Cui Jian
| Cui Jian | |
|---|---|
Hohaiyan Rock Festival, Taiwan, 2007
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| Background information | |
| Chinese name | 崔健 |
| Pinyin | Cuī Jiàn (Mandarin) |
| Origin | China |
| Born |
2 August 1961 Beijing, China |
| Other name(s) | Mr. Cui (Chinese: 老崔; pinyin: lǎo Cuī) |
| Occupation | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Genre(s) | Chinese rock, punk rock, rap rock, electropunk |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, electric guitar, trumpet |
| Label(s) | Beijing East-West |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Ancestry | Korean |
| Website | www |
| Cui Jian | |
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 최건 |
|---|---|
| Hancha | |
| Revised Romanization | Choe Geon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'oe Kŏn |
Cui Jian ([tsʰwéɪ tɕjɛ̂n]; born 2 August 1961) is a Beijing-based Chinese singer-songwriter, trumpeter and guitarist. Affectionately called "Mr. Cui" (Chinese: 老崔; pinyin: lǎo Cuī), he is considered to be a pioneer in Chinese rock music and one of the first Chinese artists to write rock songs. For this distinction Cui Jian is often labeled "The Father of Chinese Rock".
Cui Jian grew up in a musical family in Beijing—his father was ethnic Korean and a professional trumpet player and his mother was a member of a Korean dance troupe. Cui Jian followed his father to start playing the trumpet at the age of fourteen and joined the Beijing Symphony Orchestra in 1981, at the age of twenty. He was first introduced to rock during this period when friends smuggled in illicit recordings from Hong Kong and Bangkok. Inspired by the likes of Simon and Garfunkel and John Denver, Cui began learning to play the guitar.
In 1984 he formed his first band, Qi He Ban (七合板, literally "Seven-Ply Board," but notably called "Seven-Player band") with six other classically trained musicians, including the saxophonist/suona player Liu Yuan. The seminal band was heavily influenced by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Talking Heads. They performed their own works—mostly soft rock and love songs—in local hotels and bars. With his band, Cui released his first cassette "Vagabond's Return" that same year. The album contained mellow, pop-oriented love songs, but also showcased songs with progressive and folk rock influences, which were fresh and innovative in China at the time. In 1985, the band released another album, titled "Cui Jian with Seven-Player band". The album featured a combination of Western pop rock, as well as new originals. It also featured more prominent use of the electric guitar, which was seldom used in Chinese popular music. Cui's departure from the band and subsequent solo career led him to become the most successful and influential musician in Chinese rock history.
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