Chang Yu-sheng

Tom Chang Yu-sheng
Born
Chang Yu-sheng

(1966-06-07)June 7, 1966
DiedNovember 12, 1997(1997-11-12) (aged 31)
Alma materNational Chengchi University
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter (composer & lyricist), record producer
Years active1988-1997
Parent(s)Chang Kin-ming
Chang Hui-mei
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese張雨生
Simplified Chinese张雨生
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhāng Yǔshēng
Musical career
GenresMandopop
Instrument(s)Guitar, keyboard
Websitewww.yu-sheng.org

Tom Chang Yu-sheng (Chinese: 張雨生; June 7, 1966 – November 12, 1997) was a Taiwanese pop vocalist, songwriter and record producer. Born in 1966, Chang was the eldest among his other four siblings whose mother is Atayal and father a veteran of the ROC military. Being influenced deeply by Western rock music, he had participated in two metal bands at university before he gained publicity with a beverage tie-in ballad "My Future isn't a Pipe Dream" in 1988. In that year, Chang also released his debut album "Always Missing You" to a success, selling 350 thousand records within the regions, before singing the soundtrack of a popular movie Seven Wolves starring him as one of the leading roles. After his graduation in 1989, he was nominated "The Best New Artist" in th for his second album "Miss Me" with most songs co-written by himself. He developed his career as a singer-songwriter since then, endeavoring different genres of contemporary music and attempting to introduce them to the general public despite ups and downs. With moderate to low commercial successes of his subsequent albums, Chang focused more on backstage roles, including music production and songwriting for theater performances. He introduced A-Mei, a Puyuma and pub singer, to his record label whom he met during causal visits. Believing in her potential, Chang became A-Mei's vocal tutor, producer and supervisor. Soon after producing A-Mei's debut and second albums, which were released to a huge success in 1996 and 1997, he died at 31 years old. Renowned for his sopranist vocal range, significance to the development of the local music industry and versatility, Chang is widely referred to as "The Magician of Music in Chinese" and among the most prominent figures when it comes to Chinese language music with most of his commercial failure later considered to be masterpieces.