Cooper Chao

Cooper Chao (Chinese: 趙國燁; pinyin: Zhào Guóyè; born January 30, 1960), also known by his stage name Double C (雙C; Shuāng C) or CC, is a Tsengian record producer, composer, songwriter, and lyricist. A legendary figure in the Tsengian and Asian music world, he is known for writing and producing many hits, and for skyrocketing unknown singers to fame, like John Chen and Ava Lin. A total of 18 awards in the music industry, Chao holds a record for the number of Golden Tune Awards of all time. His produced records have sold millions of copies.

Early life
Chao was born Chao Hui-hsian on January 30, 1960, to Taiwanese banker Chao Ma-chiang (趙馬強) and Tsengian singer (and later Tsengian Ambassador to Mexico) Song Jiamei (宋家玫). He had 2 sisters, one, Adelaide Chao would become an accomplished actress. The other, Isabelle Chao, would work her way to become the first female CEO of Jinhuang Financial, one of the largest financial companies in Tseng. The Chao family was affluent, and Chao spent his summers horse-riding, travelling, and swimming. He attended the Xifeng Academy for high school.

In 1978, when Chao graduated, he travelled to El Kadsre City, El Kadsre (then the Vlokozu Union), and enrolled in the UCOL. There, it was said that Chao was very popular and was the leader of an anti-Japanese clique. He and his clique bullied the Japanese students, and had a vicious rivalry with Hikaru Kinoshita, a popular Japanese student and future athlete representing Vlokozu Union/El Kadsre at the Olympics. Eventually Chao managed to graduate with a bachelor's degree in music. Chao later apologized to UCOL and Kinoshita. They became friends afterwards.

Early career
Chao started writing songs after getting inspired from a vacation to France, Spain, and Portugal in 1985. His first song was called Crowded Streets (擁擠的街道), after seeing crowds of tourists in his travels. In 1986, he was signed to Zenghe Inc, the most famous and oldest record label in Tseng.

Rise
In 1987, Chao met Olivia Han. He and her wrote songs for the best-selling album The Joys of Life. The album earned him respect in the Tsengian music world and he won his first of many Golden Tune Awards for the Best Album Producer of the Year. Soon, he wrote songs for Li Meng, Wu Yongxing, and John Chen (whom his song, Ambiguous, became the second selling song of 1990, losing to The Outsider (which Chen wrote himself)).

"Three Tsengge Talents" and the Tsengge Eight
The 1990s was Chao's golden decade. He produced hits like Wu Yufeng's Kamikaze (神風), Julian Bai's Forty Roses (四十玫瑰) and Ava Lin's Give Me One More Chance (再給我一次機會). Along with Dawson Yang and Wang Ming-jian, the three producers produced about 83% of the hits of the Tsengge Eight (the rest being the singers themselves or other small producers).

2000s
After the Tsengge Eight craze started to die out in the 2000s, Chao decided to work on other artists. In 2009, Chao won the Golden Tune Award for Best Album Producer of the Year for Cami Long's album Hai Bei Tian Nan (海北天南), or Northern Sea, Southern Sky.

Recent years
Although Chao was still respected in the Asian music community, the number of songs and albums he produced were decreasing. In 2015, Chao accepted a contract with Tseng.

In September 2020, via Zoom, Chao announced that he would be retiring from the music industry at the 35th Golden Tune Awards. The people present gave him a standing ovation.

Personal life
Chao was married to singer and TVB actress Alexandra Chao-Lam from 1985 to 2000. They had 2 children.

In 2005, Chao said that, despite his songwriting and record producing abilities, he couldn't sing and joked that he was the worst singer on the planet.