China: Yao Lee (1922 - ), one of the 'seven great singing stars' in Shanghai during the 1930s and 1940s

Yao Lee (姚莉), also known as Yiu Lei and Miss Hue Lee, was a Chinese singer from the 1930s to the 1970s. By the 1940s, she became one of the seven great singing stars.

Born in Shanghai, Yao began performing with a radio appearance there in 1935 at the age of 13. She was signed to Pathe Records. Yao was known as 'the Silver Voice' (銀嗓子) alluding to fellow Shanghai singer Zhou Xuan, who was known as 'the Golden Voice' (金嗓子).

Following the Communist seizure of power in China in 1949, popular music was considered ideologically suspect and Yao fled to Hong Kong in 1950 to continue her singing career there. She stopped singing in 1967 with the death of her brother, but took an executive position with EMI Music Hong Kong in 1969.

In 1970, she returned to performing and traveled to Taiwan to perform there for the first time and sought unsuccessfully to sign Teresa Teng to EMI for the Hong Kong market. She retired officially in 1975.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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OLD SHANGHAI