Jonathan Lee

Biography

Jonathan Lee Chung-shan (Chinese: 李宗盛; pinyin: Lǐ Zōngshèng; born 19 July 1958) is a Taiwanese musician and producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential and respected figures in the world of Mandopop music.

Life and career

Lee began his career in the music industry during the 1970s, during Taiwan's popular "campus folk song" era. He was a member of the "Wood Guitar" band. In 1983, Lee made his debut as a music producer for the album Light Rain Just Comes in Time by Zheng Yi, which became an instant hit. The eponymous single "Light Rain Just Comes in Time" ranked No. 1 for 13 consecutive weeks on Taiwan's main music chart; the first single "End", a duet with Yvonne Jeng, written, composed and sung by Lee, also became a huge hit.
In 1984, Lee joined Rock Records, and has been credited with catapulting Rock Records into one of the foremost independent music labels in Asia. He helped pave the way for the golden era of Chinese pop music in the 1990s and 2000s, during which he wrote and produced many classic hits popular until today, setting impressive sales records, plus winning numerous accolades, such as Sarah Chen's "Dream to Awakening" (夢醒時分), Jackie Chan's "The Sincere Hero" (真心英雄), Wakin Chau's "You Make Me Happy and Sad" (讓我歡喜讓我憂), Jeff Chang's "Love is Like Tidal Wave" (愛如潮水), Sandy Lam's "It Doesn't Matter Who I Am" (不必在乎我是誰), Winnie Hsin's "Understanding" (領悟), Karen Mok's "Overcast" (陰天), and many more, which have all been hugely popular. As such, Lee has been hailed as the "million-dollar" producer, and deemed as the Godfather of Mandopop music, reaching and touching hundreds of millions of Chinese-speaking music fans around the world. He has been and remains one of the most successful and sought-after record producers in Chinese pop music scene. Given his iconic status in the Chinese music world, Lee's songs have influenced artists across Asia.
More than music production, Lee has also been involved in movie theme songs and OST projects, and having collaborated with many famous directors, including Hou Hsiao-hsien, Sylvia Chang, Jackie Chan, Chen Kaige, plus others.
In 2002, he founded his own guitar brand "Lee Guitars", and has been personally involved in the design and production of hand-made guitars ever since.
In 2009, Lee formed "Superband" with three other popular artists from Rock Records: Wakin Chau, Luo Dayou and Chang Chen-yue.
Lee also occasionally produces solo albums for himself and have recorded duets with many artists. His own songs "Jonathan's Song" in 2011 and "Hills" in 2013, both won "Song of the Year" and "Best Lyricist" awards at the 22nd and 25th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards respectively.
From 2013 to 2015, Lee embarked on his Even If Youth Is Never Lasting world tour, which kicked off in Taiwan, then toured on to China, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, the U.S., and U.K., etc., covering dozens of cities around the world, including two consecutive performances at Lincoln Center in New York, a first for a Chinese-speaking musician. He also held a concert at the famed Royal Albert Hall in London, also a first for a musician from Taiwan.
Lee also served as Chief A&R Consultant for Sony Music in Greater China from 2013 to 2016. In addition, Lee was also a driving force in introducing the renowned Blue Note Jazz Club to Beijing, China. In September 2016, Lee was joined by famous American jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea, for the grand opening of Blue Note in Beijing. His hope is to introduce the great American jazz music and culture, plus the many great jazz musicians, to the Chinese-speaking world.
In September 2017, it was announced that the Tony-winning Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, will help develop "Road to Heaven: The Jonathan Lee Musical", an original Chinese musical — in both Mandarin and English, based on music written by Lee. Adapted from the novel by Li Xiuwen, the original musical will feature music by Lee with English lyrics by Tony Award winner Richard Maltby Jr. (Ain't Misbehavin', Miss Saigon, Fosse) and a book by John Dempsey (The Pirate Queen, The Witches of Eastwick). The musical will then be translated back into Chinese for a world premiere in Shanghai in 2018. English-language productions are also planned for New York and other cities throughout the U.S. following the Chinese premiere.

Film theme songs/score productions

1983 Growing Up
1983 The Boys from Fengkuei
1984 Ah Fei
1987 Listen to Me
1991 Sisters of the World Unite – nominated for Hong Kong Film Awards "Best Original Film Score”
1992 Police Story 3: Super Cop
1992 Three Summers
2014 Dream Flight

Television theme songs productions

1991 Farewell (TV drama) – theme song / TTV (Taiwan Television Enterprise)
1991 Eternal Love Like Ocean (碧海情天) (TV drama) theme and ending credit songs – "Ordinary Man" (凡人歌) and "Eternal Love Like Ocean"/TTV
1992 The Last Emperor (TV drama) theme song – "Infatuation"/TTV
1993 Young Heroes (TV drama) theme song – "Happy Like Gods"/TTV
1993 Happy Building (TV drama) theme and ending credit songs/CTS (Chinese Television System)
1994 Chivalry Under the Blue Sky (TV drama) ending credit song/TTV
1996 The New Longmen Roadhouse (TV drama) ending credit song/TTV

Songs for advertisements/commercials

1986 Little Cook Instant Noodles – Beef Flavor
1987 Laurel Frozen Dumpling
1989 Sprite and Coca-Cola
1990 PECOS Soy Milk
1991 FUJI COLOR Fuji Films
1992 Yamaha Corporate Song
1992 China Airlines
1992 Paolyta-B (energy drink)
1993 HeySong Sarsaparilla Drink
1993 BMW
1993 Maxwell House Coffee
1999 Suntory Whisky
2016 Apple China – Send you a Spring Festival Song

Film

1983 Growing Up 小畢的故事
1983 The Boys from Fengkuei 風櫃來的人
1984 Ah Fei 油麻菜籽
1985 My Favorite Season 最想念的季節
1986 The Lock of Hearts 心鎖
1987 Listen to Me 我有話要說
1988 Friendly Shock (Yaya) 天崩地裂

Television

1985 What/TTV
1990 Sunday Fever – Apocalypse (variety show)/TTV

Concerts

2006–2009 Sense and Sensibility World Tour (11 Shows)
2009–2010 Superband World Tour (58 Shows)

Radio programs

Talking Past Each Other – Host / Taiwan PBS (Police Broadcasting Service) – nominated for Taiwan's Golden Bell Awards for "Popular Music Radio Program" and "Best Radio DJ"
Appointment After Dusk – Host / PBS
Musician – Host / i like radio (Broadcasting Corporation of China) – won Golden Bell Awards Best Radio DJ Award