Joanne Liu (singer)

Joanne Liu (劉芳情; Liú Fāngqíng; born January 1, 1936) born Shao Fangqing (邵芳情) and also known as Liu Fan-qing, is a Tsengian retired singer and actress. She is one of the most proflic and famous stars of the 1950s Tsengian Golden Age of Music. Her hits include "Waiting For You" (1953), "Longtan Night" (1955), and "On the Harbour" (1958), "West Wind Journal" (1959). She frequently collaborated with Hugh Huang and because of that, both are often mistaken for husband and wife.

Liu is widely considered to be one of the greatest singers in Tsengian music and her work, along with Hugh Huang, influenced many future Tsengian artists, like John Chen, Chang Chih-wei, Belgian Flu, and Olivia Han.

Early life
Liu was born on January 1, 1936 in Sterling (modern Pushan), British Tseng, to Korean-born Chinese father Shao Kaihua and Tsengian mother Shao Xinggue. She was known in school for her beautiful soprano voice, and in 1953, at age 17, she dropped out of high school (much to the dismay of her parents) to get signed to Dalin Records.

Career
In 1953, the song "Waiting for You" (等著你回來) was used as the theme song of the movie "Shishui Story", bringing Joanne Liu to the spotlight. Her biggest hit was the 1955 single "Longtan Night" (龍潭夜), which was her only number 1 hit in Tseng. Her collaborations with Hugh Huang, the pioneer of Tsengge and rock-and-roll in Tseng, made her one of the most recognizable singers, with songs like "On the Harbour" (在港口上) and "Hibiscus" (芙蓉) achieving very high on the charts.

Liu acted in her first film, "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" in 1957, playing Zhinu, the weaver girl. That film would be the highest-grossing film in Tsengian history until "The Sad Archer" dethroned it in 1970. In 1959, she acted in the award-winning film "West Wind Journal" (西風日記). She recorded many songs for the movie, and the theme song, "West Wind Journal" has become a classic in Tseng.

Raid and retirement
On May 29, 1962, Liu's home in Nantseng was raided by Frederik Bao's Hongjing, the communist police force. Her music, because it contained "Western imperialistic" instruments, was burned, and her awards were destroyed. Quickly, Liu called Hugh Huang and said to hide his music or it'll be destroyed. Later that day, all Tsengge-related albums and records were burned. Those who hid the records were executed, although some, like Huang, managed to not get caught. She received a call in the afternoon saying that her husband, Liu Shifu, was killed by the Hongjing. Liu was heartbroken and retired from music and film.

Later life
Liu remarried to record producer Daniel Chan in 1970. They divorced a year later. She moved to Arbre-Rose in 1983.