Cui Jian

Nothing To My Name is Cui Jian's best known song, the biggest hit in Chinese history, and marked the beginning of indigenous Chinese rock music.

unknown title 2011

But twenty years have passed, and the first rockers -- Cui Jian, He Yong -- are now worshiped as saints of a bygone era and a more fashionable reason, namely having style, has sprung up and overtaken what the old rockers stood for -- freedom of speech and liberalization.

Alice Xin Liu: Beijing Rock Scene Is Inspired by Western Hipster Chic Rather Than the Search for a Deeper Soul 2010

It is curious that a BBC video uses the fact that the current generation expresses itself by going to rock concerts to flag their difference from 1989 youths interested in politics, without noting that Chinese rocker Cui Jian was a key influence on the Tiananmen protesters.

Jeffrey Wasserstrom: Illuminating and Misleading Takes on China 20 Years Since Tiananmen 2010

But twenty years have passed, and the first rockers -- Cui Jian, He Yong -- are now worshiped as saints of a bygone era and a more fashionable reason, namely having style, has sprung up and overtaken what the old rockers stood for -- freedom of speech and liberalization.

Alice Xin Liu: Beijing Rock Scene Is Inspired by Western Hipster Chic Rather Than the Search for a Deeper Soul 2010

It is curious that a BBC video uses the fact that the current generation expresses itself by going to rock concerts to flag their difference from 1989 youths interested in politics, without noting that Chinese rocker Cui Jian was a key influence on the Tiananmen protesters.

Illuminating and Misleading Takes on China 20 Years Since Tiananmen 2010

That night when it was my turn to sing, I bravely stood up and sang three songs by Cui Jian, a Chinese rocker I liked in college.

The Still-Strong Power of White Liquor 2010

It is curious that a BBC video uses the fact that the current generation expresses itself by going to rock concerts to flag their difference from 1989 youths interested in politics, without noting that Chinese rocker Cui Jian was a key influence on the Tiananmen protesters.

Jeffrey Wasserstrom: Illuminating and Misleading Takes on China 20 Years Since Tiananmen Jeffrey Wasserstrom 2010

It is curious that a BBC video uses the fact that the current generation expresses itself by going to rock concerts to flag their difference from 1989 youths interested in politics, without noting that Chinese rocker Cui Jian was a key influence on the Tiananmen protesters.

Jeffrey Wasserstrom: Illuminating and Misleading Takes on China 20 Years Since Tiananmen 2009

IRA: Oh, I'm looking forward to seeing Cui Jian, which he's like the godfather of Chinese rock 'n' roll.

What Music Is Hot Around The World? 2009

The tentativeness of the travelers upon arriving at Beida reminds me of my midnight visit to Beida with Cui Jian on the eve of May 4.

Chapter excerpt: "Going Undergound" philip j cunningham 2009