Chinese name: 吳鶯音 (Traditional)
Chinese name: 吴莺音 (Simplified)

Born: 1922, Shanghai, China
Died: 17 Dec 2009, Los Angeles, USA

Wu Yingyin was born in 1922 under the birth name Wu Jianqiu (吳健秋) in Shanghai. She was a famous singer. By the 1940s, she became one of the seven great singing stars.

Wu was born to an intellectual family with her father as a chemical engineer and mother a doctor. She enjoyed singing to radio tunes at an early age. She originally wanted to go to the Shanghai Academy of Music, but her parents opposed the idea and claimed that the music industry was for individuals with no real ambition. She later began singing for radio stations at night, particularly for the children's programs.

Wu had a soft singing voice that made her a success. She continued to sing without her family knowing so and used the stage name "Wu Yingyin". The buzz later got around about a new singer.

In 1945 she became a nightclub singer and garnered acclaim for her performances. Most of her vocal techniques were self-taught. At the age of 24, she participated in a nightclub competition. Winning the crown, she was discovered and immediately signed to a contract with Pathé Records (China) record company. Her first record (我想忘了你 "I Want to Forget You") became a hit. In total, Pathé Records produced 30 albums for her.

In 1955 she joined a Shanghai broadcasting station (上海人民广播电台广). She relocated to Hong Kong in 1957 where she continued her singing career. She returned to China for recordings in 1983 in Guangzhou. In July 1984, she moved from Hong Kong to Pasadena, California. At the age of 80, she was still singing in overseas Chinese neighborhood community events for charitable causes. At the time, she was regarded as one of the world's oldest active singers.

She would also sing in Singapore, and on January 3, 2003 she was invited to perform at the Shanghai Grand Theatre.
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