Chang Yu-sheng

Biography

Tom Chang Yu-sheng (7 June 1966 – 12 November 1997) was a Taiwanese pop vocalist, songwriter and record producer.

Biography

Chang was born in Magong, Penghu, Taiwan, on 7 June 1966. His mother was Atayal and his father was a veteran of the ROC military. As the eldest child, he had two younger brothers and two younger sisters. He graduated from the National Chengchi University. In his spare time, he was keen on music, basketball, swimming, and reading.
He was known for his high vocals, capable of reaching notes up to D#6. His voice has been compared by some to Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply.
Chang died on 12 November 1997, at 31 years old, after being in a car accident on 20 October 1997.

Career

Being influenced deeply by Western rock music, Chang 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 success, selling 350 thousand records within the regions, before singing the soundtrack of a popular movie, Seven Wolves, starring him in one of the leading roles. After his graduation in 1989, he was nominated for "Best New Artist" at the Golden Melody Awards for his second album, Miss Me, with most songs co-written by himself.
He then developed his career as a singer-songwriter, attempting to introduce different genres of contemporary music 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 Puyuma singer A-Mei, then a freelance pub singer, to his record label. Believing in her potential, Chang became A-Mei's vocal tutor, producer and supervisor.
Soon after producing her 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 is among the most prominent figures when it comes to Chinese language music, with most of his commercial failures later considered to be masterpieces.