The Most Famous
MUSICIANS from China
Top 10
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Chinese Musicians of all time. This list of famous Chinese Musicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Chinese Musicians.
1. Lang Lang (b. 1982)
With an HPI of 51.83, Lang Lang is the most famous Chinese Musician. His biography has been translated into 44 different languages on wikipedia.
Lang Lang (Chinese: 郎朗; pinyin: Láng Lǎng; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with major orchestras around the world and appeared at many leading concert halls. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and many of the top American orchestras. In 2000, a Chicago Tribune music critic called him "the biggest, most exciting young keyboard talent I have encountered in many a year of attending piano recitals."
2. Toshiko Akiyoshi (b. 1929)
With an HPI of 51.65, Toshiko Akiyoshi is the 2nd most famous Chinese Musician. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Toshiko Akiyoshi (秋吉敏子 or 穐吉敏子, Akiyoshi Toshiko, born 12 December 1929) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. Akiyoshi received fourteen Grammy Award nominations and was the first woman to win Best Arranger and Composer awards in Down Beat magazine's annual Readers' Poll. In 1984, she was the subject of the documentary Jazz Is My Native Language. In 1996, she published her autobiography, Life with Jazz, and in 2007 she was named an NEA Jazz Master by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts.
3. Fou Ts'ong (1934 - 2020)
With an HPI of 51.19, Fou Ts'ong is the 3rd most famous Chinese Musician. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Fou Ts'ong (Chinese: 傅聰; pinyin: Fù Cōng; 10 March 1934 – 28 December 2020) was a Chinese and British pianist who was the first pianist of his national origin to achieve international recognition. He came to prominence after winning third prize and the Polish Radio Prize for the best performance of Chopin's mazurkas in the 1955 V International Chopin Piano Competition, and remained particularly known as an interpreter of Chopin's music.
4. Coco Lee (1975 - 2023)
With an HPI of 48.00, Coco Lee is the 4th most famous Chinese Musician. Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.
Coco Lee (Chinese: 李玟; 17 January 1975 – 5 July 2023) was a Chinese-American singer, songwriter and actress. She is widely regarded as a significant figure and a Tianhou (Diva) in C-pop. Her career marked a modernization of C-pop music and influenced many other artists of her era. Her career began in 1993 in Hong Kong, and she gained early fame in Taiwan through a series of successful albums in Mandarin Chinese, establishing herself as an icon in the Greater China area. During her life, she lived in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the USA, and mainland China. Her diverse cultural and educational experiences shaped her background and laid the foundation for her success in the Asian entertainment industry. She released 18 studio albums, two live albums, and five compilation albums. Lee has been described as 'Asian Mariah Carey' and "enormously influential". She was also noted for her Americanized dance routines. She voiced the lead character Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of Mulan, a 1998 animated Disney film, and sang its theme song, "Reflection". She was the first Chinese singer to break into the American market. Her album Just No Other Way, which was released in 1999, was the first English-language R&B album recorded by a Chinese singer. Her English single "Do You Want My Love" received international attention, appearing on the US Billboard Hot Dance Breakouts chart at No. 4 and entering the top 50 of the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart as well as the Australian Singles Chart. Lee performed the song "A Love Before Time" from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the 73rd Academy Awards, becoming the first, and so far only, Chinese performer to perform at the Academy Awards. She was also the first Chinese-American singer to sing at an NBA game, the first Asian to hold a concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the first non-mainland Chinese singer to win the Chinese reality show I Am A Singer, and the first Chinese brand ambassador for Chanel. She spent most of her life in Hong Kong and died there at the age of 48.
5. Cui Jian (b. 1961)
With an HPI of 45.06, Cui Jian is the 5th most famous Chinese Musician. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Cui Jian (Chinese: 崔健; Korean: 최건; born 2 August 1961) is a Beijing-based Chinese singer-songwriter, trumpeter and guitarist. Affectionately called "Old Cui" (老崔; Lǎo Cuī), he is credited with pioneering Chinese rock music. For this distinction he is often labeled the "Father of Chinese Rock". He is also known in the Chinese rock music industry as a "leader in promoting the true singing movement" and the "first person in Chinese rock". Cui is an idealist who loathed money and commerce. He fantasized that rock 'n roll could rebuild young people's "red idealism". A white baseball cap with a bright red star is his symbol. Cui Jian's melodies and songs are always full of reflections on the history of the motherland, insisting on introspection of the state of life, and full of infinite longing for a "utopian" beautiful future.
6. Yuja Wang (b. 1987)
With an HPI of 43.85, Yuja Wang is the 6th most famous Chinese Musician. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.
Yuja Wang (Chinese: 王羽佳; pinyin: Wáng Yǔjiā; born February 10, 1987) is a Chinese pianist. Born in Beijing, she began learning piano there at age six, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. By age 21, she was already an internationally recognized concert pianist and signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. She has since established herself as one of the leading artists of her generation. Wang currently lives in New York.
7. Li Yundi (b. 1982)
With an HPI of 40.83, Li Yundi is the 7th most famous Chinese Musician. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.
Yundi Li (simplified Chinese: 李云迪; traditional Chinese: 李雲迪; pinyin: Lǐ Yúndí; born 7 October 1982), also known mononymously as Yundi (stylized as YUNDI), is a Chinese classical concert pianist. Yundi is especially known for his interpretation of Chopin, Liszt and Prokofiev. He is also referred as a Master in Chopin and considered one of the greatest contemporary interpreters of Chopin. Yundi rose to fame for being the youngest pianist, at the age of eighteen, to win first prize at the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2000. In 2015, he also served as the competition’s youngest-ever juror. In recognition to his contribution to Chopin pieces, the Polish government awarded Yundi with the world's first Chopin passport (Chopinowskie paszporty). Yundi is also the first Chinese recipient of both Silver (2010) and Gold (2019) Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis issued by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Polish government, in regards to his contribution to both music and Polish culture. Yundi has promoted Chinese national music worldwide, as well as the development of classical music in China, both by his influence and philanthropy.
8. Liu Fang (b. 1974)
With an HPI of 33.96, Liu Fang is the 8th most famous Chinese Musician. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Liu Fang (Chinese: t 劉芳, s 刘芳, p Liú Fāng; b. 1974) is a Chinese–Canadian musician who is one of the most prominent pipa players in the world. Described in the media as the "empress of pipa" (L'actualité), "divine mediator" (World), "the greatest ambassadress of the art of the pipa", Liu Fang is known as "possessing virtuoso technique, grace and a unique empathy toward the music she plays – whether it is a traditional and folk tune or a modern Western composition" (All Music Guide). "She has an extraordinary focused, poised presence in her manner and her playing. In a lesser player this is just a trained formality; the body of material and techniques for her instruments is extremely highly developed, passed down through centuries. But Liu Fang’s total devotion to her playing has moved her beyond perfect execution to the creativity and flexibility that marks a true musician."(in the fRoots Magazine, 06.2006).
9. Hua Chenyu (b. 1990)
With an HPI of 33.32, Hua Chenyu is the 9th most famous Chinese Musician. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Hua Chenyu (born February 7, 1990) is a Chinese singer and songwriter. First debuting as the winner of Super Boy 2013, he gained widespread recognition for his music talent, strong vocal ability and stage performance after participating in Singer 2018. One of the critics from the show stated that Hua Chenyu has brought Chinese pop music to a new level of art after his cover performance of "Fake Monk" (假行僧). Many songs he composed contain his thoughts about the world or imply his own story that he would like to share with his fans. Songs like "Qi Tian" (齊天), "Madhouse" (瘋人院), "Seven Personalities" (七重人格), "Bull Fight" (鬥牛), and more are all stamped with his unique creation and deep messages. In his 2022 interview with Bazaar Man Magazine, he stated that rock spirit is the base color of this life and is also the root of his music. In a music market dominated by the ballad style of Chinese pop songs, he refuses to be limited and be defined in a framed genre.
10. Cai Xukun (b. 1998)
With an HPI of 31.63, Cai Xukun is the 10th most famous Chinese Musician. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Cai Xukun (born August 2, 1998), better known by the mononym Kun (stylized as KUN), is a Chinese singer-songwriter, dancer and actor. He debuted as a member of SWIN and its sub-unit SWIN-S on October 18, 2016, after participating in the first and second seasons of the Chinese reality show Super Idol. After leaving the group and its company Yihai Entertainment, he participated in iQiyi's reality survival show Idol Producer, finishing first and debuting as the leader/center of temporary Chinese boy group Nine Percent, on April 6, 2018. He was a cast member of variety show Keep Running from 2020 to 2022. Most of Kun's solo works are original, including "Wait Wait Wait" and his first EP "1". The EP was a commercial success with every song topping Chinese music charts. "Pull Up", the first track, broke 10 records and peaked at number 1 on four of QQ Music's charts as well as ranking first on Billboard China's V Chart for 8 consecutive weeks. At the time of its release in 2018, "Wait Wait Wait" debuted at number 1 on QQ Music's New Song list and Popular Music list for 10 weeks and won the title of Asia's hottest song for 4 consecutive weeks. On January 10, 2019, Kun was officially named China-Jamaica Goodwill Ambassador and China-Jamaica Outstanding Youth Leader in Shanghai, China. In February, Kun announced his first solo tour, "Kun ONE North America/U.K. Tour 2019", coming in early April 2019. After wrapping up the tour on July 26, Kun released his second EP titled "Young", which consists of two songs, "Young" and "Blindfolded". Upon release, this EP did exceptionally well in Chinese music charts, selling 5.67 million copies in a week, for which he was dubbed "King of Digital Singles".
People
Pantheon has 10 people classified as Chinese musicians born between 1929 and 1998. Of these 10, 8 (80.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Chinese musicians include Lang Lang, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Cui Jian. The most famous deceased Chinese musicians include Fou Ts'ong, and Coco Lee. As of April 2024, 2 new Chinese musicians have been added to Pantheon including Hua Chenyu, and Cai Xukun.
Living Chinese Musicians
Go to all Rankings
Lang Lang
1982 - Present
HPI: 51.83
Toshiko Akiyoshi
1929 - Present
HPI: 51.65
Cui Jian
1961 - Present
HPI: 45.06
Yuja Wang
1987 - Present
HPI: 43.85
Li Yundi
1982 - Present
HPI: 40.83
Liu Fang
1974 - Present
HPI: 33.96
Hua Chenyu
1990 - Present
HPI: 33.32
Cai Xukun
1998 - Present
HPI: 31.63
