Today is the death day of Danny Chen Baiqiang, he has been away from us for 28 years, in the glorious 80s, Chen Baiqiang once called Tan Yonglin, Zhang Guorong, Mei Yanfang and called "Tan Zhang Mei Chen", equivalent to the earliest batch of "Four Heavenly Kings".
Fate is uncertain, the heavens always love to joke, between Chen Baiqiang's life, the gossip about him has been amplified and hyped by the media, after his death, it is even more unclear rumors flying everywhere, whether it is careful eyes, homosexuality or AIDS, all kinds of stigma pouring towards him.
Life is better than movies.
Today we walk into Danny's world together and restore a real Chen Baiqiang.
Dancing boy, mistakenly into mortal dust
Danny Chan (Born 7 September 1958 – 25 October 1993) was a Hong Kong singer and actor from Taishan, Guangdong Province.
Although Danny is the only son of his father Chen Pengfei's second wife, this does not affect Chen Father's doting on this young son. While studying at St. Paul's College, Danny was keen to participate in music events large and small, and was more proficient in electronic keyboards and pianos.
During that period, Danny hoped to study music abroad, and Chen's father hoped that he could inherit the family business, Danny joined the Then Hong Kong pop band Losers, and recognized the lead singer of the team, Ah B (Zhong Zhentao), as a dry brother, and then Chen's father sent him to the United States to study business.
Danny, who returned to Hong Kong in 1977 due to family affairs, won the first prize in the Hong Kong Yamaha Electronic Keyboard Competition, and in the same year won the third place in a "pop songwriting competition" with a song "Rocky Road".
In 1979, he was officially affiliated with EMI Records by the manager Tam Kwok Ki Lo, and launched his first solo album "FirstLove", which became a hit, and the composition "Tears For You" in the album won the top ten Chinese gold songs of Radio Television Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is lacking a pop idol at this time, and Danny looks sunny, handsome, noble temperament, after being packaged by the record company, he has become the dream lover of thousands of young girls, he is the first idol singer in the Hong Kong pop music scene.
Being an idol was not his original intention, he considered himself a creative type. Although this kind of singer who can write music is not a novelty today, it seems a little unusual under the popular cover style at that time, which may also be the beginning of the tragedy.
In 1980, he released his second solo album "No More Tears", which included "No More Tears" and "Last Night's Dream of You"; later, he released his debut album "A Few Minutes of Dating" after switching to Warner Records, which won platinum sales; on November 17, the first solo performance "Chen Baiqiang Concert" was held at the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall.
In the same year, he played the leading role in the youth school theme movie "Cheers", and composed and sang the theme song of the same name.
Danny set up a small unit on Rock Road and began living alone. "He said he had grown up, so he had to learn to take care of himself, and when he moved out, he was accompanied only by intoxicated music."
On August 26, 1981, the starring role of "Unemployed Student" was released in Hong Kong; with Weng Jingjing, Zhuang Jinger and Mao Shunjun co-starred in the wireless youth drama "Breakthrough"; in the same year, the Cantonese album "Sunflower, With You" was launched, including his personal compositions "Footprints in the Beach" and "Sunflower"; on August 26, the starring "Unemployed Student" was released in Hong Kong, China; in the same year, two solo singing were held in one day at the Hong Kong College Hall.
When he was pushed to the peak wave after wave, he was obviously not prepared for this kind of psychological preparation, and the young man seemed to be feeling the pressure.
The vector is like maggots, and gossip is all over the sky
Famous, naturally there are many entertainment records hope to do interviews, but he and the reporter played Tai Chi, unwilling to answer those superficial questions, uncooperative attitude is a headache, the public finally saw Chen Gongzi's arrogant, self-sufficiency side.
On June 27 of the same year, the Hong Kong Weekly unceremoniously typed the following words on the cover: "Chen Baiqiang is cold-blooded and lonely."
In the text, he confessed: "I am sick, rushed out of the drama, and the tonsils are inflamed." Only five hours of sleep a day put my mood at a low ebb. Thirty-three degrees celsius hot day should go out to sea to sunbathe, but I was in a hurry. I don't act in too many TV and movies, there is too much exposure, and the audience is easily bored. I hope to be like Guan Zhengjie, enthusiastic about singing, rather than singing for money. ”
When a person is in the high stage of career advancement, perhaps in this way, there will be people who praise him for having character, but the various slanders that occur in the future of this kind of speech and behavior lay the foundation for the bane.
In 1982, the Cantonese album "Talk"; after the release of the album reached three platinum sales, the song "Tonight Is Precious" was not only selected for the first season of the Top Ten Songs Golden Song, but also won the Top Ten Golden Melody Awards and the Most Popular Award in the AGB Audience Lottery Survey at the Top Ten Song Awards Ceremony; in July, two concerts were held at the Wan Chai Pavilion in Hong Kong; in October, he went to the United States to study music; in the same year, the album "Breakthrough Selection" also won three platinum sales, of which the song "Ripples" composed by Chen Baiqiang was composed by Chen Baiqiang. Won the Golden Melody Award of the Top 10 Chinese of Radio Television Hong Kong.
This year, a big thing in his life was that he was reported to have taken thirty sleeping pills to calm the nerves, of course, it was ridiculous to say that he had so many at once, but it was a fact that he was trapped in severe insomnia and took sleeping pills, and afterwards he said that he was surprised that he only slept for a day and did not need to go to the hospital to wash his stomach.
It is said that he suffered from congenital ear sensitivity, which prevented him from sleeping normally.
Now that I think about it, it may be a lack of security and the pressure caused by the big red after entering the entertainment circle, unconsciously, his habit of sleeping pills has developed into a future drug delivery with wine and eventually led to serious consequences.
And this period is undoubtedly the most exciting and happy day for Danny people.
Chen Baiqiang, who plays mahjong
In 1983, he released the Cantonese album "Partial Like You", which reached platinum sales after its release; among them, the song "Partial Like You" composed by him personally attracted attention in the Hong Kong music scene, becoming the fourth season of the top ten golden songs and winning the RTHK Top Ten Chinese golden melody awards; in the same year, he served as the host of the Hong Kong TVB program "Self-contained Style"; in September, he held two solo concerts at the Hung Hom Sports Centre in Hong Kong for the first time.
Zha Xiaoxin said: "We only feel the presence of Chen Baiqiang, and it is not easy to see his traces."
He has always kept his distance from the media.
When the red fried chicken, the more the criticism spreads, the hotter and hotter
In 1984, Danny tried to change course, adding the breakdancing song "Genesis" and the dance element song "Pink Life" to the Cantonese album "Top 100 84", the album won platinum sales, the anti-drug theme song "Picking the Star" won the Top Ten Chinese Golden Melody Award; in the same year, he launched the English album "Me What Can I Do" with folk singer CrystalGayle in Japan; participated in the Tokyo International Ballad Festival and won the "Tell Me What" Most Charismatic Singer" award; at the end of the year, Chen Baiqiang co-starred with Mai Jia and Zhang Guorong in the feature film "Merry Christmas".
Let's take a look at the local music scene in Hong Kong in 1984, first of all, Tan Yonglin entered the top ten Chinese songs with a song "Rain and Sorrow" in 1982, and then maintained one to two songs every year to enter the top ten, and in the golden songs that began to be awarded in 1983, Tan was also selected with a song "Late Spring", and the award record has been maintained after announcing that he will not accept the award.
Similarly, in 1984, Zhang Guorong entered the top ten with a song "Monica", which is also the beginning of a real hit for him who has been waiting for 8 years.
As for female singers, in 1983, Mui Yanfang entered the top ten of radio Chinese Hong Kong with a song "Red Doubts", and since then she has also begun her position as the best female singer in Hong Kong for several years.
These are not really dangerous for Danny, and his biggest problem lies in the attitude of not being in tune with the record companies and the major media.
In the same year, he was rumored to be gay, and at the end of December of that year, Chen Baiqiang took a group photo with a friend of foreigners on the cover of Ming Pao Weekly: "Both pairs spend Christmas in pairs, and the inside is different."
In 1985, he released the album "Chen Baiqiang Selection", of which the song "Wait" was selected as the first season of the top ten golden songs; in July, he released the album "Deeply in Love with You" and served as the supervising producer of the album; the album contained the song "The Fate of Hope" and "Love Trailer", and the album's eponymous song "Deeply In Love With You" was selected as the second season of the Top Ten Golden Songs Season; in January, he held 3 Chen Baiqiang 85 concerts at the Hung Hom Sports Centre in Hong Kong, and imitated the performance method of black singer Prince in the concert; in June, He went to Atlantic City, Toronto, Vancouver and other places to hold ACC tours, and then signed a contract with Debao Film Company to become a contract actor and guest starred in the movie "Eight Joys At the Gate".
At the beginning of the year, Danny appeared as an avant-garde crystal mask, becoming the first singer in Hong Kong to wear a mask to sing, and the whole concert was full of avant-garde and neutral music and image elements, but in Hong Kong that year, the audience could not accept it.
The media also finally waited for the day of revenge, this time they launched an all-out attack without leaving any mercy: suspected of being infected with AIDS.
In '84, Danny was admitted to the hospital with acute hepatitis and relapsed in 1985, but in media reports, saying that he was admitted to the hospital with AIDS, the headlines of the reports were exaggerated, which gradually made the audience gradually doubt him.
At the insistence of his family and Dr. Qianda, Danny was tested and obtained a health certificate in the hospital, but he refused to show it to the media by nature, and during his stay in the United States, he simply put on a T-shirt with the words "I have AIDS" to keep his friends who did not trust him and feared him farther away.
Zhang Guorong, who was once a fellow brother, rose in full swing in film and television songs with his own efforts and strength, and at the 85 concert, he specially chose Chen Baiqiang's famous song "Cheers" to sing, and laughed at himself with humor that he played a supporting role such as Li Xiangqin, and Chen Baiqiang could always get the protagonist as Yu Lizhen, one of which was Chen Baiqiang specially went to the scene, was pulled to the center of the stage by Zhang Guorong, the chorus of the two former brothers attracted bursts of applause, the original good story, but the media concealed Li Xiangqin's artistic career has been evergreen, Chen Baiqiang, on the other hand, was alluded to by Zhang Guorong as Yu Lizhen, who was about to set the sun, causing a controversy.
The parties have repeatedly stressed that they have no heart, but they still become victims of the media, and they are constantly being put together and compared.
Seeing through the world' feelings, people's hearts are cold and warm
On October 2, the famous American movie star RockHudson died, becoming the first star in Hollywood to die of AIDS, and the world was in an uproar, and the media once again played by this, publishing the article "Rockison is dead, will the next one be Chen Baiqiang?" 》。
It is said that these events affected his two hit songs "Wait" and "Deeply in Love with You" that year could not be selected as the top ten golden songs of the year.
Ray Songde once commented that "'Wait' is the best singer to compose and sing his own song." There aren't many singer-song-writers in Hong Kong, but there are also such talented people. The whole song and the interpretation are seamless, the singer is not singing, the listener is in the ears, it is a person's heart."
If you talk about the watershed of Danny's career line, 85 years is like a dividing line, so far, he has been completely surpassed by Tan Zhang, but it is not as reported, it is an "emotional disease of fame and fortune", it is completely destroyed by false reports.
Be brave enough to be Chen Baiqiang's own story
And his last album released before Warner's termination in '86, "When I Think of You", can no longer be seen. What is even more ironic is that this album, which was not much publicized, won a double platinum result that year.
In 1986, he joined DMI Records and invited Chan Ka Ying as the manager; in the same year, he launched the Cantonese album "Gaze", the song "Favorite" on the album was selected as the third season of the Top Ten Golden Songs Season, the album with the same name composed by Chan Baiqiang won the Top Ten Chinese Golden Songs of Radio Television Hong Kong, in September, he participated in Cheung Wanting's love movie "Fairy Tales of Autumn"; from December 6 to 7, two "Chen Baiqiang 86 Forward Concerts" were held at the Hung Hom Sports Centre in Hong Kong.
DMI Records is a joint venture under emi, founded by Pan Di Sheng, who also founded Deppo Films.
Danny, who switched to DMI, began another period in his musical journey. DMI gave Danny more freedom to play, not only as an executive producer of each record, but also personally involved in the design of the envelope idea; showing his artistic talent in other aspects. Every album in this period has a strong personal color of Chen Baiqiang.
With the accumulation of age and experience, the singer's soul is becoming more and more mature, so the way of interpreting the song has become subtle and introverted. This shift can be clearly felt in Danny's voice, luck, and voicing.
In 1987, he released "Crazy Heart in the Eyes", the title song of the same name was selected for the first season of the Top Ten Golden Songs Season and received platinum sales; in the same year, the album "Dreamer" was released, in which the song "Wrong Love" was the theme song of the TVB TV series of the same name, and the title song "My Story" became the fourth season song of the Top Ten Golden Songs and won the top ten Chinese golden songs; from September 5 to 6, two "Chen Baiqiang Continue to Move Forward Concerts" was held at the Macao Arena; in October, three solo concerts were held in Singapore.
Danny can compose music, but he doesn't arrange music, but he communicates with lyricists. Take My Story, for example
"Hide the face of the previous story and walk out for another day." The blankness of the eyes peeked at each day, as if there was no memory at all, as if there was no understanding at all, and looked back at the changes around him in silence. When the time continues to deceive me, it will always wait for a new day, a young man, for whom is it attached? It seems to be completely unconscious, it seems to be completely aimless, and then it is still willing to be far away. Can you feel that it is not me who is looking at you? Ask me why, I will only think more about it day by day. Whoever loves the tao will never change, as long as they are in love with each other, the rumors of pain are not shallow, the past has no trace, trapped in the heavy walls, who has not let happiness rebuild before. ”
Danny's childhood
Isn't this a reflection of his inner pain after the events of 85 years?
In 1988, the Cantonese album "Smoke and Rain Misery" won platinum sales, and the song of the album's eponymous name won the Top Ten Chinese golden melody awards and the Top Ten Golden Melody Awards; from April 1 to 4, four "Chen Baiqiang 88 Cunzhen Concerts" were held at the Hung Hom Sports Centre in Hong Kong; then 5 concerts were held at the Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou and 4 concerts were held at the Taishan Stadium; in August, the album "Silence Wins Sound", which not only reached five platinums, but also beat Tan Zhang's two major singers to the top of the sales volume; later launched the album "Silent Victory over Sound"; In July, he went to Japan to participate in the Nagasaki Asian Music Festival; from September 17 to October 2, he served as a guest performer at the opening ceremony of the Seoul Olympic Games; in December, he performed in Atlantic City, USA; in the same year, he won the Bronze Award for Male Singer in the Music Scene at the Awards Ceremony of the Pop Chart.
But DMI is a small company after all, and the distribution planning and publicity personnel are decided by EMI. The big sale of "Silence Is Better than Sound" during the DMI period made Warner Records beckon him again, promising him the best resources and hoping that he could return to Warner.
In 1989, he signed another contract with Warner Records; released the Cantonese album "What a Lifetime", the album's eponymous song "A Lifetime of What To Ask" is the theme song of wireless "Duty", and won the Top Ten Golden Songs of the Chinese and the Golden Melody Award of wireless top ten songs; in June, he participated in the Tokyo Music Festival and won the TBS Award for the song "PartialLy Like You"; in August, he held two "Feelings to the 10th Anniversary Concert" at the Sydney Convention Center in Australia; from September 29 to October 8, Six concerts to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Chan At the Hung Hom Sports Centre in Hong Kong were held, and in the same year, he won the Bronze Award for Male Singer in the Music Scene at the Billboard Pop Chart Awards Ceremony.
In 1990, he released "Romantic Heart Song Classic" (selection), of which "Half Split" entered the pop chart of the music scene; in the same year, "Waiting for You" was launched.
In 1991, the album "Love In L.A" was released and sold platinum; in March, three individual concerts of Chen Baiqiang were held, two concerts were held at the Foshan Gymnasium from December 28 to December 29, and "Only Because I Love You" was launched in the same year, and the song of the same name entered the third season of the Golden Song.
The "What to Ask for in a Lifetime" album became the top seller, which seems to have ushered in another peak of his career, the main song was sung to the end of the street, but Warner did not continue to praise him after this, for various reasons; but one thing is certain, at that time, the music industry needed fresh blood, and Warner's 90 years of strength was the best newcomer Zeng Hangsheng who won three major awards (top ten, golden songs, and the music world).
On July 18, 1989, he had revealed in the newspaper that he had the idea of gradually withdrawing from the music scene. From January 30 to February 1, 1992, three "Farewell To Shanghai Concerts" were held, and it was announced that he would bid farewell to the music scene at the end of the year.
Chen Baiqiang, "What to Ask for in Life"
On May 18, 1992, Danny fell unconscious after taking sleeping pills with alcohol and was subsequently taken to Queen Mary Hospital for treatment; warner joined the last two unreleased new songs, "Dear You" and "Inseparable", and launched "Dear You Chen Baiqiang 92 Selection".
He died on 25 October 1993 at the age of 35 and was buried in the Tseung Kwan O Chinese Forever Cemetery.
Chen Baiqiang and Teresa Teng
Zhihu commented on Danny:
His young experience is actually very similar to Zhang Guorong, both of them have a very good family, they have received an aristocratic education since childhood, and they have the experience of studying abroad, including "Cheers" and "Unemployed Student" The two also played the leading role together, and the two also became friends after entering the music world, although there were various frictions later; but the difference is that Zhang Guorong has been depressed when he first entered the music world, and Chen Baiqiang is famous for a long time, and he has not experienced the bitterness and bitterness of the entertainment industry. This is both the origin of Danny's noble temperament and the source of his later depression. In addition, Chen Baiqiang appears in the movie as a fresh, handsome and slightly introverted big boy image, which can be said to be his true color; I have to say that his acting skills are too restrained to let go of Zhang Guorong, which is why Chen Baiqiang failed to continue to try in this regard. And this shy and introverted personality is obviously not suitable for the entertainment industry. Starting from "Tears Flowing for You", Chen Baiqiang's creative talent has also been recognized, and soothing love songs have become the symbol of Danny. His score is always self-made, after all, it was debuted by the electronic keyboard competition. Many of Chen Baiqiang's songs in the later period also reflected his state of mind and feelings at that time, such as "Half a Life Man", "My Story", "A Life Cannot Be Self-Determined", "What to Ask for in a Lifetime", full of feelings and sincerity, and there are many classics. However, compared with Tan Yonglin and Zhang Guorong in the same period, Chen Baiqiang's song path is still narrow, and there are few fast songs (this point of evaluation is a matter of opinion). In addition, Zhang Guorong's dance and acting skills have greatly broadened his development scope; the principal's fame has been cultivated first and then advanced, and his influence should be better than that. After coming out of "Monica", especially in the late 80s, Danny had to bend under the glory of "Tan Zhang Scramble" many times, which was a blow to him who demanded perfection in contrast to the spring breeze when he debuted. In addition, the 1980s coincided with the heyday of the Hong Kong music scene, and the media's reports on the wind and shadows also made Chen Baiqiang, who was introverted and noble and not used to dealing with paparazzi, often overwhelmed, such as his relationship with Zhang Guorong, speculation about his delay in unmarried marriage, and questioning him about the creation of Jiang Langcai, which gave him great pressure. At that time, the singing environment forced the principal to give up receiving the award and Zhang Guorong to wash his hands, but the pressure on Danny, who was more introverted and kind and simple, could also be imagined (in fact, Chen Baiqiang was very concerned about other people's opinions in his heart). All kinds of pressures have caused Danny's creation to begin to decline, and the pressure given by the media has been even greater. Career is not smooth, much criticism, no progress in feelings, Chen Baiqiang even suffered from depression in the late 80s, depressed mood, often borrowed alcohol to dispel sorrows, and finally died.
His personality is not suitable for the entertainment industry, but the entertainment industry offers him the opportunity to show off his (talent and talent for dressing).
In March 1993, Danny had been in a coma in his hospital bed for ten months, and on this day a guest came to his hospital room, he was Zhang Guorong.
He sat on the edge of Danny's bed, looked at the unconscious Chen Baiqiang, and whispered "Danny" in his ear, but he still did not respond.
The two met in 1978, participated in three films together, and in 1981 participated in "Fundraising Concert for Paul Zhong" (when Paul Zhong was injured by a minibus), a friendship that was once so simple and happy, but finally it was speculated by the media that the battle for fame and fortune was hurt for no reason, which was unexpected by the two of them.
What was even more unexpected was that ten years later, Zhang Guorong was tormented by depression, and finally he ended his life in the way of "falling flowers like a fallen man".
After Zhang's death, he was successfully hyped into a commodity by the Hong Kong entertainment industry, which brought a lot of money.
On October 25, 2015, twenty-two years after Danny's departure, I accompanied my friends to pay homage to his tomb in Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong, and in front of his grave, my heart was sad and ashamed.
It is said that I once saw Danny himself in February 1992 among the tens of thousands of people in the Shanghai 10,000-person Stadium, which was a fortunate thing, but I was too young at that time, and the time interval was exactly twenty-three years, and many details were really forgotten, because I did not expect the first and last time.
Someone told me that he had a bad memory at that time, sang one song twice (because it was later encore), and sang "What to Ask for in Life" as if it were out of tune, and my impression of him was the same as on the cover of the record: polite, humble and courteous.
Because that day was the anniversary of the fans' self-organization, it gave me a noisy and chaotic feeling, and some people inexplicably prayed that Danny would bless him with wealth and well-being in the spirit of heaven. In such an environment, he is buried in the tomb for a long time, and he loves tranquility all his life...
Merit and fame, honor and disgrace, sorrow and joy... All this before he was born turned into a lonely posthumous affair.
We will always miss you, Danny❤