Veteran Chinese singer Liu Huan died in Shanghai on Friday (Sept 25). He was 63.
He passed at 9.52am surrounded by family, according to obituaries from Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and Mango V Foundation,
No public funeral or memorial service will take place, according to his wishes.
Born in Tianjin in August 1963, Liu Huan studied French literature at the University of International Relations in Beijing and rose to prominence in the 1980s for his songs blending Chinese and western music traditions.
Heroes’ Song, performed by him, became the theme tune for the popular Chinese TV series The Water Margin (1998).
On top of being a household name in China, he also sang the theme song You And Me for the 2008 Beijing Olympics alongside British soprano Sarah Brightman, reported The Global Times.
Liu Huan was an associate professor at the Art Teaching‑Research Section at UIBE for over three decades, teaching the history of western classical music from 1991 until his retirement in 2023.
According to China Daily, he also donated 20 million yuan (S$3.82 million) in 2019 to set up the Liu Huan Original Music Fund with the Mango V Foundation, aiming to support young Chinese-language original musicians, with 1 million yuan donated yearly afterwards.
He was also a mentor on music shows including Sing My Song, which he started in 2014, and The Voice of China (2012) and its rebrand Sing! China (2017).
Liu Huan reportedly married Lu Lu, a host for Hunan TV, in 1988 and shares a daughter with her, born in 1991.
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drimac@asiaone.com
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