The Most Famous

SINGERS from China

This page contains a list of the greatest Chinese Singers. The pantheon dataset contains 4,381 Singers, 21 of which were born in China. This makes China the birth place of the 37th most number of Singers behind Greece, and Serbia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Chinese Singers of all time. This list of famous Chinese Singers 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 Singers.

1. Peng Liyuan (b. 1962)

With an HPI of 57.62, Peng Liyuan is the most famous Chinese Singer. Her biography has been translated into 41 different languages on wikipedia.

Peng Liyuan (Chinese: 彭丽媛; pinyin: Péng Lìyuán; born 20 November 1962) is a Chinese contemporary folk singer and the wife of Xi Jinping, current General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China. Peng gained popularity as a singer from her regular appearances on the annual CCTV New Year's Gala, a widely viewed Chinese television program that airs during the Chinese New Year. She won honors in singing competitions nationwide. Her most famous singles include People from Our Village, Zhumulangma, and On the Field of Hope. Peng also sang the theme songs of several popular TV series, such as The Water Margin (1998). In 1986, she received the Plum Blossom Award, China's highest theatrical award, for her lead role in The White Haired Girl. She was the president of then People's Liberation Army Academy of Art between 2012 and 2017, and vice president of the All-China Youth Federation between 2005 and 2010. She is known within China for her fashion sense, credited to her personal couturier Ma Ke. In 2014, Peng was listed as the 57th Most Powerful Woman in the World by Forbes.

2. Mei Lanfang (1894 - 1961)

With an HPI of 57.55, Mei Lanfang is the 2nd most famous Chinese Singer. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Mei Lan (22 October 1894 – 8 August 1961), better known by his stage name Mei Lanfang, was a notable Chinese Peking opera artist in modern Chinese theater. Mei was known as the "Queen of Peking Opera". Mei was exclusively known for his female lead roles (dan) and particularly his "verdant-robed girls" (qingyi), young or middle-aged women of grace and refinement. He was considered one of the "Four Great Dan", along with Shang Xiaoyun, Cheng Yanqiu, and Xun Huisheng.

3. Sam Hui (b. 1948)

With an HPI of 53.54, Sam Hui is the 3rd most famous Chinese Singer. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Samuel Hui Koon-kit (born 6 September 1948), usually known as Sam Hui, is a Hong Kong musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He is credited with popularising Cantopop both via the infusion of Western-style music and his usage of vernacular Cantonese rather than written vernacular Chinese in biting lyrics that addressed contemporary problems and concerns. Hui is considered by some to be the first major superstar of Cantopop, known as the God of Song. As an actor, he is well-known for portraying the main character "King Kong" in five installments of the Aces Go Places film series.

4. Shi Pei Pu (1938 - 2009)

With an HPI of 50.49, Shi Pei Pu is the 4th most famous Chinese Singer. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Shi Pei Pu (Chinese: 时佩璞; pinyin: Shí Pèipú; 21 December 1938 – 30 June 2009) was a Chinese opera singer from Beijing. He became a spy and obtained secrets from Bernard Boursicot, an employee in the French embassy, during a 20-year-long sexual affair in which the performer convinced Boursicot that he was a woman. He claimed to have had a child that he insisted had been born through their relations. The story made headlines in France when the facts were revealed. The affair inspired American David Henry Hwang's play M. Butterfly (1988), which was produced on Broadway. It was adapted as the 1993 film of the same title.

5. Yao Lee (1922 - 2019)

With an HPI of 48.12, Yao Lee is the 5th most famous Chinese Singer. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Yao Lee (Chinese: 姚莉; 10 September 1922 – 19 July 2019), also credited as Yao Li, Yiu Lei and Hue Lee, was a Chinese singer active from the 1930s to the 1970s. She was the sister of Yao Min, also a famous singer and songwriter. She was considered one of the Seven Great Singing Stars of Shanghai in the 1940s.

6. Lu Han (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 44.55, Lu Han is the 6th most famous Chinese Singer. His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Lu Han (Chinese: 鹿晗; born April 20, 1990), also known mononymously as Luhan, is a Chinese singer, actor, and dancer. He was a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy group Exo and its sub-group Exo-M, before leaving the group in October 2014. That year, he was ranked the sixth most popular entertainment star in China by China National Radio. In 2017, Lu Han was listed as the second highest-paid celebrity in the Forbes China Celebrity 100, behind only Fan Bingbing. Lu Han released his solo debut album Reloaded in 2015, and has starred in several box office hits such as 20 Once Again (2015), The Witness (2015), and Time Raiders (2016). In 2017, he starred in his first television series, Fighter of the Destiny.

7. Liu Huan (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 42.12, Liu Huan is the 7th most famous Chinese Singer. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Liu Huan (born August 26, 1963) is a Chinese singer and songwriter. He is one of China's modern era pioneers in pop music. He combines his music career with teaching the history of Western music at the Beijing University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

8. Han Geng (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 41.54, Han Geng is the 8th most famous Chinese Singer. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Han Geng (born February 9, 1984) is a Chinese Mandopop singer and actor. He started his career in 2001, when he was chosen by S.M. Entertainment to become a member of South Korean boy band Super Junior, which debuted in 2005. He later became the leader of its sub-group Super Junior-M in 2008. On December 21, 2009, Han filed a lawsuit against SME to terminate his contract. He has since returned to China to pursue a solo career. On September 27, 2011, Han's departure from SM Entertainment was made official as both parties came to a mutual agreement. For his various contributions to the spread of Chinese culture, Han was chosen as a torch bearer for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He later also became an ambassador for the 2010 Shanghai Expo and the 2010 Asian Games. In late 2012, Han started to gain international attention and won the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards' "Best Worldwide Act" and Nickelodeon's 2013 Kids' Choice Awards' "Favorite Asian Act".

9. Wei Wei (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 41.23, Wei Wei is the 9th most famous Chinese Singer. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Wei Wei (simplified Chinese: 韦唯; traditional Chinese: 韋唯; pinyin: Wéi Wéi; born 28 September 1963) is a Chinese mandopop singer, actress, philanthropist and professor. Nicknamed "The Empress of Pop", she has been widely recognized for her artistry and vocal performances. She has been regarded as one of the greatest Chinese entertainers of her generation, and her contributions to music and visual media have made her a prominent and influential Chinese pop culture figure during the 1990's and early 2000s. Wei started performing in various state-sponsored singing and dancing competitions as a child, singing state-sanctioned revolutionary music. Her breakthrough came alongside the Chinese economic reform in 1986 when she won both the National Young Singers contest in China, and the 24th Sopot International Song Festival in Poland. Four years later, she performed a duet with Spanish singer Julio Iglesias at the 1993 East Asian Games in Shanghai. Largely associated with sports culture and the Olympics, Wei has been an Olympic Cultural Ambassador for China since 1993, a role she assumed when the Chinese Olympic Committee submitted its initial application to host the Olympic Games. Wei was the sole cultural representative for Asia at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and has performed at several major events, including the opening ceremony of Expo 2010, the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 11th National Games of China. Wei's songs have been used as the official theme songs for many major sporting events in China. Her single "I Want to Fly" was chosen by the Chinese Olympic Committee as the official theme song for the 2008 Olympic Sailing events. In 2007, The All-China Women's Federation recognized Wei's contributions to Chinese sports culture by designating her the "Queen of Sports". Having sold an estimated 100-200 million records worldwide, Wei is one of Asia's best-selling recording artists. Considered a "national treasure" in China, Wei is the first Mainland Chinese pop singer to have competed abroad representing the People's Republic of China, the first Zhuang ethnic minority artist to represent China internationally, the first woman to be selected as China's Olympic Cultural Ambassador, and one of China's earliest artists to use the internet for the digital release of music. The haute-couture dress designed for Wei by Lars Wallin for the '08 Olympics is on permanent display at the Nordic Museum in Sweden.

10. Lay Zhang (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 40.95, Lay Zhang is the 10th most famous Chinese Singer. Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Zhang Yixing (Chinese: 张艺兴; pinyin: Zhāng Yìxīng; born (1991-10-07)October 7, 1991), known professionally as Lay Zhang or simply Lay, is a Chinese rapper, singer-songwriter, dancer, actor, record producer and businessman. Zhang first gained recognition in 2005 for participating in the Chinese television talent show Star Academy. He later debuted as a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band Exo and its Chinese sub-unit Exo-M under SM Entertainment in 2012. In 2015, Zhang founded a personal agency with SM for managing his solo activities in China and wrote an autobiography titled Standing Firm at 24. In 2016, Zhang released his first extended play (EP), Lose Control. The EP peaked at number one on the Gaon Album Chart and number four on Billboard's US World Albums chart. Zhang is the first Chinese solo artist to hit the Top 25 on the Billboard 200 and the first Chinese solo artist to hit Top 5 on the Worldwide iTunes Album Chart. Since his debut as a solo artist, Zhang has produced and released over 100 songs including 4 studio albums and 5 EPs, and has won numerous music awards. In 2020, Zhang founded the Chromosome Entertainment Group and serves as CEO and producer. Zhang has been included on the Forbes China Celebrity 100 (placing in the top 20 in multiple years) and on the CelebrityZ Top 100 Most Valuable Celebrities list (placing 23rd in 2016) published by market research company Kantar and Chinese business magazine CBN Weekly. Outside of music, Zhang became the first celebrity to serve as publicity ambassador for the Communist Youth League of China of Changsha in 2016. He has also ventured into acting and starred in films and television shows such as Ex-Files 2 (2015), The Mystic Nine (2016), Kung Fu Yoga (2017), The Island (2018), The Golden Eyes (2019), Empress of the Ming (2019), Crime Crackdown (2021), and No More Bets (2023).

People

Pantheon has 24 people classified as Chinese singers born between 1894 and 2001. Of these 24, 21 (87.50%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Chinese singers include Peng Liyuan, Sam Hui, and Lu Han. The most famous deceased Chinese singers include Mei Lanfang, Shi Pei Pu, and Yao Lee. As of April 2024, 3 new Chinese singers have been added to Pantheon including Han Hong, Zhong Chenle, and Zhang Liyin.