Singer Zheng Jun bouncing back in Beijing
By Tan Rui (Beijing Weekend)
Updated: 2005-11-21 09:16

After 10 years in dedicated pursuit of his own music style, sentimental rock singer Zheng Jun, who has always kept a low profile, will finally hold his first concert in Beijing at the Workers' Gymnasium on December 3.

Entitled "Warm Whoop," the concert is being held to quench the thirst of Zheng's fans, who have been waiting for this day for a long time. Zheng will take this opportunity as a chance to review his musical creations while revelling in the romantic reveries of his songs with fans.

Zheng soared to fame in 1994, thanks to his hit singles like Back to Lhasa, Nakedness and Cinderella, which swept him to fame across the Chinese music scene, winning various awards. His first album, Nakedness, has become one of the milestones in the development of Chinese rock music. His popularity has showed no sign of decline, as the following four albums became bestsellers, too.

In 2002, Zheng set a new record to become the first Chinese singer to win MTV's Video Music Awards with his hit single, One Third Ideal.

Born into an intellectual family in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province in 1967, Zheng grew up with his mother and elder brother after his father passed away when he was only seven years old. Failing his first college entrance examination, Zheng entered Hangzhou Electronic Institute in Zhejiang Province in 1987, where he was exposed to outside cultural influences, among which western music touched him the most.

Fascinated by western music, Zheng spent much of his time practising with a guitar he bought with his savings. He later set up a band named Powder, which enjoyed some popularity in colleges in Hangzhou, where they covered works by Bob Dylan, Chinese rock guru Cui Jian and many others.

In 1999, Zheng staged his first solo gig in Shanghai amid people's worries about market acceptance. The concert proved to be a massive success, selling out the 80,000-seater People's Stadium, where excited fans stood throughout the concert despite it rained.

However, the singer surprised the public again in 2001 when he decided to retreat from city life for a secluded life near Zhongnanshan Mountain back in his hometown. Later he bounced back with two more albums and the release of a novel.

Zheng has now grown confident enough to stage his first solo gig in Beijing after keeping it on ice for 10 years.

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