Li Guyi (Chinese:李谷一; born 4 November 1944) is a Chinese singer and dancer. Li rose to fame after singing Homeland Love (乡恋), a mellow love ballad written by Ma Jinghua and Zhang Peiji, in 1980 shortly after China began its "Reform and Opening".[2]
Li was born in 1944 in Kunming, Yunnan, at Huidian Hospital (惠滇医院), she graduated from Hunan Art College (now part of Hunan Normal University) in 1961. From 1961 to 1974, Li worked in Hunan Opera Theatre.
In 1970, Li performed Tinker a Pan (补锅). Chinese officials thought she was a revisionist black talent. Officials searched her house, confiscated her property, and she was sentenced to hard labor.
In 1980, the Chinese officials criticized Li as "mainland China's Teresa Teng" for singing Homeland Love (乡恋), considered the first pop song in mainland China.[3] The song was prohibited for several years.[4][5][6][7]
In 1986, Li worked in Chinese Light Music Group as the head.
In 1996, Li transferred to Central Oriental Song and Dance Troupe as the CPC Party Secretary.
On January 6, 2020, she was hired as a member of the Hunan Literature and History Institute.[8]
Family
Li was twice married. Originally wed to musician Jin Tielin. After a turbulent divorce, she remarried in 1976. Xiao Zhuoneng (肖卓能), her second husband, the son of Xiao Jinguang, who was one of the ten senior generals of the People's Liberation Army.[1] The couple has a daughter, Xiao Yi (肖一).[1] Xiao Zhuoneng died on May 29, 2020.[9]
