Alexander Yu (Chinese: 俞金海; pinyin: Yú Jīnhǎi; July 23, 1963 - March 1, 1987) was a Tsengian musician who served as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the famous rock band Belgian Flu.
Early life[]
Yu was born to a lower-middle class family on July 23, 1963 in Keelung, Taiwan. He was the youngest out of two other siblings.
From when he was a baby, Yu showed an evident interest in music. He learned to play the guitar when he was six, and when he was older, started to play songs from The Beatles and Teresa Teng. The family moved to Taihua, Tseng due to the Tsengian economic miracle when Yu was 7, before relocating to Hillsborough when he was 17.
During his teenage years, Yu was introduced to rock music through the underground music magazine Bang!, which was popular among the Tsengian youth at the time.
Career[]
At Hillsborough, he met fellow classmate Cheng Mai-hu, who was an even better guitarist then he was. Yu and Cheng decided to form a band. Fellow students Jeremy Jia and Chris Xiang later joined, and the three started playing in school talent shows and later nightclubs.
After seeing his sister sick with the flu while on vacation in Belgium, Yu found a name for the band: Belgian Flu.
In 1983, Belgian Flu released their first album, New Country. The album earned them infamy and launched them from the underground to the mainstream. The Tsengian government banned it due to "immorality". Louis Xi, the vice-president of Tseng at the time, denounced the album and led a big part in banning the album, calling Yu and his bandmates "criminals." He even ordered the police to arrest all the members of the Belgian Flu, which was criticized by many international observers for being an overreaction.
As a result, Yu and his bandmates moved to Tokyo, but returned to Tseng in 1985, as their arrest warrant had been nullified.
In 1986, the band released Discombobulated, which was banned yet again. Discombobulated became the highest-selling album in Tsengian history.
Death[]
On March 1, 1987, Yu died in a car crash while turning left at an intersection in downtown Tseng City. Yu's car collided with a semi-trailer truck that was going 30km/h above the speed limit. Both drivers died instantly.
Many suspected the Tsengian government was involved in his death. Especially after the release of Discombobulated in 1986, mass protests against the government had begun. Some believed that the other driver involved was an SIAT agent.
Reaction[]
Many Tsengian music artists went to his funeral along with family, held on March 4, including his bandmates, Fulang pop king Chen Rui, Tsengge pioneer Hugh Huang, Olivia Han, Yang Wu-bei, Wu Yongxing, and Li Meng.
Legacy[]
Yu is considered to be an important icon in Tseng music. Many of Yu's and Belgian Flu's songs are covered up to this day. On March 1, 2015, Redearth Entertainment (ECN's successor) held a tribute concert. The intersection where he died was named "Alexander Yu Square" in his honor.
Discography[]
See: Belgian Flu discography