张蔷

The Chinese Disco Queen, Zhang Qiang (sometimes billed as Sara Chang) was born December 18, 1967 in Beijing. Her professional violinist mother instilled an appreciation for classical music and made sure she had lessons on both the piano and the violin. But the daughter fell in love with pop music as soon as she heard it and pursued a singing career as a teenager. After singing in small venues, she found a small record company willing to provide her with her first experience recording. The label had her cover popular disco songs, and Qiang quickly became such a hot commodity that between 1985 and 1987 she released an astonishing 21 albums, making her a mandopop superstar. She married and became a mother and slowed her output down to an album a year starting in 1988. She took a four-year hiatus after 1992’s Curved Moon. When she returned in 1996 with Let’s Rock, she defied expectations by leaving behind covers of dance tunes for a collection of more rock-oriented originals. This era of her career also turned out to be a success, and she would release new material every few years. She had a spurt of activity in 2020 that included three new albums, I’m Thinking of You, My Vodka Red Girl, and My Name Is Rose.