted from the previous recordings of Zhang Yongguang, the third drum. As soon as the drum sounded, thousands of emotions surged into my heart. In addition to sadness, we can feel a kind of resilience.
Cui Jian performed "Start Over Again" at the memorial service
To this day, the drum king has been out of this world for two years. We don't need to say more, but the living must go on with this tenacity and courage.
I still remember a sentence said by his wife, Jiang Xin: "Life is a journey intertwined with sorrow and joy... Rest assured, I will continue to insist on all this. ”
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